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spheris [2007-01-30]
Anyone know the deal with Spheris lately, heard they were bought out by Healthscribe and are going to be outsourcing most. Need to know is I should stay or start looking AGAIN....Have two teenagers at home that need to be fed and we all know the way they eat.
Spheris took over Healthscribe (nm) [2007-01-30]
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CBay to purchase Spheris? [2006-10-11]
Is it true due to Spheris' increasing debt the last two quarters,in part due to a difficult platform, has made them a target for CBay? Will Spheris become a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary at some point? The cost savings to this financially distressed company could be too good to pass up.
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.
Spheris to Acquire Vianeta Communications [2005-12-21]
Integrating Vianeta's open and scalable XML-based software into Spheris'existing medical transcription technology will also accelerate a host of otherinitiatives Spheris is currently executing and further developing for both itstechnology and service capabilities. Speaking on behalf of the entire Vianeta team, we are pleased to bejoining such an industry force, said Vianeta Chief Executive Officer RalphAceves. We are looking forward to becoming part of the Spheris mission tolead the medical documentation industry through superior services and best-in-class technology. Following completion of the transaction, Spheris will continue to serviceand enhance the Vianeta solutions currently deployed in the marketplace. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, isexpected to close in the first quarter of 2006. Financial terms of theparties' agreement were not disclosed.
spheris [2005-11-10]
What a crock of garbage.
Why wouldn't you send business to India? The probably make less than we do, which isn't saying much. Spheris has the worst reputation in the industry and treat their MTs like garbage. The company revenues are 200 million? Sure isn't going to the MTs in the US.
Spheris [2005-10-23]
I have a friend who is just dying to work at home. I do, but only local dictation. What can I tell her about Spheris? Are they reliable, is there enough work. you know, all the stuff one should know before committing? I don't see much of anything positive on this compay but I could be wrong myself. Are there any companies out there that ARE good? For her she says benefits are not an issue which is something I can't visualize, but that's her position.
Spheris India looking at expanding in tier-II cities [2005-10-20]
BANGALORE: US-based medical transcription company Spheris, which recently acquired HealthScribe, is looking to expand in a tier-II cities in India, preferably in the South by 2006. Spheris India (formerly HealthScribe), based in Bangalore, recently opened an additional 300-seat center in Coimbatore this month.
The company has over 2000 employees in India at present, and plans to ramp up the headcount to 3000, next year.
“We feel that large cities are very competitive while smaller cities have a lot more candidates who are serious in taking up medical transcription as a full-fledged career,” said Suresh Nair, CEO and MD, Spheris India.
Elaborating this aspect, he said that unlike BPOs or call centers, which require good spoken English skills, medical transcription is more knowledge-oriented and needs good grammatical skills.
Commenting on the merger with Spheris- the second biggest medical transcription company globally, he said that the move had made HealthScribe a truly global company with access to bigger funds and support for growth.
The company has already added 15 new accounts from the Spheris' stable. Nair said that next year, he plans to start a technology development team that would build solutions based on their delivery platform and sell them commercially.
Nair also revealed that by end of 2006, Spheris India would look at new areas like medical coding and billing. Spheris' revenues globally are in the region of $200 million. He expects Spheris India to grow at 60% this year. “The medical transcription industry has made a comeback in India and US customers are sending more and more work to us,” he said.
Spheris Hiring more workers in India [2005-10-11]
Spheris says it is hiring more workers in India Media Release Oct. 6, 2005
An American company that transcribes doctors notes said Wednesday it is setting up a transcription center in the southern Indian city of Coimbatore, making it the latest U.S. company to expand outside India's traditional outsourcing hubs.
Spheris Inc. of Franklin, Tennessee, has already hired 300 people for its new center in Coimbatore, in India's southern Tamil Nadu state, and plans to add another 700 workers in the next year, the company's president and chief executive, Steven E. Simpson, told reporters.
Workers at the Coimbatore office transcribe taped dictation of U.S. doctors'' diagnosis and advice for patients, saving the physicians time and allowing them to treat more people.
Spheris already employs 2,000 people doing the same work in the southern city of Bangalore _ one of the hubs of India's outsourcing business _ but decided to expand to Coimbatore because of the city's large untapped pool of skilled workers, he said.
The city has a strong foundation in education and is inexpensive, he said of Coimbatore, a city of one million people 360 kilometers (224 miles) south of Bangalore.
Western firms have sought to cut costs by farming out software development, engineering design and routine office work to India.
But the influx of Western firms has led to labor shortages and rising wages in larger cities that have become centers for the outsourcing business, such as Bangalore and Hyderabad.
In contrast, wages in smaller cities have not risen nearly as fast and are now about 30 percent lower than in traditional outsourcing hubs.
Among the companies that have chosen to set up operations lesser-known Indian cities are Honeywell International Inc., which has an office in the southern city of Madurai, and IBM Corp., which has built a facility in the western city of Calcutta.
Spheris Helps Employees Displaced by Katrina [2005-10-01]
NASHVILLE, TN–Spheris, a global provider of medical transcription services and technology, is reaching out to help its more than 100 employees who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Spheris employs more than 5,000 professional MTs, most of whom work from their homes, and had more than 170 employees located in the devastated gulf states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
“It took some time, but I am happy to say we have been able to locate all of our employees,” said Spheris CEO and President Steven E. Simpson. “Through the efforts of our employee relations specialists, we were able to determine that all of our colleagues escaped serious physical harm. Nevertheless, 21 Spheris employees have potentially lost their homes and all their possessions; 15 are in their homes, but are not able to work because of lost utilities; and several employees have relocated and been able to resume work.” According to Simpson, Spheris is currently assisting with additional relocation efforts of other employees unable to return to their homes.
On Tuesday, Aug. 30, as the world began realizing the devastation facing millions of Americans, Spheris established a Spheris Employee Relief Effort as a means to provide corporate-sponsored assistance to Spheris employees who experienced a significant hardship directly caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Spheris started the fund with the initial contribution and vowed to match a large percentage of Spheris employee contributions. In the days that followed, Spheris saw overwhelming generosity from its employees wanting to help, and in response set up an automated process for Spheris employees to donate their unused Paid Time Off (PTO) and cash contributions through payroll deduction on the Spheris corporate intranet.
In addition to using the company intranet, Spheris is sending regular e-mail updates to all its employees and an e-mail address (Naturaldisasterloop@spheris.com) has been established to enhance the company’s ability to communicate and respond to its employees’ needs.
To date, Spheris employees have personally donated more than $77,000 in cash and $112,000 in donated hours of PTO for their colleagues in need. And, those donations are already helping numerous Spheris employees.
Peggy Stolf, who lives in St. Bernard Parish outside of New Orleans, is a Spheris MT supervisor who is receiving assistance from her employer. “Words cannot express the gratitude my family has for Spheris,” said Stolf. “Through this entire disaster, Spheris became my family's rock that we could cling to, to help us through.”
The Stolf family lost its house, all of its possessions and its beloved dog to the devastating flood waters and is now living with family in Augusta, GA. While it would be easy to focus on what she lost, Stolf chooses to focus on what she gained. “Though we did lose a lot, we did gain a renewed faith in humanity and compassion,” said Stolf. “And, I cannot even find the right words to express the kindness and care that Spheris has shown toward me and my family.”
