Soaring costs are pushing health care beyond the reach of many ordinary Americans. The typical family health insurance policy now costs more than a worker's entire annual earnings at minimum wage, while as much as 30 percent of health care is wasted on unnecessary, duplicative, or dubious procedures. The problems of cost, quality, and access are interrelated, and Congress needs to address them simultaneously. U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) is leading the charge for reform by proposing new ways to lower health care costs, improve quality, and increase access to care. He has introduced three bills to address health care problems. These bills would help hold down costs regardless of the path the country takes in expanding health care coverage.
The idea is based upon a corporation, run by business leaders and health information technology experts and funded by federal public-private partnership, which would be responsible for all aspects of planning, building and operating a national network as well as protecting patient privacy. Individuals would be able to access and control their personal medical records for example, not allowing a physiotherapist to see other information such as a psychiatrist consultation.
The U.S. Internet Industry Association is endorsing two of these health IT bills pending in the Senate and calling for government policies that encourage deployment of broadband networks that could be the foundation of a nationwide health information network. The association has called for incentives for doctors to adopt health IT and for creation of more public-private partnerships to finance broadband deployment and health IT.
A public-private partnership for health IT could overcome the financing gap between the doctors who have to pay for it and the health plans and patients who will benefit from lower costs. One of the reasons hindering the transformation to electronic records has been bandwidth issues and costs. It is hoped this legislation will address and perhaps provide some real solutions.
We'll continue to follow this issue over the next weeks and months.
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
Friday, August 24, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Is Speech Recognition Going to Replace Digital Transcription Services?
Much has been written about speech or voice recognition software in the medical industry and there are certainly some big name companies trying to sell you the latest technology, claiming it will save you money in the long run and produce instant reports. According to feedback from our customers at Global MedData and many independent studies, this is far from reality.
The Journal of Digital Imaging reported, "Speech recognition dictation systems slow down the individual productivity of the radiologists' dictation process by at least 25%. Radiologists are assuming the role of transcriptionists as well as diagnosticians. Mistakes occur that would not with the use of a traditional dictation system and professional transcriptionists. It does not necessarily benefit the radiologists that use it."
Global Meddata's customers have told us they still prefer to continue to use our services for accuracy, efficiency, cost and turnaround times. While some research has shown that one of the single benefits of voice recognition software is the reduction in report time turnaround from 133 hours to 56 hours in 2001, to about 14 hours today, this is still not a realistic figure because someone is still required to check the report for mistakes.
"There are many benefits of voice recognition, but unfortunately we have been facing some technical problems that are impacting our productivity, " says Joel Gross, MD, assistant professor of radiology at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He continues, "voice recognition is not a plug and play system. Faster computers are needed so the system doesn't freeze up. A good support team, available 24/7, that can fix problems or make necessary technical changes is essential, and must be budgeted for when making cost projections, he says. We've had problems with poor voice recognition, difficulty stopping the transcription, spell-checking, filtering reports, losing macros and speech files, and other glitches that have slowed us down. In addition we've also had problems with the system interfacing with our RIS system. We've had situations where our voice recognition system has overwritten changes we've made to our reports in our RIS system, which could potentially lead to medico-legal problems. These technical problems have led some radiologists to simply type in the report themselves instead of dictating into the voice recognition system These problems lead to a decrease in radiologists productivity and satisfaction," he adds.
While it may be true that voice recognition has reached 95% accuracy (or thereabouts), here are some very common errors that only a medical trained transcriptionist can distinguish. For example:
- "urine" from "you're in"
- "dilate" from "die late"
- "cauterize" from "caught her eyes"
- "nitrate" from "night rate"
So, is voice recognition software about to replace digital transcription service? Not likely and not for a decade at least. In the meantime, our customers are not convinced and continue to use our transcription and document management solutions. If they require an urgent 2 hour turnaround at the end of the day, we provide it, and at a cheaper cost than in-house. Global MedData is not just an out-sourced transcription service, our documents will easily integrate into any systems you choose to use. In fact, we offer seamless integration into some of the leading EMR systems whose customers still choose our transcription services.
For a Free Trial, we can get you started within 20 minutes.
Please fill out the form here: https://www.globalmeddata.net/new/Contact.asp
Sources: http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/studies/report-18165.html
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Time, Money and Security
Apart from the cost issue of adopting an EMR system is the disruptive impact that these implementations can have on a health care organization's short-term operations, especially for smaller clinics. It's a tough sell to persuade physicians to buy an expensive EMR system in the first place, but what most don't realize until implementation begins, is the long learning curve. This forces doctors to cut back on their patient loads (which means lost revenues) by as much as 25 per cent for up to a month during the implementation transition.
