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Scribe Healthcare Technologies Exceeds 6,000 Users [2006-04-20]
Scribe Healthcare Technologies, a leading healthcare technology company based in the Chicago area, today announced growth has exceeded 6,000 users. Scribe platform users include physicians, clinicians, administrative personnel, and transcriptionists.
Lake Forest, IL (PRWEB) April 20, 2006 -- Scribe Healthcare Technologies, a leading healthcare technology company based in the Chicago area, today announced growth has exceeded 6,000 users. Scribe platform users include physicians, clinicians, administrative personnel, and transcriptionists.
“Until recently our growth has been primarily organic, selling to hospitals and profit driven medical practices. In 2005 we started targeting Medical Transcription Service Organizations (MTSOs) using our technology to run their businesses. Now with the launch of a joint venture “in2scribe”, we hope to become the foremost industry resource for MTSOs.” says Vice President of Sales Marketing, John Weiss. “As a result our growth rate continues to ramp.”
Scribe technologies are modular and Web-based, leveraging the Internet and standard Microsoft applications. Scribe offers a variety of technologies that help MTSO manage their business, recruit and train transcriptionists.
About Scribe Healthcare Technologies, Inc.Scribe Healthcare Technologies is a privately-held healthcare technology company based in the Chicago area. The company has developed a proprietary web-based platform that complements and extends the value for patient registration, Practice/Hospital Management and EMR Solutions. Scribe’s platform includes complete solutions for dictation, transcription, document management, EMR-Lite, Web portal, online prescriptions and reporting with data analytics.
Scribe serves more than 6,000 users. Business partners and resellers include consulting firms, transcription companies, and business process outsourcers. Additional information is available at www.scribe.com.
About in2scribeIn April 2005, the owners of Scribe Healthcare Technologies, EFD Transcription Services, and PENATCLE Electronic Records and Systems fulfilled their dream to create a network that would pull together resources to help to improve the efficiency, productivity, and profitability of the highly fragmented, mid-sized medical transcription firms.
Utilizing the talents and experience of our members, a common technology infrastructure, and a central management point, in2scribe offers a menu of services to our members including new profit centers, benefit plans, level-loading of your work load, and more. More information is available at www.in2scribe.com.
Management? [2008-10-29]
I've been in this a good long while too and hear what you are saying about organizing. Many of us believe there has to be a better way.
Oneparadox in the MT-landthat has always puzzled me in the 10 or so places I worked: Why does any promotion from within a company result in less pay? I am a highly efficient producer of quality, so I have often been targeted for management, proofing, QA type positions, only to need to turn them down when I learn it involves at least a$5/hr pay CUT! I suppose the plus side is not having the pressure of production, but does this mean all the slowest, least efficient producers are in the lead positions? This is one of many things that does not make sense in the MT industry.
How can we sell the value of what we do? What magic PR would work? The bottom line is companies and hospitals need to cut corners, but if we could somehow convince them the corners they are cutting could be patient lives based on documentation errors, that would be key. We all have a stake in the nationwide shortage of MTs currently pegged at 40,000 and HIM supervisors pegged at 10,000.
Yet under current conditions of wages literally staying the same for the past decade despite credentialing, continuing education, and high quality, I think it will take a huge top-down or bottom up approach toenforce nationwide standards that really include MTs at the table.
Part of the problem is way bigger than us--the fragmented nature of healthcare in the US in general, and health documentation specifically. Can you imagine if every hospital, clinic and MT company had the same QA standards? Used the same IT network?Literally every place I have worked has a different system for QA, a different software platform, a different judge of what is adequate.
I am considering education inHIM because I want to: 1)Earn more and collaborate with others to solve problems, 2) Use my years of experience as an MT to benefit other MTs, 3) Not throw the baby out with the bathwater by neglecting years of education and proficiency in order to become a waitress and earn more in tips than I can transcribing my fingers to the bone!
There has to be some value in our collectiveexperience, and I have tried to support AHDI but with the down-spiraling economy, I cannot afford to renew my membership this year and will be paying off my state AHDI convention costs on my credit card for the next year. There has to be a better way!!
VBC stands for visible black character. They are trying to drive our salary down even further! [2007-05-26]
VBC means no payment for spaces, formating, paragraphs, nothing. These HIM department people just sit at the desks all day coming up with more ways tocut our pay even more the whole while theycollectingsalaries increases yearly, and AHID (formally AAMT) will probably endorse this as a way to brown nose other healthcare-related industries to get them to become members, thereby increasing AHID (AAMT memberships with dues/revenue pretty much the same way they did with overseas transcription companies, which as everybody knows has resulted in lower pay for US transcription.
DocQment(TM) Ovation - MedQuist Launches Next-Generation [2006-07-07]
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., June 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today's healthcare providers face what appear to be several conflicting challenges in the area of dictation. Pressures to decrease costs and improve productivity must be weighed against the need to demonstrate compliance and increase physician choice and satisfaction. To help its customers meet these challenges, Medquist Inc. (Pink Sheets: MEDQ) has introduced DocQment(TM) Ovation, a Web-based, enterprise digital voice capture and transport solution.
Studies by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (http://www.himss.org/) have shown that when considering the purchase of a new dictation system, providers value HIPAA compliance most highly, followed by Web-based, centralized administration and automatic document routing. Because Ovation is Web-based, it offers easy-to-use tools to manage documents, users and workflow from any computer with Internet access, creating numerous opportunities for productivity improvement. Physicians can select from a variety of options for capturing their dictation, including telephones, PDAs, and desktop computer-based dictation devices.
DocQment Ovation is our newest technology innovation developed in direct response to industry feedback and providers' interest in replacing previous- generation dictation systems, says Scott Bennett, MedQuist senior vice president of Sales and Marketing. An integral component of our growing technology portfolio, Ovation helps to provide an end-to-end solution from dictation to billing, including front-end and back-end speech recognition.
Document Ovation was specifically engineered to be compatible with MedQuist's previous-generation dictation stations, thus facilitating the retention and recruitment of transcriptionists, and making it easy for providers to upgrade with little or no physician retraining required. Deployed at the customer's location, Ovation provides an enterprise view that allows transcription supervisors to easily manage users, documents and voice files from a single dashboard instead of using multiple systems. Ovation's sophisticated configuration options enable administrators to easily track work and share resources in order to get the right document to the right Transcriptionist at the right time.
According to Emmy Weber, MedQuist vice president of Product Management, Breakthrough capabilities engineered into DocQment Ovation, like the ability to define the date that begins the aging process for documents (including admit date and date of discharge), give users better information at the point of dictation to improve workflow, accuracy and report routing.
With MedQuist's help, we configured DocQment Ovation around the way we do business, says Wanda Newton, HIM director at Maury Regional Healthcare System, a three-hospital system located in Tennessee. With Ovation, we are now managing our hospitals and departments more efficiently. We saw a 34 percent increase in productivity in the first two months of use of Ovation, a positive trend that we expect will continue.
Ovation is available for immediate installation. For more information, contact a local MedQuist representative or dial 1-877-489-1500 for sales assistance.
MedQuist, a member of the Philips Group of Companies, is a leading provider of clinical documentation workflow solutions in support of the electronic health record. MedQuist provides electronic medical transcription, health information and document management products and services, including digital dictation, speech recognition, Web-based transcription, electronic signature, medical coding, mobile dictation devices, and outsourcing services.
CBaySystems Introduces CBayFlo VoiceDirect [2006-07-07]
ANNAPOLIS, Md., July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- CBaySystems Services, Inc., one of the industry's fastest-growing providers of medical transcription solutions, today announced the general availability of CBayFlo VoiceDirect -- its own automated digital dictation and voice capture system.
Using CBayFlo VoiceDirect, everyone involved in the medical transcription process -- physicians, HIMs, and transcriptionists -- is able to take advantage of greater speed, quality and security, from capture, to review, to transcription, to approval, to records management and archiving.
At its core, CBayFlo VoiceDirect enables physicians to dictate into any digital recording device -- a PDA, tablet PC, desktop or phone -- and have it securely captured for transcription. Highly accurate, and featuring natural language processing, it eliminates the time and cost of manually transcribing recorded dictation.
With the introduction of CBayFlo VoiceDirect, hospitals who are dependent on expensive, proprietary dictation systems from Dictaphone, DVI, and Lanier can enjoy new freedom and flexibility. CBayFlo VoiceDirect incorporates the same features and quality at a significantly lower price. At the same time, it is built on an open technology platform that allows it to interface with legacy Dictaphone, DVI, Lanier and home-grown systems. This allows a smooth migration path (with zero training) as well as easy integration with other HIM systems.
By developing our own technology, we're able to seamlessly integrate the power of voice into every component of our CBayFlo platform, said Christopher Foley, President of CBaySystems Services. Our commitment to RD means we're no longer reliant on a third party system, and can deliver more of the benefits from this powerful technology -- and significant savings -- directly to our customers.