Evergreen+Spheris=India [2005-09-07]
I'm sure everyone noticed in sm's submitted article about India's opportunities for housewives in medical transcription, that one of their work sources is Spheris. Another submit states that Evergreen Hospital is outsourcing to Spheris ---- does Evergreen know their medical records are going to India? Doubt it!!!!
PS. The article about India said Stheris -- it's an error -- wonder how many of these errors show up in transcribed reports. Hmmmm
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.
PracticeXpert Completes Reorganization into Business Units [2005-08-02]
LOS ANGELES, July 28, 2005-- PracticeXpert, Inc.announced today that it has completed a company-wide reorganization into business units focused around delivery of its various product lines, allowing the rapidly-growing physician practice management solutions provider to reduce administrative costs and improve operational efficiency.
The reorganization, begun in February 2005, has resulted in the creation of five business units, each with a newly appointed vice president. The five business units and their respective VPs are: Revenue Management Services Group, Tony Biele, VP; Health Information Systems Group, David Pack, VP; Transcription Services Group, Michael Gale, VP; Consulting and Education Group, Scott Phillips, VP; and Managed Operations Group, Kim Ransier, VP. Each of the VPs previously held management positions in the company.
Business unit vice presidents' report to Senior Vice President of Operations Don Calabrese, who managed the implementation of the reorganization plan. The new organizational strategy, which is aligned with the delivery of PracticeXpert's various product lines, enables increased management accountability, improved communication, and delivery of a consistent quality of service to customers.
The reorganization is a direct result of PracticeXpert's impressive growth over the past two years driven by several acquisitions of physician services companies providing a variety of services and products, including outsourced medical billing services, medical transcription, software systems, and consulting. Five of the acquired companies alone provided outsourced medical billing services, with much of the business focused in the oncology specialty, but with operations spread amongst five facilities with dissimilar management structures and financial reporting systems.
With so much growth we had achieved critical mass, and it was time to integrate our operations and consolidate management, said Jonathan Doctor, PracticeXpert CEO. Now with our operations streamlined we've got an organization that can easily assimilate future acquisitions and track performance, Doctor added.
Commenting on the organizational strategy, PracticeXpert CFO Mike Manahan said: From the beginning, one of the goals of our acquisition strategy was to reduce operating overhead in the acquired companies by centralizing and aggregating core administrative functions that have no impact on the services and products we provide to our customers, ultimately increasing profitability. This restructuring allows us to maximize these savings and realize these savings sooner for future acquisitions.
In parallel with the reorganization into business units, corporate accounting, finance and human resources departments have been centralized and consolidated for all business units at the company's Oklahoma City facility. Heading these departments are Lisa Dobbs, Director, Accounting and Finance, and Masumi Ward, Director, Human Resources.
About PracticeXpert, Inc.
PracticeXpert provides turn-key practice management services and technology solutions to medical practitioners that improve operational efficiencies and enhance cash flow. PracticeXpert offerings include medical billing, accounts receivable management, practice management, transcription, consulting, seminars, practice management software, electronic medical records software and related services. PracticeXpert bundles its technology applications with its billing and other practice management services to provide a complete and integrated solution to its physician customers. To find out more about PracticeXpert, Inc. (OTCBB:PXPT), visit our website at www.practicexpert.com
Note: Any statements released by PracticeXpert, Inc. that are forward- looking, are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. Editors and investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements invoke risk and uncertainties that may affect the Company's business prospects and performances. These include economic, competitive, governmental, technological and other factors discussed in the statements and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CONTACT: PracticeXpert, Inc.
Investor Relations Contact
Michael Manahan, CFO
(800) 661-9984
mike@pxpert.com
Product and Trade Relations Contact
MPH PR
Louis Landon
(310) 234-3200
llandon@mphpr.com
VBC obscures line counting [2007-06-25]
VBC is an invention by Medquist to further obscure the line counting mess they created. MedQuist and Spheris dominated the committees that recommended this awful concept.
spheris [2007-01-30]
Anyone know the deal with Spheris lately, heard they were bought out by Healthscribe and are going to be outsourcing most. Need to know is I should stay or start looking AGAIN....Have two teenagers at home that need to be fed and we all know the way they eat.
CBay to purchase Spheris? [2006-10-11]
Is it true due to Spheris' increasing debt the last two quarters,in part due to a difficult platform, has made them a target for CBay? Will Spheris become a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary at some point? The cost savings to this financially distressed company could be too good to pass up.
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.
MedQuist Announces Unaudited Financial Results, 6 Million in Operating Loss [2006-05-11]
MT. LAUREL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 2006--MedQuist Inc. (Pink Sheets: MEDQ.PK) announced today certain preliminary, partial and unaudited financial results, and provided updated information regarding previously-announced litigation and governmental investigations and proceedings. Once the Company completes the financial assessment and review of its billing practices disclosed in the Company's previous filings with the SEC, KPMG LLP, the Company's independent registered public accounting firm, will complete the audit the Company's financial statements. The Company is continuing the process of working toward becoming current in its periodic reports pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company's review of its current and prior period unaudited financial statements, as well as KPMG LLP's audits for those periods, may identify adjustments or reclassifications which may be reflected in the periods to which they relate. At this time, the Company cannot estimate the total costs of (i) the billing review, (ii) defense of the class action matters, (iii) the SEC investigation, and (iv) compliance with the Department of Justice investigation, all of which have been previously disclosed in either the Company's filings with the SEC or the Company's press releases. Accordingly, the only costs related to the defense of these matters that have been included in the results below are actual costs incurred through March 31, 2006 by the Company. Because the completion of the billing review and resolution of the litigation and governmental investigatory matters are pending, the Company is not certain whether any changes to the accounting treatment of any component of its consolidated financial statements will be required and, if any changes are necessary, whether any such changes would have a material impact on its current or prior period consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, the financial information set forth below is preliminary, unaudited, and subject to change based on the completion of the financial assessment and review of the Company's billing practices, resolution of the class action matters and governmental investigations and proceedings, and the completion of the review and/or audit of its financial statements, as appropriate.
The financial information and related narrative discussion set forth below is derived from the Company's internal books and records. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the financial information presented below. As a result of the developments described above and in the Company's previous SEC filings, the Company's financial statements have not been audited or reviewed by KPMG LLP, its independent registered public accounting firm. The financial information contained in this press release also has not been audited or reviewed by an independent registered public accounting firm. Such information is not a substitute for the information required to be reported in the Company's Forms 10-K and Forms 10-Q that have not yet been filed. There can be no assurance that the results of the billing review, and resolution of the litigation and governmental investigatory matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's revenue, results of operations and financial condition.
Legal Proceedings
Investigations and Proceedings Commenced by the SEC and the Department of Justice
As previously announced, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) is currently conducting a formal investigation of the Company. The Company will continue to fully cooperate with the SEC.