If you're a four-person practice, you can't afford to take four weeks off and tell patients to come back and see you when you're ready.
These constraints have led to the emergence of application service provider (ASP) or web-based type EMR applications aimed at lowering the costs and burdens associated with on-site installations. Instead of thousands (and even millions of dollars in the case of hospitals), a web- based application or service can cost only a few hundred dollars or even "pay as you go" as in the case of Global MedData's digital transcription services. Still, some physicians are leery about having a third-party entity store confidential patient information however, under a hosted model, you don't have to worry about employees or patients tampering with records. Today, the best systems should have a reporting mechanism to show who has created the document, altered, viewed, updated or even re-routed the document in any way.
With Global MedData's solutions, we have designed our product with these factors in mind. The end result is a faster way to do business and a business model that makes sense, with a very short learning curve - minutes instead of days. We intend to build more services or modules with this in mind.
If you've not tried our service, contact us for a free trial at
Stay tuned. Next week we'll discuss the pros and cons of voice recognition transcription.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Voters Think United States Healthcare System Needs Overhaul
Most American registered voters believe that our healthcare system needs real and massive change, according to a poll conducted by Research America. The poll found that:
At Global MedData, we are committed to bringing affordable technology without upfront investment, and open standards to ensure complete interoperability across platforms, clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. Our vision is web-based accessibility of health records for the industry and most importantly, for the benefit of the consumer.
http://www.researchamerica.org/media/releases/7.19.2007.yourcongresspoll.html
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
- Nearly 75% of responding voters thought that the United States healthcare system needs significant changes, if not a complete overhaul.
- Almost 75 percent oppose President Bush's cuts to the funding of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Approximately 60 percent of Americans think that the federal government has a responsibility to make sure that all Americans have healthcare coverage.
- Half of those surveyed think that there should be a nationally uniform system of electronic health records.
At Global MedData, we are committed to bringing affordable technology without upfront investment, and open standards to ensure complete interoperability across platforms, clinics, hospitals and pharmacies. Our vision is web-based accessibility of health records for the industry and most importantly, for the benefit of the consumer.
http://www.researchamerica.org/media/releases/7.19.2007.yourcongresspoll.html
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Making Practices More Efficient
"Why is it that societies' smartest people, those who pioneer the use of cutting-edge technology to advance the practice of medicine, are often last to embrace business technology that would make their practices far more efficient?"
Physicians won't hesitate to implement the latest proven diagnostic and treatment tools, the patient benefits are clear and justify the investment. But when it comes to their practice management, physicians are, by and large, technology challenged. Most still take notes with pens and clipboards, double-enter patient information on computers installed years or even decades ago, collaborate via inter-office faxes, and so on (as reported by a recent Rand Study).
Look no further than Congress for evidence that practice management is stuck in an '80s mindset. For years, legislators have been drumming up proposals devised to motivate health care organizations to embrace EHRs. Indeed, multiple bills are winding their way through Congress right now, including HR 2377, reintroduced by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), which uses tax abatements to encourage health care organizations to invest in HIT, specifically EHRs and e-prescriptions. Congress is throwing money at physicians to adopt a process - digital record keeping - that businesses in general have been using for more than 20 years. Health care's reluctance to modernize practice management and reimbursement systems has reached epidemic proportions. The primary symptom: spiraling health care costs put intensive downward pressure on physicians' revenue while, at the same time, put upward pressure on their costs. The result: another "catch 22" in the health care crisis.
The time has come for physicians to become advocates of IT solutions and services as modern and innovative as their diagnostic, treatment and surgical tools. By reducing costs, improving workflow and streamlining operations, modern management systems and services can help cure what ails the health care field, and resuscitate a struggling industry.
A recent RAND study determined that HIT (Health Information Technology), when properly implemented and widely adopted would save money and significantly improve health care quality, the two biggest issues facing the health care industry. HIT encompasses all aspects workflow, practice management and electronic prescriptions, transcriptions and EHR's. However, most available HIT technology have not provided physicians with realistic solutions. It can cost nearly half a million dollars to install an EHR system, plus around $10,000 a year in staff costs (per full-time physician) to operate, according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). And that doesn't factor in the ongoing technical staffing and IT costs, these more complicated systems require. Larger organizations can absorb these expenses, but smaller ones can be crushed by them. Compare that to the $10,009 in staff costs when managing paper records within a practice. No wonder that only 10 to 20 percent of physician's have installed EHRs. However, the web-based technology solutions that most EMR companies are not offering because they want your money, is the only HIT solution that makes sense to the physician.
