ABC Physician Dictation
Getting the dictation from point A to C
Whether you have ambitions of working from home on 1-2 physician accounts or dream
of building an empire, the medical transcription service owner has several issues
regarding dictation that must be addressed prior to contracting with the first customer.
Transcription service owners must keep in mind that the physician’s greatest interest is
providing quality healthcare services to their patients and focus their time on patient
care. Providing the most flexible dictation options will be a win-win for physicians,
patients and the transcription service owner.
Dictation preferences will vary from physician to physician. Some physicians may
choose to dictate via telephone system while others might make the investment to using
a digital voice recorder or handheld units (walkabouts). If you can offer either of these
services, then you are likely able to satisfy their dictation needs.
Telephone/call-in dictation
Toll-free number. Usually established through the service owners’ phone company, the
service owner may incur charges for using a toll-free number. In many cases these
charges are then passed on to the physicians. The phone company will bill the charges
based on the amount of minutes used. Since physicians have a tendency to not hang up
the phone when finished dictating, or may have to step away from the phone to take
another phone call, often times the phone is left off the hook and minutes are
accumulating. The service owner should have the ability to track the phone usage for
monitoring and maintenance of such events.
Handheld units. There are advantages and disadvantages to using the digital voice
recorders. One advantage is that tapes are no longer required. With a digital voice
recorder handheld unit, the dictation can be sent via an upload process such as FTP or
via email. A few notable disadvantages: that the user must be aware of the battery
power available, not to allow the battery to run out in the middle of the dictation and the
user must be aware of the storage capacity on the memory card.
Digital voice recorders can be purchased with a battery charger, usually a bit more
expensive but it is well worth it. As for the memory card, dictators may tend to lose track
of the amount of dictation they have on their recording device and may run out of
recording space and not know it. Speaking from experience, this is a no win situation for
the physician, the medical office staff and the patient.
Many of the digital voice recorders do more than just allow the user to dictate. I
recommend a thorough comparison of the makes and models to assure you are
selecting a model that will meet the needs of the physician and office. Note the technical
specifications such as the file format the voice is recorded in (DSS, WMA,WAV, DS2),
and become well educated. Once you are well educated, it is extremely important the
user and office staff is trained on the voice recorder's general use, known pitfalls, and
troubleshooting.