As previously announced, the Company received an administrative HIPAA subpoena for documents from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts on December 17, 2004. The subpoena sought information primarily about the Company's provision of medical transcription services to governmental and non-governmental customers. The information was requested in connection with a government investigation into whether Medquist and others violated federal laws in connection with the provision of medical transcription services. MedQuist continues to cooperate fully with the Department of Justice.
Shareholder Securities Litigation
As previously announced, a shareholder putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company in the United States District Court District of New Jersey on November 8, 2004. The action, entitled William Steiner v. MedQuist, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:04-cv-05487-FLW (the Shareholder Putative Action), was filed against the Company and certain former Company officials, purportedly on behalf of an alleged class of all persons who purchased MedQuist common stock during the period from April 23, 2002 through November 2, 2004, inclusive (the Class Period). The complaint specifically alleged that defendants violated federal securities laws by purportedly issuing a series of false and misleading statements to the market throughout the Class Period, which statements allegedly had the effect of artificially inflating the market price of the Company's securities. The complaint asserts claims under Section 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, thereunder. Named as defendants, in addition to the Company, were its former president and chief executive officer and its former executive vice president and chief financial officer.
On August 16, 2005, a First Amended Complaint in the Shareholder Putative Class Action was filed against the Company in the United States District Court District of New Jersey. The First Amended Complaint named additional defendants, including certain current and former directors, certain former Company officers, the Company's former and current external auditors and Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Philips). Like the original complaint, the First Amended Complaint asserted claims under Sections 10b and 20(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the Act) and Rule 10b5 of the Act. The Class Period of the original complaint was expanded 20 months and now includes the period from March 29, 2000 through June 14, 2004. Pursuant to an October 17, 2005 consent order approved by the Court, Lead Plaintiff Greater Pennsylvania Pension Fund filed a Second Amended Complaint on November 15, 2005. The Second Amended Complaint dropped Philips as a defendant, but alleges the same claims and the same purported class period as the First Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs seek unspecified damages. Pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, discovery in the action is stayed pending the filing and resolution of the defendants' motions to dismiss, which were filed on January 17, 2006, and will be fully briefed by May 26, 2006. The Court has not set a hearing date on the motions. The Company believes that the claims asserted in the Second Amended Complaint are without merit, and is vigorously defending the action.
Customer Litigation
As previously announced, a putative class action was filed in the United States District Court Central District of California. The action, entitled South Broward Hospital District, dba Memorial Regional Hospital, et al. v. MedQuist, Inc. et al., Case No. CV-04-7520-TJH-VBKx, was filed on September 9, 2004 against the Company and certain present and former Company officials, purportedly on behalf of an alleged class of non-Federal governmental hospitals and medical centers that the complaint claims were wrongfully and fraudulently overcharged for transcription services by defendants based primarily on the Company's use of the AAMT line billing unit of measure discussed below. The complaint charges fraud, violation of the California Business and Professions Code, unjust enrichment, conversion, negligent supervision and violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Plaintiffs seek damages in an unspecified amount, plus costs and interest, an injunction against alleged continuing illegal activities, an accounting, punitive damages and attorneys' fees. Named as defendants, in addition to the Company, were a senior vice president, its former executive vice president of marketing and new business development, its former executive vice president and chief legal officer, and its former executive vice president and chief financial officer.
On December 20, 2004, the Company and individual defendants filed motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue, or in the alternative, to transfer the putative action to the United States District Court District of New Jersey. On February 2, 2005, plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint both adding and deleting named plaintiffs in an attempt to keep the putative action in the United States District Court Central District of California. On March 30, 2005, the United States District Court Central District of California issued an order transferring the putative action to the United States District Court District of New Jersey.
On August 1, 2005, the Company and the individual defendants filed their respective Answers denying the material allegations contained in the Second Amended Complaint. On August 31, 2005, the Company and individual defendants filed motions to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim and a motion to dismiss in favor of arbitration, or in the alternative, to stay pending arbitration. On December 12, 2005, the plaintiffs filed an Amendment to the Second Amended Complaint. On December 13, 2005, the Court issued an order requiring plaintiffs to file a Third Amended Complaint.
Plaintiffs filed the Third Amended Complaint on January 4, 2006. The Third Amended Complaint expands the claims made beyond issues arising from contracts based on AAMT line billing and beyond customers billed based on an AAMT line, alleging that the Company engaged in a scheme to inflate customers' invoices without regard to the terms of individual contracts and even in the absence of any written contract. The Third Amended Complaint also limits plaintiffs' claim for fraud in the inducement of the agreement to arbitrate to the three named plaintiffs whose contracts contain an arbitration provision and a subclass of similarly situated customers. On January 20, 2006 the Company and individual defendants filed motions to dismiss the Third Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim and a motion to compel arbitration of all claims by the arbitration subclass and to stay the case in its entirety pending arbitration. On March 8, 2006 the Court held a hearing on these motions, and took the matter under submission. The Court has not yet ruled on the motions. The Company believes that the claims asserted have no merit and intends to vigorously defend the putative action.
Medical Transcriptionist Litigation
Hoffmann Putative Class Action
As previously announced, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company in the United States District Court Northern District of Georgia. The action, entitled Brigitte Hoffmann, et al. v. MedQuist, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:04-CV-3452, was filed with the Court on November 29, 2004 against the Company and certain current and former Company officials, purportedly on behalf of an alleged class of current and former employees and statutory workers of MedQuist, who are or were compensated on a per line basis for medical transcription services (the Class Members) from January 1, 1998 to the time of the filing of the complaint (the Class Period). The complaint specifically alleged that defendants systematically and wrongfully underpaid the Class Members during the Class Period. The complaint asserted the following causes of action: fraud, breach of contract, demand for accounting, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, conversion, negligence, negligent supervision, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations. Plaintiffs sought unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages, disgorgement and restitution. On December 1, 2005, the Hoffmann matter was transferred to the United States District Court District of New Jersey. As discussed immediately below under the heading Myers Putative Class Action, the Company believes that the claims presently asserted have no merit and intends to vigorously defend the putative action.
Myers Putative Class Action
As previously announced, a putative class action entitled, Myers, et al. v. MedQuist Inc. and MedQuist Transcriptions, Ltd., Case No. 05CV 4608 (JBS), was filed against the Company on September 22, 2005 in the United States District Court District of New Jersey. The action was brought on behalf of a putative class of MedQuist's employee and independent contractor transcriptionists who claim that they contracted with the Company to be paid per AAMT line, but were allegedly underpaid due to intentional miscounting of the number of characters and lines transcribed. The named plaintiffs asserted claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and request an accounting.
The allegations contained in the Myers case are substantially similar to those contained in the Hoffmann putative class action and the two actions have now been consolidated. A consolidated amended complaint was filed on January 31, 2006. The named plaintiffs assert claims for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment and demand an accounting. On March 7, 2006 the Company filed a motion to dismiss all claims in the consolidated amended complaint. The motion has now been fully briefed. The Court has not set a hearing date on the motion. The Company believes that the claims asserted in the consolidated actions have no merit and intends to vigorously defend the suit.