Solutions:
The result: physicians will manage their medical offices better, improve patient treatment and increase efficiency. Our transcription module and workflow system is currently available and we plan to launch more EHR modules in the coming months. Please contact us if you are interested in receiving more information.
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
Physicians won't hesitate to implement the latest proven diagnostic and treatment tools, the patient benefits are clear and justify the investment. But when it comes to their practice management, physicians are, by and large, technology challenged. Most still take notes with pens and clipboards, double-enter patient information on computers installed years or even decades ago, collaborate via inter-office faxes, and so on (as reported by a recent Rand Study).
Look no further than Congress for evidence that practice management is stuck in an '80s mindset. For years, legislators have been drumming up proposals devised to motivate health care organizations to embrace EHRs. Indeed, multiple bills are winding their way through Congress right now, including HR 2377, reintroduced by Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), which uses tax abatements to encourage health care organizations to invest in HIT, specifically EHRs and e-prescriptions. Congress is throwing money at physicians to adopt a process - digital record keeping - that businesses in general have been using for more than 20 years. Health care's reluctance to modernize practice management and reimbursement systems has reached epidemic proportions. The primary symptom: spiraling health care costs put intensive downward pressure on physicians' revenue while, at the same time, put upward pressure on their costs. The result: another "catch 22" in the health care crisis.
The time has come for physicians to become advocates of IT solutions and services as modern and innovative as their diagnostic, treatment and surgical tools. By reducing costs, improving workflow and streamlining operations, modern management systems and services can help cure what ails the health care field, and resuscitate a struggling industry.
A recent RAND study determined that HIT (Health Information Technology), when properly implemented and widely adopted would save money and significantly improve health care quality, the two biggest issues facing the health care industry. HIT encompasses all aspects workflow, practice management and electronic prescriptions, transcriptions and EHR's. However, most available HIT technology have not provided physicians with realistic solutions. It can cost nearly half a million dollars to install an EHR system, plus around $10,000 a year in staff costs (per full-time physician) to operate, according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). And that doesn't factor in the ongoing technical staffing and IT costs, these more complicated systems require. Larger organizations can absorb these expenses, but smaller ones can be crushed by them. Compare that to the $10,009 in staff costs when managing paper records within a practice. No wonder that only 10 to 20 percent of physician's have installed EHRs. However, the web-based technology solutions that most EMR companies are not offering because they want your money, is the only HIT solution that makes sense to the physician.
Solutions:
- Outsource models that remove the IT burden from physicians. This is the smartest way to deliver IT solutions to an office that lacks IT expertise. This modular approach is particularly suited for small offices, and saves valuable time and money. Larger offices that have difficulty maintaining skilled staff will also find this approach very attractive.
- Solid functionality tailored to needs and specialty.
- Deep vendor experience in the industry, reflected directly in the software and services.
- Proven financial returns or return on investment.
The result: physicians will manage their medical offices better, improve patient treatment and increase efficiency. Our transcription module and workflow system is currently available and we plan to launch more EHR modules in the coming months. Please contact us if you are interested in receiving more information.
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Study shows an electronic medical records system can pay for itself within 16 months
A new study to be published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that one academic medical center recouped its investment in electronic health records within 16 months. The new analysis counters concerns of health care providers reluctant to invest in electronic medical records systems.
The widespread loss of paper medical records in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is one of several factors behind the recent push to get surgeons and other health care providers to go electronic, according to David A. Krusch, MD, FACS, of the University of Rochester Department of Surgery and co-author of the study.
"Health care providers most frequently cite cost as primary obstacle to adopting an electronic medical records system. And, until this point, evidence supporting a positive return on investment for electronic health records technologies has been largely anecdotal," said Dr. Krusch.
The study compared the cost of activities such as pulling charts, creating new charts, filing time, support staff salary, and transcription when done electronically in the third quarter of 2005, versus the cost of those same activities performed manually in the third quarter of 2003.
The University of Rochester Medical Center estimated that the new electronic medical records system reduced costs by $393,662 per year, nearly two-thirds of that coming from a sharp reduction in the time required to manually pull charts. Given that its electronic system cost $484,577 to install and operate, it took the University of Rochester Medical Center 16 months to recoup its investment. After the first year, it cost about $114,016 annually to operate the new system.
Global Meddata's iTranscript has near zero investment and no annual maintenance costs because it's Internet enabled and a pay as you go system. Just download your audio files and receive the transcribed documents within hours by e-mail or secure web-based access - ready for integration into your existing systems through our transcription lifecycle workflow management. Studies show savings of up to 40% using iTranscript.
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
The widespread loss of paper medical records in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina is one of several factors behind the recent push to get surgeons and other health care providers to go electronic, according to David A. Krusch, MD, FACS, of the University of Rochester Department of Surgery and co-author of the study.