Some of the specific benefits of CBayFlo VoiceDirect include:
* High security and voice quality -- resulting in better quality records,
and easier workflow
* Compliance with the latest HIPAA regulations and technologies
* Customized/advanced reporting capabilities, through a secure web portal:
making it easy for HIMs to review and manage the entire workflow process
Part of a Comprehensive CBayFlo Technology Suite
CBayFlo VoiceDirect is just one of the components of the CBayFlo System -- a fully-integrated technology platform that manages medical transcription records at every stage of their lifecycle, from dictation and scheduling, through transcription, editing, web-based management, and long-term archiving.
Unlike other systems that force hospitals into a fixed process, CBayFlo is flexible and customizable to work the way you want to work. All processes and workflows can be configured to your exact business and information/reporting requirements.
Specific components of this powerful technology platform include:
* CBayFlo DocView: advanced document viewing/editing/reporting
* CBayFlo VoiceRecord: software for PDAs and digital recorders that allows voice to be uploaded to the web, and offloaded to a dictation server for transcription
* CBayFlo eDemographics: an HL7 interface engine to exchange data with other HIM and patient records
* CBayFlo Enterprise Document Manager: hospitals can manage and track the transcription process through a web-based portal
-- CBayFlo DocuTrack: real-time updates of the status of each record and file
-- CBayFlo DocView: document view/edit
-- CBayFlo E-signature: document e-sign
-- CBayFlo DocXchange: an HL7 compatible interface engine
As an ASP application (no additional hardware or software is required for the hospital to purchase), CBayFlo is extremely secure and reliable, with multiple levels of redundancy incorporated into its standard architecture.
The CBayFlo platform represents an important component of the WorldClass Advantage we deliver to our customers every day, noted Foley. By providing advanced technology, hospitals and physician practices can significantly reduce costs and save time -- allowing them to devote more resources to improving patient care.
Spheris Completes Acquisition of Vianeta Communications [2006-05-11]
FRANKLIN, Tenn., May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Spheris, a leadingglobal provider of medical transcription technology and services, todayannounced the completion of its acquisition of Vianeta Communications, aleading developer and supplier of enterprise-wide clinical documentationtechnology for hospitals, health systems and group practices. The acquisition further expands Spheris' ability to deploy technologyand service solutions for healthcare providers of any size and complexity.Virtually all healthcare specialties, including radiology, will be able tobenefit from Spheris' enhanced clinical documentation technology andservice options. Customers are telling us they want an integrated technology andservice solution that is flexible enough to be combined and deployedeffectively across their health information management and radiology ITsystems, said Steven E. Simpson, Spheris president and chief executiveofficer. The acquisition of Vianeta significantly expands Spheris'technological capabilities, including speech recognition and XML datatagging for use with electronic health records, and thereby enhances ourability to meet the evolving and unique needs of all healthcareorganizations. Bringing Spheris and Vianeta together combines what we believe to bethe most advanced technology in the medical transcription industry with themost powerful global network of medical transcriptionists, said Vianetachief executive officer Ralph Aceves. By joining forces, we believe we'vecreated the best possible solution for addressing the growing expectationsof our customers to improve quality, productivity and turnaround time. Working together as a combined entity, Spheris and Vianeta are alreadyin discussions with several major healthcare institutions about theexpanded capabilities made possible by the acquisition. The favorableresponses already given by our existing customers and potential newcustomers have confirmed the value proposition we created by joining thetwo organizations, said Simpson. In addition to continuing to service and enhance the Vianeta solutionscurrently deployed in the marketplace, Spheris will integrate the twoorganizations over the next several months and anticipates the announcementof new product offerings in the near future. Financial terms of theparties' agreement were not disclosed.
Scribe Healthcare Technologies Exceeds 6,000 Users [2006-04-20]
Scribe Healthcare Technologies, a leading healthcare technology company based in the Chicago area, today announced growth has exceeded 6,000 users. Scribe platform users include physicians, clinicians, administrative personnel, and transcriptionists.
Lake Forest, IL (PRWEB) April 20, 2006 -- Scribe Healthcare Technologies, a leading healthcare technology company based in the Chicago area, today announced growth has exceeded 6,000 users. Scribe platform users include physicians, clinicians, administrative personnel, and transcriptionists.
“Until recently our growth has been primarily organic, selling to hospitals and profit driven medical practices. In 2005 we started targeting Medical Transcription Service Organizations (MTSOs) using our technology to run their businesses. Now with the launch of a joint venture “in2scribe”, we hope to become the foremost industry resource for MTSOs.” says Vice President of Sales Marketing, John Weiss. “As a result our growth rate continues to ramp.”
Scribe technologies are modular and Web-based, leveraging the Internet and standard Microsoft applications. Scribe offers a variety of technologies that help MTSO manage their business, recruit and train transcriptionists.
About Scribe Healthcare Technologies, Inc.Scribe Healthcare Technologies is a privately-held healthcare technology company based in the Chicago area. The company has developed a proprietary web-based platform that complements and extends the value for patient registration, Practice/Hospital Management and EMR Solutions. Scribe’s platform includes complete solutions for dictation, transcription, document management, EMR-Lite, Web portal, online prescriptions and reporting with data analytics.
Scribe serves more than 6,000 users. Business partners and resellers include consulting firms, transcription companies, and business process outsourcers. Additional information is available at www.scribe.com.
About in2scribeIn April 2005, the owners of Scribe Healthcare Technologies, EFD Transcription Services, and PENATCLE Electronic Records and Systems fulfilled their dream to create a network that would pull together resources to help to improve the efficiency, productivity, and profitability of the highly fragmented, mid-sized medical transcription firms.
Utilizing the talents and experience of our members, a common technology infrastructure, and a central management point, in2scribe offers a menu of services to our members including new profit centers, benefit plans, level-loading of your work load, and more. More information is available at www.in2scribe.com.
Another thought.... [2006-03-24]
I myself do NOT feel comfortable having my information sent overseas, including my name, DOB, and often SSN listed in the demographics screen of each note. I have heard stories of prosecution (or lack there of) by identity theft from people in other countries. Maybe Americans should start boycotting or protesting the healthcare industries that outsource overseas!!!!!!!!!!!!
Medical Transcription Recognized as an Apprenticeable Occupation [2006-03-14]
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 10, 2006--Graduates of selected medical transcription training programs will now have access to registered apprenticeship programs, as the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has now declared medical transcription to be an apprenticeable profession - the first step in establishing a national apprenticeship program. The Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services approved the application for apprenticeability determination submitted by the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) along with the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT).
Having a recognized apprenticeable occupation will provide a pipeline of medical transcription professionals entering into a workforce facing a serious labor and skills shortage. stated Keith Flannery, Vice President, MTIA. Workforce development under the standards established by this apprenticeship program will aid in facilitating the transition between student and an employable, productive, and qualified medical transcriptionist.
Given the challenge the industry faces in recruiting qualified candidates to meet the ever-increasing demand for real-time, quality healthcare data, a registered apprenticeship program couldn't be developed and launched at a more critical time, stated Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, AAMT Executive Director. Workforce development is essential to ensuring that documentation experts are in place to assist the industry in transitioning to an electronic health record and to preserving the quality and integrity of the health record in that future.
The Registered Apprenticeship Program, sponsored by the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA), will offer structured on-the-job learning and related technical instruction for qualified medical transcriptionists entering the profession. The two associations, along with the Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services, are finalizing program details.
Medical Transcription is a crucial process in the provision of quality healthcare in our country. This is a hallmark program for the industry, said Sean Carroll, President, MTIA.
Neurologist saves $12,000 per year on medical transcription [2006-02-22]
Recognition vs. Transcription
W. Palm Beach, FL neurologist saves $12,000 per year on medical transcription using state-of-the-art voice recognition software
[ClickPress, Tue Feb 21 2006] Dr. H. Steven Block, M.D. uses Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical Edition, voice recognition software for medical professionals, to eliminate a very real business problem--medical transcription costs-- which six years ago, began topping the $1,000-a-month mark. Today, a doctor can easily spend three times that amount.
Very open about his high regard for the Dragon Medical VR product, Dr. Block had much to say about its place in his solo practice: “I purchased Dragon Medical from Eric Fishman’s company, Nuance, which is actually located in the same building as my practice, on the floor above me. Neurology is all about ‘nuance’, no pun intended. But ‘nuance’ is really the best word to describe the health effects of a neurological problem. It has been a major focus of my practice.”
“Very subtle neurological changes can have devastating health consequences. You have to be able to communicate those subtleties in order for a medical record to have any meaning.”