Derivative Litigation
On October 4, 2005, the Company announced the dismissal with prejudice of a shareholder derivative action filed in United States District Court District of New Jersey. The suit, Rhoda Kanter (Plaintiff) v. Hans M. Barella et al. (Defendants), was filed on November 12, 2004 against Philips and ten current and former members of MedQuist's Board of Directors. MedQuist was named as a nominal defendant.
In a ruling dated September 21, 2005, the Court found Plaintiff's allegations that MedQuist's Board members breached their fiduciary duties to the Company to be insufficient. The Plaintiff had alleged that for a period from 2001 through 2004, the Defendants violated their fiduciary duties by permitting artificial inflation of billing figures; failing to adequately ensure accurate and lawful billing practices; and failing to accurately report the Company's true financial condition in its published financial statements. To the contrary, the Court concluded: Far from alleging facts supporting a substantial likelihood of liability, Plaintiff here has painted a picture of a board of directors that acted responsively given the circumstances . . . . On October 3, 2005, plaintiffs filed a motion for reconsideration of the Court's order dismissing the action with prejudice. On November 16, 2005, the Court denied Plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration. On December 13, 2005, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
On March 21, 2006, Plaintiff filed her opening brief on appeal. On April 20, 2006, MedQuist and the other defendants filed their opposition briefs. The appeal will be fully briefed by May 4, 2006. The Court of Appeals has not set a hearing date for the appeal.
Customer Accommodations
As previously disclosed, the primary allegations in a number of the litigation matters relate to how the Company interpreted the AAMT line billing unit of measure. The AAMT line billing unit of measure was developed in 1993 through a collaboration among several industry organizations with the intent of providing standardization in industry billing practices. However, due to inherent ambiguities in the definition of this unit of measure not fully anticipated at the time of its introduction, AAMT line-based billing was applied inconsistently throughout the medical transcription industry and eventually renounced by the groups initially responsible for its development. Despite these issues, a number of companies in the industry have continued to use AAMT line-based billing, and some customers still request proposals and contracts based on the AAMT line.
Like many medical transcription service providers, MedQuist once used the AAMT line unit of measure to calculate invoices for many of its medical transcription clients. It has been widely recognized and well documented throughout the industry, however, that the AAMT definition of a line is inherently ambiguous and subject to a wide variety of interpretations. In fact, no single set of AAMT characters was ever defined for this unit of measure. Accordingly, MedQuist began the process in 2004 of transitioning its AAMT line-based customers off the AAMT line unit of measure and, in April 2005, the Company completely eliminated the use of the AAMT line for billing and called on other industry transcription providers to follow its lead.
Due to these AAMT line unit of measure ambiguities, and the disparity in its interpretation, health care providers have raised concerns regarding charges for transcription services by their respective transcription providers, including the Company. In response to those concerns, and to foster ongoing business relationships with its customers, the Company has approached certain customers and offered to resolve any issues related to their prior AAMT line and other billing related issues.
As previously disclosed, the Company's Board of Directors has authorized Company management to make accommodation offers, up to an aggregate amount of $65.0 million, to certain customers to resolve any concerns over AAMT and other billing related issues. As of March 31, 2006, (i) the Company has entered into agreements with certain customers who have accepted accommodation offers to resolve concerns over AAMT and other billing related issues, and paid or credited an aggregate amount of $31.3 million as an accommodation to those customers and (ii) additional accommodation offers have been made by the Company to certain other customers in the aggregate amount of $11.9 million. From April 1, 2006 through the date of this release, the Company has entered into agreements with additional customers and paid or credited an aggregate amount of $2.9 million and has extended accommodation offers to additional customers in the aggregate amount of $1.1 million. Company management currently intends to make additional accommodation offers in the future, consistent with the Board's authorization described above, although the timing and amount of such offers have not yet been determined and the Company's plans may change in the future. The accommodation offers do not represent an estimate of potential liability, if any, in any of the previously disclosed litigation or investigatory matters pending against the Company.
The Company is unable to predict how many customers, if any, will accept the outstanding accommodation offers on the terms proposed by the Company, nor is the Company able to predict the timing of the acceptance (or rejection) of any of these outstanding accommodation offers. Until such offers are accepted, the Company may withdraw or modify the terms of the accommodation offers at any time. In addition, the Company is unable to predict how many of the future offers, if made, will be accepted on the terms proposed by the Company. The Company believes that its existing cash resources and cash flows from operations are sufficient to fund all of the customer accommodation offers it may make.
By accepting the Company's accommodation offers, the customer must agree, among other things, to release the Company from any and all claims and liability regarding prior AAMT and other billing related issues. The accommodation offers made to date, and those offers which may be made in the future, are not an admission of liability by the Company of any wrongdoing or an admission or acknowledgement that its billing practices with respect to such customers were or are incorrect. MedQuist Inc. -- Preliminary and Unaudited Financial Information
(in millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Three months ended
----------------------------------------
March 31, 2006 March 31, 2005
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Revenues $ 97 $ 108
Operating loss $ (8) $ (2)
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As of As of
March 31, 2006 December 31, 2005
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Cash $ 164 $ 178
Debt $ - $ -
Three Months Ended March 31, 2006
Revenues:
Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenues decreased $11 million to $97 million for the three months ended March 31, 2006 from approximately $108 million for the comparable 2005 period. This decline in revenues is largely due to decreases in transcription outsourcing services and product sales of $9 million or 10%, and $2 million or 27%, respectively. The decline in transcription outsourcing revenues is largely due to a decrease in the volume of lines transcribed primarily related to clients for whom we no longer provide transcription services. Additionally, pricing pressures continued on the base transcription business during the first quarter 2006, but revenues were impacted far less by pricing pressures than in the comparable 2005 period. Management expects that pricing pressures will continue for the foreseeable future but that the introduction of several new sales initiatives and improved customer service programs should cause transcription volume to stabilize or improve throughout the duration of 2006.
Operating Loss:
Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that our operating loss increased $6 million to a loss of approximately $8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2006 from an operating loss of $2 million for the comparable 2005 period. The operating loss of $8 million was primarily attributable to $9 million of costs associated with the following: (1) costs related to the ongoing billing review including (i) legal fees incurred in connection with governmental investigations and proceedings and defense of the class action matters and (ii) non-legal professional fees; and (2) increased expenses related to prior years' accounting reviews and audit. Operating loss was also impacted by the $11 million decline in revenues over the same period.
Balance Sheet Highlights:
As of March 31, 2006, the Company had $164 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt. The $14 million decrease in cash as of March 31, 2006 compared with December 31, 2005 was primarily attributable to accommodation payments ($10 million) and capital expenditures ($4 million). There were no issuances of capital stock or other securities for the three months ended March 31, 2006.
