There are many factors that should be considered when selecting a medical transcription company. Price, turn-around time and quality are the most obvious, but others such as customer support,  years in operation, country of origin, certifications and inclusions of technology should also be thought about. These lesser factors (like years in operation) have more of an impact than one would think. If a company has been around for 10 years, they must be doing something right. And obviously everyone wants a fast turn-around time because nobody wants to wait around for something they paid good money for.

When considering whether or not to use  medical transcription services, consider the factor of cost. A medical transcription company can not only save your organization valuable time, but also cut costs. Firstly, you won’t need to waste time by having doctors and other similar employees doing non-core activities (like their own medical transcription). You also won’t need to pay a team of medical transcribers which reduces the payroll as well as cost of employee benefits. You can also be assured that a medical transcription company will be keeping up to date with the latest technologies and software in the field, which means that your organization won’t have to waste time and money worrying about such things.

The amount of time a medical transcription company has been in business can usually say a lot of things about the company – if it has been in business longer, they are probably going to be able to work with almost any EMR. Also, if the company has been in business a long time they will have many great referrals on hand that you can contact and talk to about their experiences with said company. The longer a good company has been in business, the more clients they should have that you can talk to.

Another major factor is whether or not the company is based in the USA or overseas. Many American-based organizations have started outsourcing because they believe it can save money – when in fact it does not. If the company is USA-based, you can be assured that the employees will all be able to easily work in English as a native language, and not a second or third language. There won’t be the usual problems of a language barrier which you get when you work with outsourced companies, and you won’t have to worry about any translation issues in the work you assign them either. You are also guaranteed that the company will be following all HIPAA regulations, which international companies are not required to do. Many of the employees at USA-based medical transcription companies are certified medical transcriptionists (CMTs) which ensures that they are going to get the work done right.

The amount of customer support which a medical transcription company offers should also aide in your decision. If you find an error or run into technological issues, you wouldn’t want to wait until the next business day before you could contact someone. Many companies offer 24/7/365 support – a valuable resource, especially if you have a lot of transcribing getting done. The best part is that this service is free to you! As a customer, they factor in customer support to the cost of getting your work done, and it can be well worth it in the end.

Pricing should also be considered.   Oracle Transcription prides itself in offering competitive pricing structures, even when compared to offshore companies. Pricing can come in up to 10% lower at times as well.  It is not inherently necessary to outsource your transcription needs overseas .  Always hire a company that has a great reputation, you can be guaranteed high quality work with a quick turn-around time with the same or better price points.

The extent to which a company includes technology in their work should influence your decision as well. A good company should be up-to-date on all the latest software in the transcription field, as well as EMRs. They should also be using a solid and reliable platform for their work, to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Many of the best medical transcription companies can even give live demos of the services they can offer you with the plethora of technology available to them.

Keeping the above factors in mind, finding the medical transcription company that is best suited to you or your organization shouldn’t be quite so difficult. Each company has something slightly different to offer you, and those differences are what should guide your choice.