Once you narrow your list of potential providers to those that meet your requirements for turnaround time, accuracy, security, and outsourcing practices, it's time to compare them in more detail. The most effective way to do this is to simply try them out.
Many providers will let you do a trial run at no charge – take advantage of this. There is very little overhead involved in setting up an account, so it's worthwhile to send a recording or two to each of the providers you're investigating. Some medical transcription services may limit the length of these trial transcriptions, so don't expect complete transcripts of complicated diagnoses.
For each of these trials, pay attention to the details of how the provider works and results such as:
How long does it take them to respond?
Is the accuracy of the transcript close to 100%?
Are their customer service reps helpful and friendly?
Of course the provider will give your transcript a little extra attention because you're evaluating them, so you should expect top-notch service. But you can get a useful sense of how each medical transcription service compares in their reporting, communications, and response time.
Other considerations
Ask if you'll have a dedicated team of MTs assigned to your account. One advantage to working with such a provider over the long term is that their transcriptionists will become familiar with your practice, including each doctor's tendencies and accent. It can also make sense to learn how long the average MT tenure is at the service; high turnover means you'll need to constantly bring new MTs up to speed.
MTs become specialists the same as doctors do: one MT may be more familiar with radiology and imaging, while another specializes in arthroscopic surgery. Some transcription services will let you request specific MTs with each set of notes you submit, which can be very useful for specialty practices.
Generally, transcription results are returned in fairly plain text formats. If you need your transcripts in more specific formats, look for a medical transcription service who will work with you to develop templates they'll use for all your transcripts.