The Company expects to incur significant costs and expenses in the future relating to the ongoing billing review, defense of the class action matters and governmental investigations and proceedings, and accommodation agreements. These costs and expenses include (i) legal fees relating to the SEC and Department of Justice investigations and proceedings, (ii) legal fees relating to defense and resolution of the litigation matters described above, (iii) customer accommodation payments and credits, and (iv) non-legal professional fees. The timing and level of these costs and expenses is, in many cases, not within the Company's control. While the Company is unable to predict the timing and level of these costs and expenses, the Company currently believes that it has sufficient resources, including cash on hand and cash flow from operations to fund these costs and expenses. However, there cannot be any assurance that unanticipated changes in the level of these costs will not exceed the Company's available cash resources, nor can there be any assurance that sufficient financing from external sources will be available to the Company on acceptable terms, if at all. In the event that the Company's cash requirements exceed its available cash resources, or if the timing of such costs and expenses requires the Company to divert cash resources away from operations, the Company may not be able to execute its operating plan, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business and results of operations.
Other Developments
Restructuring:
As previously disclosed, in conjunction with the Company's movement to a single national service and support organization, a restructuring plan was developed in 2005 to consolidate approximately forty-eight (48) operating facilities and centralize certain components of the business in order to improve operating efficiencies. The Company is expecting to incur total restructuring costs of up to $8.5 million associated with this plan through the end of the fourth quarter of 2006. The Company incurred $1 million of restructuring costs for the three months ended March 31, 2006. This restructuring is expected to generate annualized savings of approximately $18.5 million. The Company realized approximately $1.9 million in savings during the three months ended March 31, 2006. Specifically, the Company has shifted resources to a single national service delivery and support organization for all of the Company's services and products and is in the process of eliminating local service centers.
The plan does not contemplate reductions of, and the Company has no current intentions to reduce, its medical transcription workforce. Rather, the Company will continue in its efforts to hire additional qualified transcriptionists. Further, although the Company is consolidating its local service centers as described above, customer-facing teams, led by account managers, will continue to coordinate customer support on the local level. The customer-facing teams will continue to work with and be supported by the Company's centrally managed customer service organization.
Transcend Services records Q1 profit [2006-04-20]
The Atlanta-based medical transcription technology company (NASDAQ: TRCR) had net income of $150,000 on $8 million in revenue, compared with net income of $12,000 on $5.3 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2005. Earnings were 2 cents a share, compared with break-even earnings in the first quarter of 2005.
The nearly $3 million increase in revenue is attributable to the acquisition of Medical Dictation Inc. in January 2005.
We are pleased to return to profitability after a difficult year in 2005, said Larry Gerdes, president and CEO. I am encouraged by both the improvement in our gross profit as a percentage of revenue and the results of our expense control initiatives. To grow our revenue 51 percent with only a 4 percent increase in other operating expenses shows that we can leverage our relatively fixed overhead costs as we grow.
Brown & Meyers, Inc Announces Acquistion of Typewrights, Inc [2006-04-20]
Brown & Meyers, Inc., a leading national provider of medical transcription and court reporting services since 1997, located at 536 Washington Avenue in Portland, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Typewrights, Inc. This transition will be effective April 17, 2006. Typewrights is a legend in the medical and legal transcription marketplace, having been in business for 26 years.
Kate Meyers-Coyne, President of Brown Typewrights has an excellent reputation and it is a great honor for us to acquire them. We are very pleased to have these loyal Maine and New Hampshire customers joining our family, and plan to make this transition as quick and easy as possible for everyone.
In an effort to make the transition as seamless as possible, Patricia Burrows, the owner of Typewrights, along with Mrs. Meyers-Coyne, are working closely with customers.
MedQuist Announces Preliminary, Partial and Unaudited [2006-01-19]
MT. LAUREL, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- Jan. 19, 2006 -- Medquist Inc. (Pink Sheets: MEDQ.PK) announced today certain preliminary, partial and unaudited financial results, and provided updated information regarding previously-announced litigation and governmental investigations and proceedings. Once the Company completes the financial assessment and review of its billing practices disclosed in the Company's previous filings with the SEC, the Company expects that KPMG LLP, its independent registered public accounting firm, will review and/or audit the Company's financial statements, as appropriate. The Company is continuing the process of working toward becoming current in its periodic reports pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Company's review of its current and prior period unaudited financial statements, as well as KPMG LLP's audits for those periods, may identify adjustments or reclassifications which may be reflected in the periods to which they relate. At this time, the Company cannot estimate the total costs of (i) the billing review, (ii) defense of the class action matters, (iii) the SEC investigation, and (iv) compliance with the Department of Justice investigation, all of which have been previously disclosed in either the Company's filings with the SEC or the Company's press releases. Accordingly, the only costs related to the defense of these matters that have been included in the results below are actual costs incurred through December 31, 2005 by the Company. As described in the Customer Accommodations discussion under the heading Legal Proceedings, an accrual has been made in an amount up to which the Company's Board of Directors has authorized the Company to make accommodation offers to certain of its customers. Because the completion of the billing review and resolution of the litigation and governmental investigatory matters are pending, the Company is not certain whether any changes to the accounting treatment of any component of its consolidated financial statements will be required and, if any changes are necessary, whether any such changes would have a material impact on its current or prior period consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, the financial information set forth below is preliminary, unaudited, and subject to change based on the completion of the financial assessment and review of the Company's billing practices, resolution of the class action matters and governmental investigations and proceedings, and the completion of the review and/or audit of its financial statements, as appropriate.