“I see some really sick patients. Using an on-the-spot note generation product like Dragon, instead of a transcription service, let’s me get back to the referring physician with a fast note, usually within 10 minutes of seeing the patient. That kind of speed in delivering a medical exam note with ‘nuance’ can mean a great deal to everyone involved. You see, I can’t type. I never learned how to type. My kids who grew up instant-messaging can type faster than I can speak. They don’t need Dragon. But for me, Dragon is a wonderful tool.”
Dr. Block, 49, is no stranger to high technology tools:
“There are only so many hours in the day,” he laughed, driving down the road, talking via wireless cell phone headset, “and I’m very detail-oriented. I couldn’t be without Dragon, quite frankly.” One word I did not hear from Dr. Block is the word “downtime”. It doesn’t seem to exist in his vocabulary.
Having traveled the long and winding upgrade path for both Dragon and laptop hardware, Dr. Block has watched and participated in the evolution of the product for six years. “Like a surfer looking for the perfect wave,” he joked. The improvement he’s seen in the most recent version of Dragon Medical—combined with a high-RAM laptop with at least 512MB—has boosted performance to an almost unbelievable 99.5% real time voice recognition accuracy level, according to his observations.
His advice to new users: “If you haven’t tried Dragon Medical in the last four years,” he said, “try it again, the way it is now, with the new speech engine. It uses mathematical models to analyze word groups. There is a learning curve, but the training is not that bad, consisting of you reading a 15 minute script into a microphone, then a little touch-up here and there.”
“Try a few charts each day, and sit down where it’s quiet, where you can relax and concentrate on your speaking habits. Tech support is great; they’ll help you, and be sure to read the help file “How to Speak to a Computer”—and the manual. Especially for often repeated phrases, the voice-actuated “macros” are great, a real time-saver. It’s well-worth the time you invest in learning how to use this tool.”
What are the pitfalls? “Mumbling,” says Dr. Block, “that’s the main problem. Doctors are used to dictating in a low, monotone mumble, as fast as they can. A person might be able to handle it by going back and listening to the recording again and again. But for voice recognition, doctors need to speak in a normal, conversational tone of voice, just like we are doing right now. Speak normally, and Dragon has no problem, it works very well. It’s really quite simple.”
He stated that using a handheld Sony digital voice recorder with removable memory stick allows him to dictate anywhere, anytime, then later, “feed” the sound file to Dragon, achieving about 98% voice recognition accuracy. (Please note: If you are considering making a recording for later voice recognition by Dragon, be sure and use 16-bit resolution .avi format, or Dragon won’t even try to “digest” it. It won’t bother with a recording of poor quality, because the end result would be useless.)
Although he is considering it, Dr. Block has not yet adopted a commercial EMR(Electronic Medical Records) software system for his medical records, mainly because of concerns about interoperability standards. (Coming soon to an EMR near you.)
However, by using Dragon Medical as his “front-end” for the creation of detailed paper medical records, email reports, and digital-FAX messages, Dr. Block not only uses computers, but has also created a highly personal and expressive way to “chart” a patient, unmatched in detail, depth, and the “human touch” by out-of-the-box EMR software.
Would EMR software developers do well to discuss with this doctor any design plans for a voice-controlled, voice-recognition-based EMR program? I think so. Will a “hands-free” EMR workstation which responds to voice commands--as does the entire Dragon program--ever be used to help maintain a “sterile field” in the medical environment of the future? It certainly worked well on the Starship Enterprise, didn’t it?
CBay Awarded Multi-Year Contract [2006-01-19]
ANNAPOLIS, Md., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- CBay Systems announced today thatit was awarded a contract by Premier Inc. to provide integrated dictationcapture, transcription and web-based document management solutions to itsmember healthcare facilities. Under the terms of the agreement, CBay is theapproved provider to Premier's alliance of approximately 1,500 hospitals andhealthcare systems across the United States. A leading provider of healthcare technology and business processoutsourcing (BPO) services, CBay addresses various issues in the healthcaresector, primarily focusing on transcription process improvement andreceivables management. By leveraging HIPAA-compliant Internet technologiesand highly credentialed global resources, CBay delivers measurableefficiencies and savings to hundreds of hospitals, clinics and physiciangroups. A selection committee at Premier evaluated numerous medical transcriptionservice organizations from across the country and determined that CBay'ssolutions were the right choice for its members. CBay is very excited about this opportunity to provide medicaltranscription services to Premier's member hospitals, said Michael Kimball,CBay's senior vice president of sales and marketing. We offer the ideal blendof service, experience, technology, and value to ensure that Premier's membersreceive timely and accurate medical documentation to help them provide thebest patient care.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking from Nuance Strengthens [2005-11-28]
Dragon NaturallySpeaking from Nuance Strengthens Foothold as Standard Speech Recognition Solution for Healthcare Industry
Nuance Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: NUAN), formerly ScanSoft, Inc., the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world, today announced that its Dragon(TM) Dictation Solutions family has become the standard in speech recognition technology for the healthcare sector. Already in use at thousands of healthcare facilities worldwide, Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R) Medical, Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R) SDK (software developer kit), and the Dragon(TM) MT Workflow System can save healthcare organizations thousands of dollars per doctor each year in reduced or eliminated manual transcription costs by converting speech into text at up to twice the speed of the spoken word, automating the clinical documentation process and eliminating the high cost and long turnaround time associated with the manual transcription of patient notes.
Nuance provides the healthcare industry with an unmatched set of speech recognition solutions, including Dragon NaturallySpeaking Medical, the world's best selling front-end speech recognition solution for electronic medical records systems, the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Server SDK, which enables the server-based processing and workflow of recorded patient information, and the Dragon MT Workflow System, a scalable, HIPAA compliant, web-based platform for end-to-end transcription processing The Dragon NaturallySpeaking family of products includes 14 pre-made medical specialty vocabularies, supports the creation of custom vocabularies, and delivers patent-pending roaming user capabilities to enable use within distributed care provider facilities.
A growing number of healthcare vendors and integrators have joined with Nuance to speech-enable their healthcare solutions, including: Allscripts Healthcare Solutions; Cerner CoPath; ChartLogic, Inc; Clinical Content Consultants, LLC; Commissure; Dictaphone; DR Systems, Inc.; ERad; Guardian; IDX Systems Corporation; Instar; Meditech; Misys Healthcare Systems; Mountain Medical Technologies, Inc.; Northbase; NovaRad; Polaris-Danforth; SoftMed Systems; STI Computer Systems, Inc.; Structurad; Swearingen; ThinAir; Virtual Radiological Consultants; and Voicebrook. In addition, ScanSoft(R) Dragon NaturallySpeaking(R) has garnered accolades from respected publications worldwide, including CNet, Computer Reseller News, Forbes, The New York Times, PC Magazine, PC World, and SmartComputing.
Nuance's Dragon Dictation Solutions apply highly accurate speech recognition to intelligent workflow processing solutions in order to reduce the costs associated with manually converting medical dictation into text, estimated at $10 billion in North America and $15 billion worldwide each year. Nuance delivers these solutions through its growing number of channel partners, including healthcare information systems vendors, systems integrators, digital dictation systems vendors and MTSOs. Dragon Dictation Solutions are used worldwide by physicians, records management and medical transcription teams within hospitals, clinics and physician practice organizations, as well as MTSOs to enhance their current transcription services businesses.
Nuance Speech Solutions
Nuance Speech Solutions make the user experience more compelling and expand business potential. Through its dictation, embedded and network speech solutions, Nuance offers the world's preeminent portfolio of speech technologies, expertise and solutions that transform the way people interact with businesses, information and each other. Today, thousands of companies and millions of users around the world depend on Nuance Speech Solutions to deliver vital information, increase productivity and conduct business. To experience the power of the spoken word, please visit nuance.com.
About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance (Nasdaq: NUAN) is the leading provider of speech and imaging solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications and professional services. For more information, please visit nuance.com.
Nuance, the Nuance logo, Dragon, and NaturallySpeaking are trademarks or registered trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. All other company names or product names may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
MD-IT Expands to East Coast [2005-11-19]
MD-IT, an industry leader in integrating automated tools with medical transcription to assist physicians in documentation of medical care, announced today that Kathleen Humbert has joined the Company as Vice President of Business Development Eastern Region to lead its sales and business development efforts in the mid-Atlantic states.
