How do Transcend’s transcription services work?
Who are Transcend’s customers?
How are Transcend’s customer service processes different from those of its competitors?
How is Transcend’s data center different from those of its competitors?
What is Transcend’s quality assurance process?
How has Transcend changed its practices in the face of HIPAA regulations?
Tell me more about Transcend’s BeyondTXT Platform.


How do Transcend’s transcription services work?
Transcend’s home-based medical language specialists convert physicians' voice recordings into electronic medical record documents using the company’s Web-based, secure transcription platform. Physicians may dictate from several dictation products on the market (including new handheld devices) or any phone (including hospital- or clinic-based transcription stations, an office- or home-based land line). Dictated information is securely captured in a digital format in the company's central voice hub in Atlanta, Ga. Transcend’s home-based transcriptionists access these files over the Internet and transcribe the recorded voice to create electronic documents, which are then returned to the Atlanta hub over the Internet. The documents may then be accessed by remote quality assurance personnel, and are then automatically delivered to the healthcare provider. Typically, documents are produced and delivered in less than 24 hours of a physician’s dictation, with STAT requests having a significantly faster turnaround time.

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Who are Transcend’s customers?
Transcend solutions are in use in health systems and integrated delivery networks, hospitals, clinics and individual physician practices. We currently process nearly one million lines per day. We accept digital voice files from more than 50,000 physicians at more than 160 organizations in the U.S.

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How are Transcend’s customer service processes different from those of its competitors?
At Transcend, customer service is not just a department. Instead, our whole operation has been designed with the customer in mind. While we offer centralized transcription management for tight turnaround, security and quality, we also offer individual customers local account management for personalized, knowledgeable service. Dictation tools are easily accessible, and we can even make use of dictation created with other vendors’ tools. We give you online access to your transcribed reports, making it easy to see where documents are in the process. And with electronic distribution, your physicians get their reports quickly, at the location(s) where the reports are needed.

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How is Transcend’s data center different from those of its competitors?
Transcend maintains one centralized data center for all transcription activities. This fully integrated, redundant and scalable facility allows us to provide implementation and processing capacity to accommodate customers of any size and scope.

All dictation is captured in our central data center where it is prepared, managed and routed. From there files are distributed, based on priority and difficulty, to a network of highly skilled, company-employed, medical language specialists. Our national network allows us to assign the most appropriate transcriptionists to each customer, to meet volume fluctuations and ensure that turnaround requirements are met.

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What is Transcend’s quality assurance process?
We do a lot of things to ensure the highest and most consistent quality for our customers. We begin by selecting the most qualified people, whom we train and then certify for accuracy. These medical language specialists (MLSs) are given access to tools to increase their accuracy and efficiency throughout their tenure, as well as 24/7 technical and document assistance support. Work done by each Transcend MLS expert undergoes periodic, retrospective evaluation for accuracy and medical correctness. Transcend’s QA program utilizes the AHDI guidelines as a starting point, but furthers the process by adding monitoring and evaluation processes. We believe the result is one of the most stringent and comprehensive QA guidelines in the industry.

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How has Transcend changed its practices in the face of HIPAA regulations?
Security and confidentiality is at the core of what we do. We are fully compliant with applicable HIPAA regulations and other relevant laws pertaining to security and confidentiality.

If you have additional questions about HIPAA, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Web site at www.cms.hhs.gov.

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Tell me more about Transcend’s BeyondTXT Platform.
We have created a state-of-the-art, integrated platform for dictation and transcription—the BeyondTXT Platform—that allows physician voice files to be quickly and securely captured and translated to electronic medical documents. Our applications are based on standard, open architecture. We use SQL database, applications such as Microsoft WORD, and widely accepted Web-based technology. Our database structure is very easy to expand.

The BeyondTXT Dictation Platform
Customers have 24/7 access to Transcend’s centralized dictation platform (located in our fault- tolerant and secure data center) via dedicated toll-free telephone numbers. The dictation platform is continually monitored, supported, available and secure. Because we maintain and upgrade it, your organization won’t have to buy or support dictation equipment. But our services are flexible enough to support dictation created via other systems, such as hand-held devices or other popular dictation products, if those are already in use by your organization.

The BeyondTXT Transcription Platform
We’ve automated the workflow involved in transcription so that our medical language specialists receive as much "pre-built" information from the data flow as possible. This means preformatted demographics and headers via a real-time ADT interface with your HIS system and the use of physician- or hospital-created templates. We’ve also built extensions to Microsoft WORD to enhance MLS productivity and accuracy. And when the document is finished, our automated system helps queue up the document for exception processing, additional review, or delivery.

Electronic Document Distribution
When your documents are completed, we distribute them to your network. From there, documents can be delivered to printers, HIS systems, data repositories, or the BeyondTXT Web Console. We can also fax directly from our network.

You will define your desired document delivery schedule and transcribed documents will be automatically delivered on this schedule. Our proprietary status monitor program continually monitors assigned print devices and interface connections, so that we’ll know if there is a problem with document delivery.

We have extensive experience in interface development and maintenance. Our experience extends to standard and custom HL7 interfaces, as well as non-HL7 interfaces such as COLD feeds, text files and WORD documents. Transcend currently has outbound interfaces to a variety of third-party electronic systems, including McKesson, SoftMed, Lanier, Meditech, EPIC and Cerner.

Management and Quality Review Tools
BeyondTXT Console—our client-server document management application used by HIM professionals—and the BeyondTXT Web Console—its Web-based alternative—allow customers to easily and securely monitor, edit and re-distribute transcribed documents. These applications are designed to give you: (1) information about where your documents are in the transcription process; and (2) control over document changes after delivery.