The financial information and related narrative discussion set forth below is derived from the Company's internal books and records. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the financial information presented below. As a result of the developments described above and in the Company's previous SEC filings, the Company's financial statements have not been audited or reviewed by KPMG LLP, its independent registered public accounting firm. The financial information contained in this press release also has not been audited or reviewed by an independent registered public accounting firm. Such information is not a substitute for the information required to be reported in the Company's Forms 10-K and Forms 10-Q that have not yet been filed. There can be no assurance that the results of the billing review, and resolution of the litigation and governmental investigatory matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's revenue, results of operations and financial condition. Legal Proceedings Investigations and Proceedings Commenced by the SEC and the Department of Justice As previously announced, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) is currently conducting a formal investigation of the Company. The Company will continue to fully cooperate with the SEC. As previously announced, the Company received an administrative HIPAA subpoena for documents from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts on December 17, 2004. The subpoena sought information primarily about the Company's provision of medical transcription services to governmental and non-governmental customers. The information was requested in connection with a government investigation into whether MedQuist and others violated federal laws in connection with the provision of medical transcription services. MedQuist continues to cooperate fully with the Department of Justice. Shareholder Securities Litigation As previously announced, a shareholder putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company in the United States District Court District of New Jersey on November 8, 2004. The action, entitled William Steiner v. MedQuist, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:04-cv-05487-FLW (the Shareholder Putative Action), was filed against the Company and certain former Company officials, purportedly on behalf of an alleged class of all persons who purchased MedQuist common stock during the period from April 23, 2002 through November 2, 2004, inclusive (the Class Period). The complaint specifically alleged that defendants violated federal securities laws by purportedly issuing a series of false and misleading statements to the market throughout the Class Period, which statements allegedly had the effect of artificially inflating the market price of the Company's securities. The complaint asserts claims under Section 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5, thereunder. Named as defendants, in addition to the Company, were its former president and chief executive officer and its former executive vice president and chief financial officer. On August 16, 2005, a First Amended Complaint in the Shareholder Putative Class Action was filed against the Company in the United States District Court District of New Jersey. The First Amended Complaint named additional defendants, including certain current and former directors, certain former Company officers, the Company's former and current external auditors and Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Philips). Like the original complaint, the First Amended Complaint asserted claims under Sections 10b and 20(a) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (the Act) and Rule 10b5 of the Act. The Class Period of the original complaint was expanded 20 months and now includes the period from March 29, 2000 through June 14, 2004. Pursuant to an October 17, 2005 consent order approved by the Court, Lead Plaintiff Greater Pennsylvania Pension Fund filed a Second Amended Complaint on November 15, 2005. The Second Amended Complaint dropped Philips as a defendant, but alleges the same claims and the same purported class period as the First Amended Complaint. Plaintiffs seek unspecified damages. Pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, discovery in the action is stayed pending the filing and resolution of the defendants' motions to dismiss, which were filed on January 17, 2006, and will be fully briefed by May 1, 2006. The Company believes that the claims asserted in the Second Amended Complaint are without merit, and is vigorously defending the action. Customer Litigation As previously announced, a putative class action was filed in the United States District Court Central District of California. The action, entitled South Broward Hospital District, dba Memorial Regional Hospital, et al. v. MedQuist, Inc. et al., Case No. CV-04-7520-TJH-VBKx, was filed on September 9, 2004 against the Company and certain present and former Company officials, purportedly on behalf of an alleged class of non-Federal governmental hospitals and medical centers that the complaint claims were wrongfully and fraudulently overcharged for transcription services by defendants based primarily on the Company's use of the AAMT line billing unit of measure discussed below. The complaint charges fraud, violation of the California Business and Professions Code, unjust enrichment, conversion, negligent supervision and violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Plaintiffs seek damages in an unspecified amount, plus costs and interest, an injunction against alleged continuing illegal activities, an accounting, punitive damages and attorneys' fees. Named as defendants, in addition to the Company, were a senior vice president, its former executive vice president of marketing and new business development, its former executive vice president and chief legal officer, and its former executive vice president and chief financial officer. On December 20, 2004, the Company and individual defendants filed motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction and improper venue, or in the alternative, to transfer the putative action to the United States District Court District of New Jersey. On February 2, 2005, plaintiffs filed a Second Amended Complaint both adding and deleting named plaintiffs in an attempt to keep the putative action in the United States District Court Central District of California. On March 30, 2005, the United States District Court Central District of California issued an order transferring the putative action to the United States District Court District of New Jersey. On August 1, 2005, the Company and the individual defendants filed their respective Answers denying the material allegations contained in the Second Amended Complaint. On August 31, 2005, the Company and individual defendants filed motions to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint for failure to state a claim and a motion to dismiss in favor of arbitration, or in the alternative, to stay pending arbitration. On December 12, 2005, the plaintiffs filed an Amendment to the Second Amended Complaint. On December 13, 2005, the Court issued an order requiring plaintiffs to file a Third Amended Complaint and set forth a briefing schedule for the filing of anticipated motions to dismiss the Third Amended Complaint, which have been set for hearing on March 8, 2006. Plaintiffs filed the Third Amended Complaint on January 4, 2006. The Third Amended Complaint expands the claims made beyond issues arising from contracts based on AAMT line billing and beyond customers billed based on an AAMT line, alleging that the Company engaged in a scheme to inflate customers' invoices without regard to the terms of individual contracts and even in the absence of any written contract. The Third Amended Complaint also limits plaintiffs' claim for fraud in the inducement of the agreement to arbitrate to the three named plaintiffs whose contracts contain an arbitration provision and a subclass of similarly situated customers. The Company believes that the claims asserted have no merit and intends to vigorously defend the putative action. Medical Transcriptionist Litigation Hoffmann Putative Class Action As previously announced, a putative class action lawsuit was filed against the Company in the United States District Court Northern District of Georgia. The action, entitled Brigitte Hoffmann, et al. v. MedQuist, Inc., et al., Case No. 1:04-CV-3452, was filed with the Court on November 29, 2004 against the Company and certain current and former Company officials, purportedly on behalf of an alleged class of current and former employees and statutory workers of MedQuist, who are or were compensated on a per line basis for medical transcription services (the Class Members) from January 1, 1998 to the time of the filing of the complaint (the Class Period). The complaint specifically alleged that defendants systematically and wrongfully underpaid the Class Members during the Class Period. The complaint asserted the following causes of action: fraud, breach of contract, demand for accounting, quantum meruit, unjust enrichment, conversion, negligence, negligent supervision, and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations. Plaintiffs seek unspecified compensatory damages, punitive damages, disgorgement and restitution. On December 1, 2005, the Hoffmann matter was transferred to the United States District Court District of New Jersey. The Company believes that the claims presently asserted have no merit and intends to vigorously defend the putative action. Myers Putative Class Action As previously announced, a putative class action entitled, Myers, et al. v. MedQuist Inc. and MedQuist Transcriptions, Ltd., Case No. 05CV 4608 (JBS), was filed against the Company on September 22, 2005 in the United States District Court District of New Jersey. The action was brought on behalf of a putative class of MedQuist's employee and independent contractor transcriptionists who claim that they contracted with the Company to be paid per AAMT line, but were allegedly underpaid due to intentional miscounting of the number of characters and lines transcribed. The named plaintiffs assert claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and request an accounting. The allegations contained in the Myers case are substantially similar to those contained in the Hoffmann putative class action and the two actions have now been consolidated. On January 3, 2006, a consent order was executed pursuant to which the Hoffmann and Myers plaintiffs will file a single, consolidated class action complaint on or before January 31, 2006. As with the Hoffmann putative class action, the Company believes that the claims presently asserted in the Myers action have no merit and intends to vigorously defend the consolidated actions. Derivative Litigation On October 4, 2005, the Company announced the dismissal with prejudice of a shareholder derivative action filed in United States District Court District of New Jersey. The suit, Rhoda Kanter (Plaintiff) v. Hans M. Barella et al. (Defendants), was filed on November 12, 2004 against Philips and ten current and former members of MedQuist's Board of Directors. MedQuist was named as a nominal defendant. In a ruling dated September 21, 2005, the Court found Plaintiff's allegations that MedQuist's Board members breached their fiduciary duties to the Company to be insufficient. The Plaintiff had alleged that for a period from 2001 through 2004, the Defendants violated their fiduciary duties by permitting artificial inflation of billing figures; failing to adequately ensure accurate and lawful billing practices; and failing to accurately report the Company's true financial condition in its published financial statements. To the contrary, the Court concluded: Far from alleging facts supporting a substantial likelihood of liability, Plaintiff here has painted a picture of a board of directors that acted responsively given the circumstances . . . . On October 3, 2005, plaintiffs filed a motion for reconsideration of the Court's order dismissing the action with prejudice. On November 16, 2005, the Court denied Plaintiffs' motion for reconsideration. On December 13, 2005, Plaintiffs filed a Notice of Appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Customer Accommodations The primary allegations in a number of the litigation matters relate to how