Any patient encounter can be recorded and transcribed with the help of medical transcription services. Voice recording helps in documenting the medical history, treatment plan, and other details of a patient’s encounter with the doctor and it also ensures that the patient understands the complex diagnosis and treatment protocols. It is useful in cases where the doctor cannot take proper notes during the patient interview because of frequent interruptions or busy schedule and such other issues.
Professional medical transcriptionists listen to physicians’ dictations and generate accurate medical records that are very important when it comes to providing the right care and attention to patients.
Apart from providing extra information to patients and protecting patients and clinicians in the event of misunderstandings or legal action, such recordings can have some other advantages: these can be used to educate healthcare professionals; the recording of medical and nursing students’ patient talks can be used for training purposes; these records would also be useful for quality, safety, and performance improvement, as well as for research and abuse case documentation.
Five Reasons Why Doctors Utilize Medical Transcription Services for Accurate Documentation
- To Ensure Patient Adherence to Medications: Medication adherence rates are at an all-time low of 50%, according to a 2016 study published in The American Journal of Medical Sciences. While many physicians felt that the low rates were due to a lack of availability (think high costs), the study discovered that the issue is more nuanced. In fact, the paper identified communication as a major stumbling block. Patients are less inclined to take a medicine if they don’t comprehend why it would help them. Medical transcripts created by professional transcription services enable patients to have a written record of why and how they should take their medicine each day. These medical transcripts can also be shared with family members to ensure better patient care.
- A Feeling of Having Control: Delivering bad news is the most difficult part of a doctor’s job. When a patient is informed about his/her serious health condition, they may become overwhelmed. They may have a number of questions such as “how do I get better?” “are there successful treatments for my condition?” and so on. They may want information such as what’s next, which expert to visit, what to expect, what various outcomes might look like, and so on. Having a recording of the patient encounter and transcribing it helps the physician and the care team to have a clear idea of the patient’s health condition. Moreover, they can also clarify any doubts they may have.
- Take the Conversation to a Higher Level: Doctors always face questions. Calls with follow-up questions are common from patients who keep track of their appointments. Recording and transcribing patient encounters can help respond to these phone calls. It’s no longer about re-answering the same queries a few days later, but rather about responding to fascinating, insightful follow-ups. It shows that the patients are gaining greater knowledge of their interactions and, as a result, are more prepared to consider their health more seriously in the future.
- Collaboration in Health Care: Positive medical results are frequently associated with good family involvement. Patients who underwent cardiothoracic surgery and had family members active in a family support program, for example, were considerably less likely to be readmitted to the hospital, according to a 2018 study published in the Chest Journal. Patients require their families for a variety of reasons, not only surgery. Your family knows you best, for better or worse. The ability to share appointment recordings and transcripts ensures that everyone in the family is aware of any potential adverse effects from medications or symptoms that are progressing. When releasing a transcript, it allows someone in the family who has a higher level of medical literacy such as a nurse or pharmacy technician, to help explain things to other family members who may not understand.
- Protecting Your Reputation: Recordings can be beneficial in demonstrating all of the things a doctor did correctly. Recording and transcribing the patient encounter brings things out into the open—much better than a patient secretly taping your conversation.
From all the above-mentioned reasons it is clear that recording and transcribing patient encounters with the help of a reliable medical transcription company enables physicians to maintain accurate medical records, and provide better patient care. Above all, the transcripts act as a proof in case of any litigation. It also helps the patients and their family to have a clear idea about the patient’s health condition, ongoing treatments, whether the treatments are effective and so on.
