PRN Funding is Racing for The Place

On Sunday, June 6, 2010, PRN Funding employees and their families will be participating in The Gathering Place’s 5K Race for the Pace.

We set an optimistic goal to raise $2,500 for the organization, and we’ve already donated $1000 to get the ball rolling.

Check out PRN Funding’s progress!

Presented by Medical Mutual and University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center, Race for the Place is held  to benefit The Gathering Place, which is a local Cleveland organization that provides free programs and services to individuals and families touched by cancer.

Transcription Battle over Spheris

In February, the nation’s second largest medical transcription provider, Spheris, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and filed documents  stating that it would sell its American and Canadian assets to MedQuist, Inc. If the sale were to go through, MedQuist would become the America’s largest medical transcription provider.

Since the announcement of the Spheris-MedQuist deal, there have been several complaints:

  • Nuance objected the deal because it would give MedQuist an unfair advantage over other potential bidders.
  • MutilModal Technologies, Inc., who provides SRT to Spheris, filed a complaint saying the sale would put the company’s intellectual property at risk because MedQuist is a competitor.
  • Oracle objected the deal because the sale would allow an unauthorized transfer of Oracle’s software that’s used in Spheris’ applications.

A bankruptcy judge was scheduled to hold an auction of Spheris’ assets on April 13.

Click here to read the entire article: Spheris auction set to shake up medical transcription industry.

More Docs Adopting Health Information Technology

For years, physicians have been resisting advanced technologies, but according to an article in For The Record magazine, times are a changing.

In the past, physicians have been reluctant to adopt new technologies is because it would mean doctors would have to devote more time towards patient documentation. Other reasons why physicians were not interested in adapting is because of the costs involved with adding infrastructure, training and learning new technologies and realigning the workflow process.

However, the onset of user-friendly mHealth (mobile health) applications coupled with recent medical school graduates entering the profession with mounds of technology experience from the classroom is changing the scene.

In addition, as speech recognition technology continues to improve, more physicians are sure to adopt it into their everyday lifestyle. Moreover, there is a movement toward more mobile offerings designed for physician interface and documentation are the trend among SRT vendors. In short, the iPhone is a popular gadget for doctors, so SRT vendors are trying to make their technology incorporate smoothly with the iPhone technology.

Ruthann Russo, PhD, JD, MPH, RHIT, a documentation specialist who was interviewed for the article said, “There is a clear need for an integrated IT platform that will do the following:

  • improve quality, safety, efficiency, and reduce health disparities;
  • engage patients and families
  • improve care coordination
  • improve population and public health; and
  • ensure adequate privacy security protections for PHRs(patient health records)”

Click here to read the entire article: Physician Documentation: Slow No More

21st Annual MTIA Conference Welcomes PRN Funding as Exhibitor

Daytona Beach, FL–PRN Funding, LLC will be exhibiting at the MTIA conference in the Hilton Ocean Walk Village hotel in Daytona Beach from April 28-May 1, and the medical transcription invoice funding company is eager to speak with MTSOs about the many benefits of accounts receivable factoring.

PRN Funding’s President, Phil Cohen, and Account Manager, Joanna Schafer, will be exhibiting in booth #23. Transcription service owners who are interested in learning more about PRN Funding’s medical transcription factoring program are encouraged to visit with both Phil and Joanna during open exhibit hall times.

With years of experience in the medical transcription industry, PRN Funding has a precise understanding of the unique challenges within the medical transcription industry. PRN Funding offers financial resources to these companies by purchasing their accounts receivable–a process known as ‘factoring,’ which provides the cash needed to sustain and grow a medical transcription business.

New AHDI/MTIA Career Connection Launches

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) recently announced the launch of the new and improved Career Connection web site: www.careerconnection.ahdionline.org.

It’s designed to connect medical transcriptionist and healthcare documentation specialist employers with the largest, most qualified audience of medical transcription industry professionals.

Specifically, the online medical transcription job board offers the following:

  1. Easy online management of job postings, including job activity reports
  2. Access to search-able resume database
  3. Competitive pricing
  4. Automatic email notification when new resumes match your criteria
  5. Resume posting for MT job seekers

Prepping for National Medical Transcription Week 2010

National Medical Transcription Week is May 17-23, 2010, and MTIA has a message:

With our nation engaged in dialogue around healthcare reform, and healthcare delivery engaged in discussions around what “meaningful use” of EHRs will look like, there has never been a more important time for the healthcare documentation sector to stand up and demonstrate its contributory value to these critical issues.

Per the MTIA Blog, providers, medical transcriptionists and MTSOs are encouraged to print the MT Week poster and place it post it in your workplace, share it with your clients, and promote it to regulatory agencies and legislators.

In addition, if you are an MT or MT employer, consider an investment in this future value proposition by enrolling yourself or your employees in our Speech Recognition Editing Course and receive a special $100 discount off the cost of registration for May and June courses in celebration of MT Week.

Is Offshore Transcription a Good Idea?

The Volume 22, Number 5 issue of For The Record magazine had an interesting article entitled: Offshore Transcription: A Seaworthy Choice. For the benefit of our medical transcription blog readers,  the medical transcription funding specialists at PRN Funding took the liberty of summarizing the article’s key points below:

First and foremost, the offshore medical transcription industry is growing, with the Philippines and India leading the market share. One major reason for the increase in popularity is cost savings. In fact, Sharon Fremer (VP of transcription for Precyse Solutions) said that the average savings can amount to 15%-20%. In addition, the U.S. can benefit by utilizing offshore transcriptionists to make up for shortages in the profession in the states.

Still, there are some who continue to oppose sending transcription overseas. Chris Simons (RHIA, director of utilization management and HIM and the privacy officer at Spring Harbor Hospital) told the magazine that she believes the risks outweigh the benefits. Particularly, Simons doubts the security of sending files overseas, and she feels that keeping jobs in the U.S. will help raise salaries in an industry where employees are typically underpaid.

The article also included 10 Questions that providers should ask when considering an offshore medical transcription option:

  1. How can the offshore vendor ensure security, including both audio files and transcribed data?
  2. Do U.S. facilities have the ability to track and audit records in real-time?
  3. Do the foreign transcriptionists work in a secure environment? This is especially important, as the trend for American transcriptionists is to work from home.
  4. What is the disaster plan to weather-related or other type of operational disaster occurs?
  5. How often will the American facility  audit the offshore transcription service?
  6. What types of training do offshore MTs receive (including English language)?
  7. If there is a question regarding unclear dictation, how will the query be handled?
  8. What happens if an offshore medical transcription does not meet quality standards?
  9. What is the turnaround time?
  10. Does the offshore transcription service provide around-the-clock coverage?

For more information, check out the March 15th edition of For The Record.