the Company interpreted the AAMT line billing unit of measure. The AAMT line billing unit of measure was developed in 1993 through a collaboration among several industry organizations with the intent of providing standardization in industry billing practices. However, due to inherent ambiguities in the definition of this unit of measure not fully anticipated at the time of its introduction, AAMT line-based billing was applied inconsistently throughout the medical transcription industry and eventually renounced by the groups initially responsible for its development. Despite these issues, a number of companies in the industry have continued to use AAMT line-based billing, and some customers still request proposals and contracts based on the AAMT line. Like many medical transcription service providers, MedQuist once used the AAMT line unit of measure to calculate invoices for many of its medical transcription clients. It has been widely recognized and well documented throughout the industry, however, that the AAMT definition of a line is inherently ambiguous and subject to a wide variety of interpretations. In fact, no single set of AAMT characters was ever defined for this unit of measure. Accordingly, MedQuist began the process in 2004 of transitioning its AAMT line-based customers off the AAMT line unit of measure and, in April 2005, the Company completely eliminated the use of the AAMT line for billing and called on other industry transcription providers to follow its lead. Due to these AAMT line unit of measure ambiguities, and the disparity in its interpretation, health care providers have raised concerns regarding charges for transcription services by their respective transcription providers, including the Company. In response to those concerns, and to foster ongoing business relationships with its customers, the Company has approached certain customers and offered to resolve any issues related to their prior AAMT line and other billing related issues. The Company's Board of Directors has authorized Company management to make accommodation offers, up to an aggregate amount of $65.0 million, to certain customers to resolve concerns over AAMT and other billing related issues. As of December 31, 2005, (i) the Company has entered into agreements with certain customers who have accepted accommodation offers to resolve concerns over AAMT and other billing related issues, and paid or credited an aggregate amount of $20.5 million as an accommodation to those customers and (ii) additional accommodation offers have been made by the Company to certain other customers in the aggregate amount of $13.8 million. From January 1, 2006 through the date of this release, accommodation offers have been made to additional customers in the aggregate amount of $1.7 million. Subject to the previously mentioned authorization of the Company's Board of Directors, Company management currently intends to make additional accommodation offers in the future, although the timing and amount of such offers have not yet been determined and the Company's plans may change in the future. The accommodation offers do not represent in any way the Company's estimate of potential liability, if any, in any of the previously disclosed litigation or investigatory matters pending against the Company. The Company is unable to predict how many customers, if any, will accept the outstanding accommodation offers on the terms proposed by the Company, nor is the Company able to predict the timing of the acceptance (or rejection) of any of these outstanding accommodation offers. Until such offers are accepted, the Company may withdraw or modify the terms of the accommodation offers at any time. In addition, the Company is unable to predict how many of the future offers, if made, will be accepted on the terms proposed by the Company. The Company believes that its existing cash resources and cash flows from operations are sufficient to fund all of the customer accommodation offers it may make. By accepting the Company's accommodation offers, the customer must agree, among other things, to release the Company from any and all claims and liability regarding prior AAMT and other billing related issues. The accommodation offers made to date, and those offers which may be made in the future, are not an admission of liability by the Company of any wrongdoing or an admission or acknowledgement that its billing practices with respect to such customers were or are incorrect. -0- *T MedQuist Inc. - Preliminary and Unaudited Financial Information (in millions) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Three months ended ----------------------------------- 12/31/2005 12/31/2004 ---------------- ---------------- Revenues (1) $ 96 $ 112 Operating loss (1) $ (78) $ 0 Cash (2) $ 178 $ 196 Debt (2) - Current $ 0 $ 25 - Long term $ 0 $ 0 Twelve months ended ----------------------------------- 12/31/2005 12/31/2004 ---------------- ---------------- Revenues (3) $ 411 $ 456 Operating (loss)income (3) $ (98) $ 25 Cash (2) $ 178 $ 196 Debt (2) - Current $ 0 $ 25 - Long term $ 0 $ 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: (1) Information presented for the three months ended (2) Information presented as of the date noted above (3) Information presented for the twelve months ended *T Three months ended December 31, 2005 Revenues: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenues decreased from approximately $112 million for the three months ended December 31, 2004 to approximately $96 million for the comparable 2005 period. The decline in revenues is largely due to a decrease in the volume of lines transcribed primarily related to clients for whom we no longer provide transcription services. Additionally, while pricing pressures continue on the base transcription business, the pricing pressure has not had as great an impact on revenues during the second half of 2005 as it did in the first half. Management expects that pricing pressure will continue for the foreseeable future but that the introduction of several new sales and improved customer service initiatives will cause transcription volume to stabilize or improve in 2006. Operating Income: Preliminary results indicate that operating income declined $78 million from approximately $0 million for the three months ended December 31, 2004 to an operating loss of approximately $78 million for the comparable 2005 period. The operating loss was attributable to the following: restructuring charges ($4 million), audit fees in connection with the Company's 2003, 2004 and 2005 fiscal years ($4 million), asset impairments ($2 million) and $69 million in costs incurred during the three months ended December 31, 2005 related to the ongoing billing review, including: (i) customer accommodation payments and accruals ($60 million), (ii) legal fees incurred in connection with governmental investigations and proceedings and defense of the class action matters, and (iii) non-legal professional fees. Operating income in 2005 was also impacted by the $16 million decline in revenues over the same period. Fiscal 2004 results reflect $6 million in costs related to the ongoing billing review. Twelve Months ended December 31, 2005 Revenues: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenues decreased from approximately $456 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2004 to approximately $411 million for the comparable 2005 period. The decline in revenues is due to (i) a decrease in the volume of lines transcribed primarily related to clients for whom we no longer provide transcription services and (ii) reductions in transcription service rates due to pricing pressure in the medical transcription industry. Management expects that pricing pressure will continue for the foreseeable future but that the introduction of several new sales and improved customer service initiatives will cause transcription volume to stabilize or improve in 2006. Operating Income: Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that operating income declined $123 million from an operating income of approximately $25 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2004 to an operating loss of approximately $98 million for 2005. The operating loss was attributable to the following: restructuring charges ($4 million), audit fees in connection with the Company's 2003, 2004 and 2005 fiscal years ($4 million), asset impairments ($2 million) and $101 million in costs incurred in 2005 related to the ongoing billing review, including: (i) customer accommodation payments and accruals ($65 million), (ii) legal fees incurred in connection with governmental investigations and proceedings and defense of the class action matters, (iii) non-legal professional fees, and (iv) costs associated with separation and replacement of the Company's management team, including members at the executive level. Operating income in 2005 was also impacted by the $44 million decline in revenues over the comparable period, which represents the impact of both the pricing pressures experienced most strongly in the first six months of 2005 and of volume declines throughout the twelve months ended December 31, 2005. Fiscal 2004 results reflect $15 million in costs related to the ongoing billing review. Balance Sheet Highlights: At December 31, 2005, the Company had $178 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt. There were no additional issuances of capital stock or other securities for the twelve months ended December 31, 2005. The Company expects to incur significant costs and expenses in the future relating to the ongoing billing review, defense of the class action matters and governmental investigations and proceedings, and accommodation agreements. These costs and expenses include (i) legal fees relating to the SEC and Department of Justice investigations and proceedings, (ii) legal fees relating to defense and resolution of the litigation matters described above, (iii) customer accommodation payments and credits, and (iv) non-legal professional fees. The timing and level of these costs and expenses is, in many cases, not within the Company's control. While the Company is unable to predict the timing and level of these costs and expenses, the Company currently believes that it has sufficient resources, including cash on hand and cash flow from operations to fund these costs and expenses. However, there can be no assurance that unanticipated changes in the level of these costs will not exceed the Company's available cash resources, nor can there be any assurance that sufficient financing from external sources will be available to the Company on acceptable terms, if at all. In the event that the Company's cash requirements exceed its available cash resources, or if the timing of such costs and expenses requires the Company to divert cash resources away from operations, the Company may not be able to execute its operating plan, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business and results of operations. Other Developments Restructuring: As previously disclosed, in conjunction with the Company's movement to a single national service and support organization, a restructuring plan has been developed which consolidates approximately forty-eight (48) facilities and centralizes certain components of the business. The Company is expecting to incur restructure costs associated with this restructuring plan of up to $8.5 million and the restructuring is expected to generate annualized savings of approximately $18.5 million. Specifically, MedQuist has shifted resources to a single national service delivery and support organization for all of the Company's services and products, eliminating local service centers. This transition has resulted in the consolidation of approximately thirty-eight (38) facilities as of December 31, 2005, with ten (10) more scheduled over the next six months. The plan does not contemplate reductions of, and the Company has no current intentions to reduce, its medical transcription workforce. Rather, the Company will continue in its efforts to hire additional qualified transcriptionists. Further, although the Company is consolidating its local service centers as described above, customer-facing teams, led by account managers, will continue to coordinate customer support on the local level. The customer-facing teams will work with and be supported by the Company's centrally managed customer service organization.