"Health care providers most frequently cite cost as primary obstacle to adopting an electronic medical records system. And, until this point, evidence supporting a positive return on investment for electronic health records technologies has been largely anecdotal," said Dr. Krusch.
The study compared the cost of activities such as pulling charts, creating new charts, filing time, support staff salary, and transcription when done electronically in the third quarter of 2005, versus the cost of those same activities performed manually in the third quarter of 2003.
The University of Rochester Medical Center estimated that the new electronic medical records system reduced costs by $393,662 per year, nearly two-thirds of that coming from a sharp reduction in the time required to manually pull charts. Given that its electronic system cost $484,577 to install and operate, it took the University of Rochester Medical Center 16 months to recoup its investment. After the first year, it cost about $114,016 annually to operate the new system.
Global Meddata's iTranscript has near zero investment and no annual maintenance costs because it's Internet enabled and a pay as you go system. Just download your audio files and receive the transcribed documents within hours by e-mail or secure web-based access - ready for integration into your existing systems through our transcription lifecycle workflow management. Studies show savings of up to 40% using iTranscript.
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
Thursday, July 12, 2007
President Clinton Advocates Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
Clinton advocated an electronic medical records (EMR) law in his keynote address at the CTIA Wireless trade show in Orlando, Fla. The former President also referred to a recent McKinsey & Co. study that estimates EMR could cut US$100 billion of administrative costs of the U.S. health care system, on which Americans spend $800 billion per year.
That's the number-one thing that can be done right now to make the American health care system more efficient and cut costs, Clinton said. For one thing, EMR would save the cost of patients recounting their medical history every time they change doctors, which can also introduce errors because they may misremember things, he said.
President George Bush wants a system of universal health-records by 2015. And Medicare, the government-run health scheme for pensioners, is shifting to a tiered reimbursement system in which it pays doctors more if they go electronic. Employers are also keen on technology, since it promises to curb health-care costs and improve efficiency. And the consumer wants access and portability which most current systems don't allow due to proprietary systems.
Technology can improve patient outcomes while saving physicians money. Global MedData's web based transcription module is a key component of EMR and it's based on open standards, portability and inexpensive to implement. Global MedData has consistently achieved 40-60% savings and over 95% accuracy for clinics and hospitals that now no longer need to buy complicated and expensive EMR software systems.
Stay tuned, as we'll be bringing more affordable modules as part of a comprehensive EMR/EHR Internet based system.
URL: http://www.intergovworld.com/article/9f8d4ba50a01040800f483b495c7a9ef/pg0.htm
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
That's the number-one thing that can be done right now to make the American health care system more efficient and cut costs, Clinton said. For one thing, EMR would save the cost of patients recounting their medical history every time they change doctors, which can also introduce errors because they may misremember things, he said.
President George Bush wants a system of universal health-records by 2015. And Medicare, the government-run health scheme for pensioners, is shifting to a tiered reimbursement system in which it pays doctors more if they go electronic. Employers are also keen on technology, since it promises to curb health-care costs and improve efficiency. And the consumer wants access and portability which most current systems don't allow due to proprietary systems.
Technology can improve patient outcomes while saving physicians money. Global MedData's web based transcription module is a key component of EMR and it's based on open standards, portability and inexpensive to implement. Global MedData has consistently achieved 40-60% savings and over 95% accuracy for clinics and hospitals that now no longer need to buy complicated and expensive EMR software systems.
Stay tuned, as we'll be bringing more affordable modules as part of a comprehensive EMR/EHR Internet based system.
URL: http://www.intergovworld.com/article/9f8d4ba50a01040800f483b495c7a9ef/pg0.htm
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K. For more information email us at: info@globalmeddata.net
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Global MedData Launches New Blog
Global MedData's iTranscript™ ASP Web application is the next generation solution providing a high level of facilitation of all activities in the entire transcription management process. iTranscript™ offers a range of customizable features to meet physician clients’ requirements with focus on quality, service, costs, fast turnaround time and seamless integration into existing operational systems from small practices to large medical institutions. Unlike many other EMR solutions costing hundreds and even thousands of dollars, there is no investment cost, no software to buy and no compatibility issues with Global MedData's solutions, making it affordable for physicians in small practices to large hospitals. Modules include: Digital Voice Transcriptor, Transcript Synchronizer and Editor, Integration, Security and Audit Management, Enterprise Transcription Management and Transcript Repository.
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K.
Global MedData is a provider of digital transcription services and EHR to physician practices and clinics in the U.S. and to the National Health Service Hospitals in the U.K.
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