BALTIMORE, November 17, 2005 -- MD-IT, an industry leader in integrating automated tools with medical transcription to assist physicians in documentation of medical care, announced today that Kathleen Humbert has joined the Company as Vice President of Business Development Eastern Region to lead its sales and business development efforts in the mid-Atlantic states.Ms. Humbert comes to MD-IT with an extensive clinical background and 15 years of selling technology and services solutions in the healthcare industry. In addition to her experience as a provider, she spent 3 years selling document management solutions with Smart Corporation, and most recently held a senior sales role with CareMedic Systems, selling Revenue Cycle Management software to Hospitals. “I am very excited by the technology-supported transcription services offering of MD-IT,” said Ms. Humbert. This is the most logical approach to automating clinical visit documentation I have seen in the market.”The addition of Ms. Humbert is an expansion of the company’s plan to market its unique Intelligent Transcription™ services. MD-IT’s goal is to make it easy for physicians to use twenty-first century technology in their medical practices without complicating their workload or distracting from physician-patient interactions. “Physicians have enough time demands just keeping up with medical advances in their specialty area, much less having time to research and apply the latest advances in information technology,” noted Thomas Carson, president and CEO of MD-IT. “Our business is to integrate new technology seamlessly into the medical transcription process, so that when an individual physician is ready to try a new tool, such as automated voice recognition, we can switch on that function as part of their existing transcription service. The best part is that the more technology is used, the less expensive documentation becomes, so we can actually help a medical practice decrease operating costs over time while creating an electronic record.About MD-ITMD-IT provides Intelligent Transcription services and products to over 300 physicians in 90 group practices. Intelligent Transcription uses new technology to transform old services by providing a full range of automated tools that enable fast and easy document creation and exchange among physician offices, medical transcriptionists and information systems, while retaining personalized service to support individual physician preferences. Located in Denver, Colorado, the company is financed by equity investments from strategic partners and private investors. Additional information can be found at www.md-it.com.Contact:Thomas Carson, President and CEO 720-932-6262 x411
TRANSCEND: appointment of Lance Cornell as Chief Financial Officer [2005-11-02]
TRANSCEND SERVICES, INC. today announced the appointment of Lance Cornell as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Cornell replaces Mr. Mark D. Meersman, who has decided to return to the position of partner-in-charge of inProcess Consulting, a management consulting firm that he left six months ago to join Transcend.
Mr. Cornell is a Certified Public Accountant with over 18 years of experience in accounting, finance and financial management, including controller and chief financial officer positions with publicly traded companies. Prior to joining Transcend, Mr. Cornell was Chief Financial Officer for nearly five years at Facility Resources, Inc., a private consulting firm specializing in facility-related project management, systems implementation and outsourcing for large corporations. Prior to that experience, Mr. Cornell served in chief financial officer and controller positions in two separate publicly traded companies in the healthcare information systems industry. Mr. Cornell received a B.S. degree in Finance with highest honors from the University of Colorado.
Larry Gerdes, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, commented on the announcement: We welcome Lance's financial executive experience to our executive management team and thank Mark for his many and varied contributions to our Company. Mark has assisted the company in the automation and analysis of financial data that will prove helpful as we focus on improving our overall profitability. Lance not only understands the challenges facing the Company, but also sees the opportunities for the Company to grow and prosper in the $6 billion market for medical transcription services in the United States. We are particularly excited about his experience in planning and financing growth strategies, including acquisitions.
Mr. Cornell commented: I am excited about the potential effects that the Company's BeyondTXT speech recognition functionality and its strategic acquisition initiative should have upon the Company's financial performance. I look forward to helping the Company achieve its growth and profitability objectives.
About Transcend Services, Inc.
Transcend believes that accurate, reliable and timely transcription creates the foundation for the patient medical record. To this end, the Company has created Internet-based, speech recognition-enabled voice-to-text systems that allow its skilled medical language specialists to securely and quickly produce the highest quality medical documents. The Company's wide range of transcription services encompass everything needed to securely receive, transcribe, edit, format and distribute electronic copies of physician-dictated medical documents, from overflow projects to complete transcription outsourcing.
For more information, visit http://www.transcendservices.com.
M-Tec and The Andrews School Approved by AAMT/AHIMA [2005-11-02]
According to the AAMT web site,
Upon the recommendation of the AAMT Review Committee, the following medical transcription programs have been approved by the Approval Committee for Certificate Programs (ACCP), a joint committee established by AAMT and AHIMA for certifying and approving medical transcription education programs.
http://www.aamt.org/ScriptContent/mtapproved.cfm
M-TEC offers quality distance education training for the novice, the healthcare professional wanting to make a career change, and continuing education programs for the practicing MT. Special discounts are available on continuing education and refresher products for AAMT members. The M-Tec Skillbuilding Wizard is available through the AAMT Store and offers 54 CECs to certified medical transcriptionists. This is also a great resource for companies offering continuing education classes for their employees.
The Andrews School has been providing quality medical transcription education and training since 1989. With what we believe to be the best program, instructors, and advisory staff in the MT community, the Andrews School has a proven track record, graduating thousands of students who have gone on to successful MT careers. The Andrews School offers distance learning opportunities via the Internet anywhere in the country. Graduates are able to work from home after completion of the program.
Related Links
Medical Transcription Program Approval Manual
MedQuist Names Scott Bennett as Senior Vice President [2005-11-01]
MedQuist Inc.(Pink Sheets: MEDQ) today announced the appointment of Scott Bennett as itsnew senior vice president of Sales and Marketing. He will join Medquist onNovember 1. Bennett comes to the company with more than 20 years ofexperience in the healthcare technology sales and marketing field, including aproven track record in developing and leading high performing sales andmarketing organizations. Bennett will lead a newly integrated sales andmarketing function, which MedQuist unveiled earlier this month. Bennett was most recently the senior vice president of Sales and Marketingat Scheduling.com d/b/a SCI Solutions, Inc., where he rebuilt the company'smarketing, sales and sales support infrastructure and processes, as well ashelped lead the company to record revenue and profit growth. Prior to holdingthat position, Bennett was the vice president, Corporate Sales, at SiemensMedical Solutions, USA. During his tenure at Siemens, he led the regionalsales teams to win and close the company's largest transactions, includingnegotiating the company's first Information Technology strategic allianceagreement. Bennett also spent 17 years with Shared Medical Systems in avariety of increasingly responsible sales and marketing leadership positions. I am excited to be joining the MedQuist team, says Bennett. MedQuistis already the world leader of outsourced transcription services, and ispositioned to play an even larger role in assisting health providers as theypopulate, safeguard and digitally transport patients' Electronic HealthRecords where and when they are needed. MedQuist is right at the forefront ofthe future of healthcare technology.
MTBC Announces the First Annual New Jersey Medical Malpractice Forum [2005-10-27]
Oct. 26, 2005--Medical Transcription Billing, Corp. (MTBC), the 4% medical billing and free EMR company, together with Commerce Bank, the region's fastest growing financial services organization, and NJPure, the not-for profit New Jersey medical malpractice insurer, sponsor the First Annual New Jersey Medical Malpractice Forum.
This informative session will highlight the specific actions a healthcare provider should take to manage medical malpractice costs and exposure. The forum features a panel comprised of State Senator Diane B. Allen, Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula, plaintiffs' attorney Rosemary Pinto, of Feldman Pinto, and medical malpractice insurance expert Eric S. Poe, of NJPure.
This forum comes at a time when New Jersey physicians continue to face increasing pressures from insurance carriers as well as rising expenses, most notably rising medical malpractice premiums. David Rosenblum, president of MTBC, addressed the importance of hosting this forum, There are tangible actions physicians can take to address the mounting concerns of malpractice; this forum will give them the opportunity to hear from and discuss these issues with people who are actively addressing them. We invite physicians to hear from political representatives, industry leaders, and experts who are taking the necessary steps to help protect them, their colleagues, and their patients.
We are excited to host this forum with Commerce and NJPure, two organizations that share our passion for helping physicians lower their cost of doing business by providing better alternatives and excellent support, said David Rosenblum.
The forum features dinner, discussion and a question and answer session with this distinguished panel. It will be held at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, November 16, 2005, at the Ramada Inn Conference Center in North Brunswick, New Jersey.
Attendance at the forum is free of charge. Physicians are invited to reserve a seat by visiting www.MTBC.com.
CBay Systems Makes Deloitte’s List of 500 Fastest Growing [2005-10-20]
CBay Systems Makes Deloitte’s List of 500 Fastest Growing Technology Companies in North America Maryland Fast 50 Rapid Growth Recognized for the Second Year in a Row
CBay Systems, a leading provider of healthcare business process outsourcing (BPO) services and the largest provider of Indian transcription technology and services to the US healthcare market today announced that it was again named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. The ranking measures the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America, based on percentage revenue growth over the past five years, during which CBay Systems grew 779 percent.
CBay addresses various issues in the healthcare space, primarily focusing on medical transcription. The company’s HIPAA-compliant solutions leverage Internet technologies to provide integrated dictation capture, transcription and web-based document management services to hospitals, clinics and doctors.
Making the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for the second year in a row is commendable in today’s highly competitive technology industry, said Tony Kern, deputy national managing principal of Deloitte’s Technology, Media Telecommunications industry practice. “Achieving sustained revenue growth of 779 percent over five years is a tremendous achievement. We congratulate CBay Systems on being one of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in North America.
