Medical transcription is the process of converting the audio records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter into text format, while maintaining accuracy, turnaround time, and security and providing the service at low costs. To this end this process is a vital function for effective healthcare, taking care of both the need for information and starting the receivables cycle.

For such a vital function to be effective it is important that the process of creating medical records should be outsourced to a service provider who understands the aims of healthcare. The aim of healthcare is as follows:

Safe: This means much more than the ancient maxim, “Do no harm”, which makes it the individual’s responsibility to be extra careful. It means safety should be a property of healthcare, and nobody should ever be harmed by healthcare again.
Effective: It should match healthcare to science; avoid overuse of ineffective care and under use of effective care.
Patient centered: Healthcare should be patient oriented and the individual patient’s culture and social context specific needs, deserve respect. The patient should play an important role in his/her own care.
Timely: Reduce waiting time for both patients and those providing care. This benefits both the patient and the caregiver.
Efficient: The health care system should be efficient, constantly seeking to reduce the waste and hence the cost of supplies, equipment, space, capital, ideas, time, and opportunities.
Equitable: Race, gender, ethnicity or income should not affect the quality of healthcare provided. All healthcare services should be equitable.
Understanding the aims of the healthcare facility and understanding the constraints under which the healthcare facility has to work to achieve these aims, helps the medical transcription service provider come up with better solutions.

How does a professional service provider help a healthcare facility achieve its’ goals?

By maintaining high levels of accuracy: This means that the integrity of the information about the patient’s health and treatment is captured accurately during the transcription process. This enables both the safety of treatment and efficiency of the treatment plan.
By maintaining speedy turnaround time: The process of healthcare is largely dependent on timely information. Outsourced services ensure that the turnaround time is maintained and this in turn ensures that information is available on a timely basis.
By maintaining low costs: Outsourcing helps the healthcare facility reduce cost of transcription thus ensuring that wastage is curbed.
By making the information secure: By making sure that medical transcription is executed through secure channels, the patients’ right to confidentiality is maintained.
By using technology that is advanced but easy to use: Using the right technology enables medical transcription that is timely, frees up the time of the healthcare professionals, decreases wastage of resources, keeps information safe. All these benefits help the healthcare facility in the achievement of their aims.