Inclusion on the nation-wide Fast 500 list follows CBay’s recent acknowledgement as a member of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 in Maryland. This list highlights the 50 fastest growing technology companies in the state of Maryland for 2005.
CBay’s Chairman CEO, Raman Kumar said, “It is an honor for CBay to be recognized for the second year in a row, but we are especially proud of these awards, as they communicate our explosive growth and ever-increasing customer base, providing concrete evidence of our superior product and commitment to customer service.” He also added, “We have 41 centers in our network in India, employing over 5000 people and the number is increasing every month, to cater to our expanding customer base in the US.”
Fast 500 Selection and Qualifications
The Fast 500 list is compiled from Deloitte’s 15 regional North American Fast 50 lists, nominations submitted directly to the Fast 500, and public company database research. Entrants must be headquartered in North America and must be a “technology company,” defined as a company that owns proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company's operating revenues; or devotes a significant proportion of revenues to the research and development of technology. Using other companies' technology in a unique way does not qualify.
About CBay
CBay Systems is a leading provider of healthcare technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) services and the largest global provider of transcription services to the healthcare industry. CBay’s more than 5,000 highly trained medical language specialists and customer service professionals spread out in 41 production centers situated across 10 states in India serve 650+ health systems, hospitals, clinics and physician practices 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, using HIPAA compliant web-based technologies with a commitment to the highest standards of quality, service and value. CBay is headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland with the Indian corporate office in Mumbai. For more information, visit www.cbaysystems.com.
About Deloitte
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein, its member firms and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. In the US, services are provided by the subsidiaries of Deloitte Touche USA LLP (Deloitte Touche LLP, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, Deloitte Tax LLP and their subsidiaries), and not by Deloitte Touche USA LLP
MedQuist Moving to Centralized, National Service Delivery Model [2005-10-11]
MedQuist Moving to Centralized, National Service Delivery Model
10/10/2005 9:00:00 AM EST
Shift Will Streamline Operations, Drive Improved Service Standards and Technology
MedQuist Inc. (Pink Sheets: MEDQ.PK) today announced that management, in accordance with direction received from the company's board of directors, adopted a plan on October 6, 2005 to centralize and streamline the company's organizational and operational structure to better serve its customers. The plan is expected to improve operating performance and increase customer satisfaction.
The move toward a new structure and delivery model will be supported by the following actions:
-- Medquist will shift resources to a single national service delivery and support organization for all of the company's services and products, eliminating local service centers. This new centrally managed structure will enhance workflow management, with the result being dramatically improved levels of service and quality for our customers. The company expects this transition to result in the consolidation of approximately forty facilities over the next twelve months.
-- In conjunction with the shift to centralized customer service delivery, the company's national service delivery and support organization will, in the fourth quarter of this year, begin to implement its Qtinuum of Care initiative. The Qtinuum of Care initiative is focused specifically on driving increased levels of customer satisfaction through a new centralized and integrated customer service and support model.
-- To drive greater customer focus, the company's product management group will be moving under the direction of the Chief Technology Officer. Additionally, new products in the area of voice capture, speech recognition and on-premise transcription solutions will be introduced within the next twelve months.
-- The company's Sales and Marketing organizations will be combined, which will improve communication between MedQuist's direct sales group and its marketing support organization. As a result of this combination, the Senior Vice President - Marketing and Business Development and the Senior Vice President - Sales have separated from the company. MedQuist is currently engaged in the process of selecting the combined organization's leadership.
The company anticipates that all of the foregoing actions will be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2006, and that it will record restructuring charges in the range of $6.5 million to $8.5 million pre-tax, largely representing facility exit costs and employee severance payments. As a result of the plan, the company also expects to realize annualized savings of approximately $18.5 million.
About MedQuist:
MedQuist, a member of the Philips Group of Companies, is a leading provider of electronic medical transcription, health information and document management products and services. MedQuist provides document workflow management, digital dictation, speech recognition, mobile dictation devices, Web-based transcription, electronic signature, medical coding products and outsourcing services.
Safe Harbor Statement under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Some of the statements in this Press Release constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, but not limited to, statements relating to the Company's expected results of operations and financial condition, scheduled actions under plan to improve the company's organizational and operational structure, restructuring charges expected to be recorded in connection with the plan, expected cost benefits resulting from the plan, expected reductions in location, and consolidation and reorganization of technologies and business units. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding the Company's business, operations and other factors relating thereto. Words such as may, will, could, would, should, anticipate, predict, potential, continue, expects, intends, plans, projects, believes, estimates and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements are only predictions and as such are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they were made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Company's actual results may differ from the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including unanticipated expenditures in connection with the effectuation of the plan to improve the company's organizational and operational structure; unanticipated difficulties in connection with reductions in location, or the consolidation and reorganization of technologies and business units; customer reaction to the plan; any direct or indirect impact of the matters disclosed in the Form 12b-25 filed by the Company on August 19, 2005 on the Company's operating results or financial condition; any continuation of pricing pressures and declining billing rates; difficulties relating to the implementation of management changes throughout the Company; and the outcome of pending and future legal and regulatory proceedings and investigations.
HL7 Launches eHealth Effort for Katrina Relief [2005-09-30]
The Health Level Seven, Inc. (HL7) community is supporting the development of portable, interoperable electronic health records for the hundreds of thousands of people whose lives have been disrupted by Katrina. Many HL7 members are already involved, improving access to vital healthcare information and HL7 has formed a task force to support and guide further efforts. Last week, HL7 issued a call to members to participate and is forging relationships with other industry groups to solve the immediate and long-term problems of disaster relief and preparedness.
The HL7 community represents the most concentrated group of interoperability expertise anywhere. We are rising to the challenge of rebuilding the medical records of the displaced population and doing so in a way that can become a model for the future of the country, says Mark Shafarman, HL7 Chair. We stand ready to work with anyone and everyone implementing standards-based applications. Our Reference Information Model for healthcare, our community of experts and our standards and specifications for interoperability can guide this process. The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Electronic Health Record Vendors' Association (EHRVA) is already working with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) towards constructing and integrating an electronic health record (EHR) infrastructure within the areas of the gulf coast affected by Hurricane Katrina.
HL7 Standards Making a Difference
HL7 standards are already making an impact on the ground in the wake of Katrina providing access to records of childhood immunization records. The American Immunization Registry Association (AIRA) (www.immregistries.org) -- an HL7 member organization -- reports that nine registries are now using HL7 messages to query the Louisiana Immunization Network for Kids Statewide (LINKS), resulting in retrieval of 4,250 records as of Tuesday, September 27. Immunization registries querying LINKS are: Arizona, Houston, Idaho, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
The importance of HL7 standards was never more evident than during Katrina, said Julie A. Boom, M.D., Medical Director, Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry and Director of the Immunization Project at Texas Children's Hospital, and AIRA member. Literally overnight, the Houston-Harris County Immunization Registry was able to be connected to the 'LINKS' Louisiana statewide immunization registry with the assistance of Scientific Technology Corporation. Because each registry was fully HL7 compliant, this link was able to be made quickly and easily. Retrieving these records from LINKS has saved the public health community thousands of dollars for the cost of re- immunizing these children and it saves the children of Louisiana from the discomfort of additional immunizations. This experience truly highlights the importance of following national standards and should encourage other immunization registries to fully support HL7 standards as soon as possible.
More solutions are in the works:
* Oracle Corporation, an HL7 benefactor, had been working in close
cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospital to
create a regional solution for health information sharing before the
hurricane struck and is now accelerating those efforts.
* HL7 member organization OZ Systems, which provides information
technology for the State of Texas' Early Hearing Detection and
Intervention Program (TEHDI), is exploring ways to use HL7 messaging
standards to transfer hearing screening results data for Louisiana
newborn evacuees who had to have their screenings done in Texas. This
data needs to be sent back to respective birthing facilities in
Louisiana or the Louisiana Department of Health as needed for CDC
reports, or to assure that an infant receives care if necessary.
* Intel Corporation is coordinating the donation of 1,500 laptop personal
computers to the American Red Cross for distribution to shelters in
support of Katrina disaster relief efforts. In addition, Intel will
donate 150 wireless Internet access points.
* Additional support for the Gulf region has been pledged by HL7 members
including the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services,
Information Systems Branch; Medquist Corporation; Microsoft Corporation
and TeleVital.
HL7 and its more than 2,220 individual and corporate U.S. members have information technology expertise in all segments of the healthcare industry, and real-world experience in developing an infrastructure that is standards based and allows interoperable records to be distributed over multiple sites using multiple local applications. In addition, HL7's more than 500 corporate members include not only EHR vendors, but infrastructure and integration vendors together with suppliers of standards-compliant dictation and transcription.
HL7 Response and Recovery Taskforce
The HL7 Response and Recovery Taskforce has been meeting daily, speaking with government officials, technologists and planners. The Task Force will coordinate education and outreach to the HL7 community including vendors and providers, HL7 International Affiliates as well as other standards development organizations, and U.S. national bodies such as the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT), the Department of Defense (DoD), the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Taskforce will design, coordinate and organize implementation projects focusing on the creation of a healthcare information infrastructure to help address the personal and public health information crisis created by Katrina.
HL7 members wishing to be involved in this effort should respond via katrina@HL7.org and sign onto the Katrina support listserv available on the HL7 web site (www.HL7.org).
Participation by EHRVA
In the aftermath of Katrina, the EHRVA has been actively engaged with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT) and other healthcare stakeholders to support the potentially nomadic evacuee population in the goal of making medical record information available wherever they receive care.
* The EHRVA is on task of suggesting immediate means to meet emergency
patient information needs and laying the groundwork for rebuilding a
patient information management infrastructure. During this process, the
EHRVA is dedicating workgroup and executive committee time to plan a
practical framework.
* EHRVA contribution to Katrina Relief leverages the organization's
partnership with IHE and an ongoing commitment to devise viable
interoperability models.
* EHRVA is in dialogue with ONCHIT and channeling updates and requests to
members to support roll-out of response plans now and in the near
future.
EHRVA has joined with HL7 in this call to members to participate and pool resources for interoperable electronic health records. The two organizations are ideal partners in this effort, since two of their core goals are based on making progress in the areas of standards and interoperability. EHRVA is comprised of 35 member companies that serve the vast majority of healthcare providers in the nation with Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) solutions, which complements and overlaps with HL7's membership.
Since Hurricane Katrina we've been humbled by the dedication of our clients in hospitals and physician practices as they have brought EHR technology into the heart of the crisis. We are taking our cues from providers who are working from the conviction that a stronger HIT foundation will better prepare us for any eventuality such as these recent storms, said Charlene Underwood, EHRVA chairperson and Director, Government and Industry Relations for Siemens Medical Solutions.
Collaborative Efforts toward a Regional Recovery
The HL7 community has the largest single pool of expertise on healthcare information systems and how to connect them for effective collection and delivery of healthcare information. Its members are active in efforts with state and local and national agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition to EHRVA, HL7 is offering to collaborate with all organizations providing solutions for the affected area.
About EHRVA
HIMSS EHRVA (http://www.himssehrva.org) is a trade association of Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors who have joined together to lead the HIT industry in the accelerated adoption of electronic health records in hospital and ambulatory care settings in the US. The association provides a forum for the EHR vendor community to speak with a unified voice relative to standards development, the EHR certification process, interoperability, performance and quality measures, and other EHR issues as they become subject to increasing government, insurance and provider driven initiatives and requests. Membership is open to HIMSS corporate members with legally formed companies designing, developing and marketing their own commercially available EHRs with installations in the USA.
The association, comprised of 35 member companies, is a partner of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and operates as an organizational unit within HIMSS.
About HL7
Founded in 1987, Health Level Seven, Inc. (http://www.HL7.org/) is a not- for-profit, ANSI-accredited standards developing organization dedicated to providing a comprehensive framework and related standards for the exchange, integration, sharing, and retrieval of electronic health information that supports clinical practice and the management, delivery, and evaluation of health services. HL7's more than 2,000 members represent approximately 500 corporate members, including 90 percent of the largest information systems vendors serving healthcare.
HL7's endeavors are sponsored, in part, by the support of its benefactors: Accenture; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI); Eclipsys Corporation; Eli Lilly Company; the Food and Drug Administration; GE Healthcare Information Technologies; Guidant Corporation; IBM; IDX Systems Corporation; Intel Corporation, Digital Health; InterSystems Corporation; Kaiser Permanente; McKesson Provider Technologies; Microsoft Corporation; Misys Healthcare Systems; NHS Connecting for Health; NICTIZ National ICT Institute for Healthcare in The Netherlands; Oracle Corporation; Partners HealthCare System, Inc.; Pfizer, Inc.; Philips Medical Systems; Quest Diagnostics Inc.; Science Applications International Corporation; Siemens Medical Solutions Health Services; Solucient, LLC; the U.S. Department of Defense; Military Health System; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
Philips, Citrix Co-Operation Enables [2005-09-21]
Philips, Citrix Co-Operation Enables Speech Recognition and Digital Dictation for 50 Million Professional Users World-Wide
VIENNA, Austria--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2005--Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG)(AEX:PHI) announced today the release of an enhancement to the professional document creation platform SpeechMagic(TM) enabling for the first time adequate speech recognition in Citrix(R) environments. With SpeechMagic supporting 23 recognition languages and providing a portfolio of more than 150 recognition vocabularies for the medical, legal, governmental and financial sectors, potentially more than 50 million Citrix users worldwide can now benefit from increased documentation efficiency and reduced operating costs.
The deployment of speech recognition and digital dictation applications from Citrix servers will be a key factor in more efficient documentation workflow. It will also enable the centralization of IT administration, and bring critical speech recognition features such as automatic learning and acoustic adaptation - significantly reducing the strain on financial and human resources. By centralizing applications and the delivery of data, Citrix and SpeechMagic are able to provide an extremely high level of security (no files are stored locally), dramatically improving the protection of personal data.
By adding bi-directional audio capabilities, Citrix enabled the digital recordings to be uploaded and Philips developed a real-time speech recognition channel. This channel improves the usability of dictation hardware, such as the industry-leading Philips SpeechMike and allows for the deployment of the full range of speech recognition features within a Citrix environment. Numerous authors can now dictate simultaneously anywhere within the Citrix network and either delegate the dictation to a secretary/ Transcriptionist or correct it themselves.
Citrix infrastructure is popular with large institutions in the healthcare, legal and finance industries. With SpeechMagic being geared towards industrial-grade document creation, our award-winning platform has been optimized for these industries, says Marcel Wassink, Managing Director Philips Speech Recognition Systems. This co-operation with Citrix opens the door to a vast new market for Philips and its partners.
As a worldwide leader in Speech Technologies, we're delighted to be working closely with Philips. SpeechMagic brings tremendous value to our customers in significantly increasing their documentation efficiency and hence improving the return on their investment in Citrix Access Infrastructure, said David Jones, corporate vice president, business development, for Citrix.
SpeechMagic for Citrix will be presented live at the Citrix(R) iForum(TM) Global conference in Las Vegas, Nev., on October 9 - 12, 2005. The new component to the SpeechMagic platform will be released to the Philips global network of more than 200 integration partners on September 20, 2005.
MedQuist Launches DocQsign(TM) [2005-09-20]
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Medquist Inc.(Pink Sheets: MEDQ) today announces the release of DocQsign, a Web-basedelectronic signature module of DocQment(TM) Enterprise Platform, an Internet-hosted document workflow management solution. Available as an optionalservice, DocQsign integrates the requirement of electronic signature with theprocess of document workflow and ensures a seamless transition fromtranscribed document to authenticated document, facilitating patient care andthe reimbursement process. MedQuist understands the value of the healthcare providers' time and theurgency to gain quick access to patient medical records. With DocQsign,physicians no longer need to visit the Medical Records department to signcharts or view a patient medical record, says Terry Cameron, MedQuist'ssenior vice president of Marketing. Not only does DocQsign make the processfaster and easier for the healthcare provider, it ultimately reduces theturnaround time for quicker reimbursement and enhanced patient care. Physicians are provided access via the Internet to documents withinseconds of completed transcription, from anywhere, at anytime. Using aWeb-based user account and an array of electronic review and signature tools,physicians can authenticate patient documents that they originated, or withappropriate permission, documents that were originated by other physicians.Physicians can access, listen, review, edit, reject and sign patientdocuments, all through a Web-based interface. Physicians and healthcare providers get a list of documents to be signedin their inbox, says Dori Dunn, DocQsign product manager. From one screen,they can either listen, edit, reject or sign the document, all from thecomforts of home or from any location with Internet access. Attending andresident signatures and a delegate role are available to support the needs ofthe healthcare industry. And once the document is signed, it is automaticallyrouted to the appropriate location, reducing turnaround times and concernsabout incomplete reports.
ZyDoc Offers Hurricane Katrina Disaster [2005-09-15]
ZyDoc, a technology leader in automated medical documentation solutions, announced free emergency transcription and medical record support for healthcare workers and organizations affected by Hurricane Katrina disaster. In view of the severity of the hurricane and widespread disruption of critical services, ZyDoc recognizes the need to fulfill the requirements of healthcare providers for medical transcription and documentation management and assist agencies with related documentation needs pertaining to the victims and infrastucture.
Hauppauge, NY (PRWEB) September 14, 2005 -- ZyDoc, a technology leader in automated medical documentation solutions, announced free emergency transcription and medical record support for healthcare workers and organizations affected by the Katrina hurricane disaster. In view of the severity of the hurricane and widespread disruption of services, ZyDoc recognizes the need to fulfill the requirements of healthcare providers for medical transcription and documentation management. With many hospitals in the effected area temporally closed or operating with limited services, the infrastructure for ongoing medical records will be severely limited. Coupled with the anticipated increase in medical services secondary to the disaster, and difficulties for healthcare providers and transcriptionists to travel or perform their duties, ZyDoc anticipates that there maybe an immediate need to offer transcription services and secure Internet based medical records to the medical community. The displaced victims will benefit from secure Internet based records that can be accessible from anywhere.Jim Maisel, M.D., Chairman of ZyDoc explains, The ZyDoc technology platform offers a number of advantages to the disaster area to overcome infrastructural limitations imposed by service outages and temporary personnel shortages and displacement of people. Physicians, hospitals, relief, legal, rescue and transcription companies can utilize ZyDoc infrastructure and transcription services starting work within minutes. ZyDoc intends to make our surplus capacity available immediately to the medical community on a first-come first-served basis at no charge until services can be restored.Steve Koski, CEO and President of ZyDoc explains the operational aspects of the transcription and medical records service as follows: Health-care workers will be able to dictate into handheld digital recorders or the ZyDoc TelDoc 800 toll-free servers. ZyDoc will supply fully edited transcription services, usually with overnight service as available, for these documents or provide Internet based ASP delivery of the voice files to the transcriptionists selected by the health-care users. Once transcribed, documents and voice files will be available immediately and securely via Internet access from any PC with a browser and stored for later access. The documents can also be automatically downloaded and printed to a PC, faxed or made available to share with authorized caregivers over the Internet. The ZyDoc carrier class datacenter has proven reliable without failure over the past two years and was operational even during the Northeast blackout. We intend to make our surplus capacity available immediately to the medical community on a first-come first-served basis at no charge.AvailabilityHurricane related services can be started by enrolling at the try it free link on the secure www.zydoc.com website and using the promo code: Katrina. Then contact the ZyDoc Operations Center at 631-273-6125 to receive your user login and password. Dictation can be started immediately using low-cost digital handheld recorders or the TelDoc 800 service. Completed documents will be available with secure confidential access by author on ZyDoc.com website. Documents can be faxed using the ZyDoc FaxDoc system and can be accessed or automatically downloaded and printed from any computer with Internet access. Transcription ASP infrastructure solutions are also available to replace legacy and non-HIPAA-compliant services for transcription companies or hospitals that need infrastructure support. ZyDoc provides multimedia demonstrations, training, and support on an urgent or scheduled basis via the Internet at http://zydoc.webex.com and through an expansive nationwide network of Tech Data, Toshiba, and qualified integrators. For more information on ZyDoc Automated Medical Documentation Solutions visit www.zydoc.com or enroll at www.zydoc.com/leads.htm About ZyDoc.com CorporationZyDoc is an award winning transcription service and software development company that provides automated electronic health-record documentation and infrastructure ASP legacy-replacement solutions. Physicians, transcriptionists, and other healthcare professionals use these services to produce, organize, and distribute multi-specialty patient electronic medical records (EMR) in Community Health Information Networks (CHIN). ZyDoc solves the PC illiteracy, data entry bottleneck, implementation, and cost issues that plague other clinical documentation and transcription companies. It uses transparent embedded technology that leverages front- and back-end speech recognition, workflow enhancements, and the Internet. ZyDoc is a development partner with SUNY Computer Sciences at Stony Brook, a ScanSoft platinum dealer, and an IBM Speech Premier Business Partner.Press Contacts: Jim Maisel, M.D.Chairman, ZyDoc.comZyDoc.com Corporation631-273-1963
Dictaphone Expands ichart Speech-Certified [2005-09-09]
Dictaphone Expands ichart Speech-Certified Transcription Network; Responds to Increasing Demand with Certification Program and Call for Additional Transcription Partners
American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT)
Annual Convention and ExpoHONOLULU--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 6, 2005--Today at the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) Annual Convention and Expo, Dictaphone announced the creation of the healthcare industry's first Speech-Certified Transcription Network in response to the substantial growing demand for its ichart(R) Managed Services solutions. ichart Managed Services combines Dictaphone's industry-leading speech recognition technology with transcription services performed by Dictaphone's Speech-Certified Transcription Network, which has been trained to edit on the company's speech recognition platform. This combination of labor and technology delivers lower-cost, high-quality medical transcription with rapid turnaround. All Dictaphone transcription service partners are required to pass its rigorous certification program to ensure even higher levels of service excellence and proficiency in speech recognition editing.
ichart Managed Services is quickly proving what we suspected when we introduced the product less then one year ago: that using speech recognition to drive down the enormous costs and improve the quality of transcription is the future of medical documentation outsourcing, said Don Fallati, senior vice president of marketing for Dictaphone. The overwhelming response we've had from the market is driving us to create the first Speech-Certified Transcription Network, offering our clients the most talented and best-equipped group of 'speech recognition-enabled' transcription service providers.
Speech-Certified Transcription Providers are thoroughly trained, evaluated and benchmarked against specific industry-standard quality, speed and customer service metrics. Those that meet the strict criteria will receive certification and will be reevaluated quarterly to ensure continued adherence.
Tamara Brown, president and CEO of Encompass Medical Transcription, Inc., a member of Dictaphone's Speech-Certified Transcription Network, said, ichart has allowed us to increase the volume of work Encompass can do with our existing staff and enabled us to train new medical transcriptionists to generate high-quality reports at a higher level of productivity. Headquartered in Wisconsin, Encompass is a U.S. medical transcription company that employs only U.S.-based medical transcriptionists.
We welcome and encourage other medical transcription companies to join the Speech-Certified Transcription Network, Fallati said. The interest we've seen from potential partners wanting to participate in the program has been significant and reflects the broad momentum in our industry for acquiring the skills associated with speech recognition.
About Dictaphone's ichart Managed Services
Dictaphone's ichart Managed Services offering aims to meet the needs of organizations currently relying heavily on outsourced transcription but who are attracted to the savings that can be generated by speech recognition. The program blends Dictaphone technology with transcription services performed by Dictaphone's Speech Certified Transcription Network who have been trained to edit on the company's speech recognition platform. Customers receive a blended line rate covering work that is transcribed traditionally as well as documents edited from speech recognition. Frequently, significant savings can be achieved by healthcare organizations over current line charges.
About Dictaphone Healthcare Solutions Group
Dictaphone is the world's largest supplier of dictation, transcription and speech recognition systems and services that simplify and enhance the production and management of paperless electronic patient information. Through the integration of speech recognition and natural language processing within existing health information management workflow, Dictaphone systems are helping healthcare organizations save money and improve patient care by increasing the speed, accuracy and usability of their medical documentation. For more information, please visit www.dictaphone.com or call 1-888-350-4836.
MedQuist Announces Preliminary, Partial and Unaudited [2005-08-20]
MT. LAUREL, N.J., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Medquist Inc.(Pink Sheets: MEDQ) announced today certain preliminary, partial and unauditedfinancial results. Once the Company completes the financial assessment andreview of its billing practices disclosed in the Company's previous filingswith the SEC, the Company expects that an independent registered publicaccounting firm will review and/or audit the Company's financial statements,as appropriate. While, at this time, the Company cannot estimate the totalcosts of (i) the billing review, (ii) defense of the class action matters,(iii) the SEC investigation, and (iv) compliance with the Department ofJustice investigation, all of which have been previously disclosed in eitherthe Company's filings with the SEC or the Company's press releases, the costsincurred to date by the Company in connection with the foregoing have beenincluded in the results set forth below. Because the completion of thebilling review and resolution of the litigation and governmental investigatorymatters are pending, the Company is not certain whether any changes to theaccounting treatment of any component of its consolidated financial statementswill be required and, if any changes are necessary, whether any such changeswould have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements.Accordingly, the financial information set forth below is preliminary,unaudited, and subject to change based on the completion of the financialassessment and review of the Company's billing practices and the completion ofthe review and/or audit of its financial statements, as appropriate. The information set forth below is derived from the Company's internalbooks and records. The Company cautions investors not to place undue relianceon the information presented below. As a result of the developments describedabove and in the Company's previous SEC filings, the Company's financialstatements have not been audited or reviewed by an independent registeredaccounting firm. The information contained in this press release also has notbeen audited or reviewed by an independent registered accounting firm. Suchinformation is not a substitute for the information required to be reported inthe Company's Forms 10-K and Forms 10-Q that have not yet been filed. Therecan be no assurance that the results of the billing review, and resolution ofthe litigation and governmental investigatory matters will not have a materialadverse effect on the Company's revenue, results of operations and financialcondition. MedQuist Inc. - Preliminary and Unaudited Financial Information (inmillions) Years Ended 12/31/2002 12/31/2003 12/31/2004 Revenue (1) $486 $490 $456 Operating income (1) 71 61 23 Cash (3) 103 162 196 Debt (3) 0.1 0.1 0.1 Quarters Ended 12/31/03 3/31/04 6/30/04 9/30/04 12/31/04 3/31/05 6/30/05 Revenue (2) $121 $118 $114 $113 $112 $108 $106 Operating income (2) 13 13 7 6 (3) (2) (6) Cash (3) 162 180 183 192 196 199 198 Debt (3) 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 - Notes: (1) Information presented for the twelve months ended (2) Information presented for the three months ended (3) Information presented as of the date Twelve months ended December 31, 2003 Revenues: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenueincreased from approximately $486 million for the twelve months endedDecember 31, 2002 to approximately $490 million for the comparable 2003period. The increase was largely the result of twelve months of Lanieroperations being reflected in 2003 results as compared to six months of Lanieroperations being reflected in 2002 results, as the acquisition of LanierHealthcare LLC took place on July 1, 2002, largely offset by transcriptionservice volume declines as well as declining pricing from both new andexisting transcription clients. Operating Income: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that operating income declinedfrom approximately $71 million, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2002to approximately $61 million for the comparable 2003 period. The decline inoperating income is largely the result of transcription service volume andrate declines, partially offset by the result of twelve months of Lanieroperations being reflected in 2003 results as compared to six months of Lanieroperations being reflected in 2002 results, as the acquisition of LanierHealthcare LLC took place on July 1, 2002. Balance Sheet Highlights: At December 31, 2003 the Company had $162 million in cash and cashequivalents. At December 31, 2003, the Company had less than $100 thousand intotal debt. Other than minimal exercises of stock options, there were noadditional issuances of capital stock or other securities for the twelve monthperiod ended December 31, 2003. Twelve months ended December 31, 2004 Revenues: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenuedecreased from approximately $490 million for the twelve months ended December31, 2003 to approximately $456 million for the comparable 2004 period. Thedecline in revenues includes the impact of decreasing transcription servicevolume from existing and lost clients, partially offset by new clients, aswell as the impact of pricing declines attributable to a competitive pricingenvironment. Additionally, the Company has recognized declines in revenue fromits front-end speech recognition products as it transitioned from TalkStationto SpeechQ for Radiology. Operating Income: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that operating income declinedfrom approximately $61 million, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2003to approximately $23 million for the comparable 2004 period. The decline inoperating income includes: 1) the impact of approximately $11 million in costsincurred in 2004 related to the ongoing billing investigation and associatedlitigation, 2) approximately $4 million in costs associated with separationand replacement of the Company's management team, including members at theexecutive level and 3) approximately $3 million associated with the write-offof intangible assets associated with products no longer being offered. Inaddition, the base business, as described above in the Revenues section,experienced a decline in transcription service volume from existing and lostclients and a decline in transcription service rates charged to customers.The impact of the revenue decline was partially offset by several cost savinginitiatives including reductions in telecommunications costs, officeconsolidations and associated staff reductions. Balance Sheet Highlights: At December 31, 2004 the Company had $196 million in cash and cashequivalents. At December 31, 2004, the Company had less than $100 thousand intotal debt. Other than minimal exercises of stock options, there were noadditional issuances of capital stock or other securities for the twelve monthperiod ended December 31, 2004. Six Months ended June 30, 2005 Revenues: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenuedecreased from approximately $232 million for the six months ended June 30,2004 to approximately $213 million for the comparable 2005 period. Thedecline in revenues includes the impact of the result of reductions incontracted transcription service rates from existing clients, further affectedby new transcription business service volume replacing lost transcriptionservice volume at a lower average price. Management expects these pricingpressures to continue and for revenue in the second half of 2005 to declinefrom first half levels. Operating Income: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that operating income declinedfrom approximately $20 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004 to anoperating loss of approximately $8 million for the comparable 2005 period.Operating income includes 1) approximately $16 million in costs incurred in2005 related to the ongoing billing investigation and associated litigation,which represents an increase of approximately $11 million over similar costsincurred for the comparable time period in 2004 and 2) approximately $3million in costs associated with separation and replacement of the Company'smanagement team, including members at the executive level, which representsand increase of approximately $2 million over similar costs incurred for thecomparable time period in 2004. In addition, the base business, as describedabove in the Revenues section experienced a decline in transcription servicerates charged to customers. The impact of the revenue decline was partiallyoffset by several cost saving initiatives including reductions intelecommunications costs, office consolidations and associated staffreductions. The Company continues to strive for improved profitabilitythrough service and technology enhancement initiatives, along with other costreductions. Three months ended June 30, 2005 Revenues: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenuedecreased from approximately $114 million for the three months ended June 30,2004 to approximately $106 million for the comparable 2005 period. The declinein revenues includes the impact of the result of reductions in contractedtranscription service rates from existing clients, further affected by newtranscription business service volume replacing lost transcription servicevolume at a lower average price. As noted above, management expects thesepricing pressures to continue and for revenue in the second half of 2005 todecline from first half levels. Operating Income: Preliminary results indicate that operating income declined fromapproximately $7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2004 to anoperating loss of approximately $6 million for the comparable 2005 period.Operating income includes 1) approximately $9.5 million in costs incurred in2005 related to the ongoing billing investigation and associated litigation,which represents an increase of approximately $5.5 million over similar costsincurred for the comparable time period in 2004 and 2) $1 million in costsassociated with separation and replacement of the Company's management team,including members at the executive level. In addition, the base business, asdescribed above in the Revenues section experienced a decline in transcriptionservice rates charged to customers. The impact of the revenue decline waspartially offset by several cost saving initiatives including reductions intelecommunications costs, office consolidations and associated staffreductions. The Company continues to strive for improved profitabilitythrough service and technology enhancement initiatives, along with other costreductions. Balance Sheet Highlights: At June 30, 2005, the Company had $198 million in cash and cashequivalents and no debt. There were no additional issuances of capital stockor other securities for the six month period ended June 30, 2005. About MedQuist: MedQuist, a member of the Philips Group of Companies, is a leadingprovider of electronic medical transcription, health information and documentmanagement products and services. MedQuist provides document workflowmanagement, digital dictation, speech recognition, mobile dictation devices,Web-based transcription, electronic signature, medical coding products andoutsourcing services. Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Some of the statements in this Press Release constitute forward-lookingstatements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities LitigationReform Act of 1995. These statements are not historical facts but rather arebased on the Company's current expectations, estimates and projectionsregarding the Company's business, operations and other factors relatingthereto. Words such as may, will, could, would, should,anticipate, predict, potential, continue, expects, intends,plans, projects, believes, estimates and similar expressions are usedto identify these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statementscontained in this Press Release include, without limitation, statements aboutthe Company's results of operations and financial condition. These statementsare only predictions and as such are not guarantees of future performance andinvolve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict.Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future events ofthe Company's future financial performance that may not prove to be accurate.Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed orforecast in these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statementsspeak only as of the date they were made, and the Company undertakes noobligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements,whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. TheCompany's actual results may differ from the forward-looking statements formany reasons, including any direct or indirect impact of the matters disclosedin the Form 12b-25 filed by the Company on August 19, 2005 on the Company'soperating results or financial condition; any continuation of pricingpressures and declining billing rates; difficulties relating to theimplementation of management changes throughout the Company; and the outcomeof pending and future legal and regulatory proceedings and investigations.
Spheris storms up health care [2005-08-15]
Spheris purchase of Avicis/HealthScribe helped push the company into the top 30 of the nation's health care technology businesses, while Passport Health Communications cracked the top 100.
The 12th annual Healthcare Informatics 100 placed Spheris, a medical transcription firm, as the 28th largest health care IT firm with $152.7 million in revenue last year. Officials at the Franklin-based company, which last year bought industry rival Avicis/HealthScribe for $75 million, expect revenue this year to top $200 million.
That deal helped push revenue last year up 41 percent, the seventh largest increase in the health care IT market.
Further down the list, Healthcare Management Systems slipped from 60th to 66th place last year despite revenue rising slightly to $34.5 million last year.
In addition, Passport joined the top 100 list at No. 92 as revenue increased from $13.1 million to $19.2 million in 2004. The Franklin company provides health care insurance eligibility and benefits information online for hospitals and physicians. Earlier this year Passport bought software developer Healthworks Alliance Inc., which allows health care providers to identify and eliminate denied insurance claims and write-offs.
In all, the 100 companies represented $24 billion in IT products and services, according to the June report.
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