Spheris to Acquire Vianeta Communications [2005-12-21]
Integrating Vianeta's open and scalable XML-based software into Spheris'existing medical transcription technology will also accelerate a host of otherinitiatives Spheris is currently executing and further developing for both itstechnology and service capabilities. Speaking on behalf of the entire Vianeta team, we are pleased to bejoining such an industry force, said Vianeta Chief Executive Officer RalphAceves. We are looking forward to becoming part of the Spheris mission tolead the medical documentation industry through superior services and best-in-class technology. Following completion of the transaction, Spheris will continue to serviceand enhance the Vianeta solutions currently deployed in the marketplace. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, isexpected to close in the first quarter of 2006. Financial terms of theparties' agreement were not disclosed.
Foreign speaking docs [2005-12-01]
They keep the FSDs HERE for us to struggle with and send the easier stuff to India where the MTs who don't speak English are given an 8 week crash course in English diction, typing and computer processing. Those of us who have worked our entire adult lives in this profession are left to keep the FSDs from getting their backends sued for malpractice. I'm proud of my profession and resent being demeaned and cheated out of what I've spent a lifetime perfecting by seeing it given away by a money hungry, two-faced oursourcing country that swears on a stack of Bibles that we do not now and never will outsource outside the United States. Way to go Spheris.
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.
spheris [2005-11-10]
What a crock of garbage.
Why wouldn't you send business to India? The probably make less than we do, which isn't saying much. Spheris has the worst reputation in the industry and treat their MTs like garbage. The company revenues are 200 million? Sure isn't going to the MTs in the US.
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.
Spheris [2005-10-23]
I have a friend who is just dying to work at home. I do, but only local dictation. What can I tell her about Spheris? Are they reliable, is there enough work. you know, all the stuff one should know before committing? I don't see much of anything positive on this compay but I could be wrong myself. Are there any companies out there that ARE good? For her she says benefits are not an issue which is something I can't visualize, but that's her position.
Spheris India looking at expanding in tier-II cities [2005-10-20]
BANGALORE: US-based medical transcription company Spheris, which recently acquired HealthScribe, is looking to expand in a tier-II cities in India, preferably in the South by 2006. Spheris India (formerly HealthScribe), based in Bangalore, recently opened an additional 300-seat center in Coimbatore this month.
The company has over 2000 employees in India at present, and plans to ramp up the headcount to 3000, next year.
“We feel that large cities are very competitive while smaller cities have a lot more candidates who are serious in taking up medical transcription as a full-fledged career,” said Suresh Nair, CEO and MD, Spheris India.
Elaborating this aspect, he said that unlike BPOs or call centers, which require good spoken English skills, medical transcription is more knowledge-oriented and needs good grammatical skills.
Commenting on the merger with Spheris- the second biggest medical transcription company globally, he said that the move had made HealthScribe a truly global company with access to bigger funds and support for growth.
The company has already added 15 new accounts from the Spheris' stable. Nair said that next year, he plans to start a technology development team that would build solutions based on their delivery platform and sell them commercially.
Nair also revealed that by end of 2006, Spheris India would look at new areas like medical coding and billing. Spheris' revenues globally are in the region of $200 million. He expects Spheris India to grow at 60% this year. “The medical transcription industry has made a comeback in India and US customers are sending more and more work to us,” he said.
Spheris Hiring more workers in India [2005-10-11]
Spheris says it is hiring more workers in India Media Release Oct. 6, 2005
An American company that transcribes doctors notes said Wednesday it is setting up a transcription center in the southern Indian city of Coimbatore, making it the latest U.S. company to expand outside India's traditional outsourcing hubs.
Spheris Inc. of Franklin, Tennessee, has already hired 300 people for its new center in Coimbatore, in India's southern Tamil Nadu state, and plans to add another 700 workers in the next year, the company's president and chief executive, Steven E. Simpson, told reporters.
Workers at the Coimbatore office transcribe taped dictation of U.S. doctors'' diagnosis and advice for patients, saving the physicians time and allowing them to treat more people.
Spheris already employs 2,000 people doing the same work in the southern city of Bangalore _ one of the hubs of India's outsourcing business _ but decided to expand to Coimbatore because of the city's large untapped pool of skilled workers, he said.
The city has a strong foundation in education and is inexpensive, he said of Coimbatore, a city of one million people 360 kilometers (224 miles) south of Bangalore.
Western firms have sought to cut costs by farming out software development, engineering design and routine office work to India.
But the influx of Western firms has led to labor shortages and rising wages in larger cities that have become centers for the outsourcing business, such as Bangalore and Hyderabad.
In contrast, wages in smaller cities have not risen nearly as fast and are now about 30 percent lower than in traditional outsourcing hubs.
Among the companies that have chosen to set up operations lesser-known Indian cities are Honeywell International Inc., which has an office in the southern city of Madurai, and IBM Corp., which has built a facility in the western city of Calcutta.
Spheris Helps Employees Displaced by Katrina [2005-10-01]
NASHVILLE, TN–Spheris, a global provider of medical transcription services and technology, is reaching out to help its more than 100 employees who were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Spheris employs more than 5,000 professional MTs, most of whom work from their homes, and had more than 170 employees located in the devastated gulf states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
“It took some time, but I am happy to say we have been able to locate all of our employees,” said Spheris CEO and President Steven E. Simpson. “Through the efforts of our employee relations specialists, we were able to determine that all of our colleagues escaped serious physical harm. Nevertheless, 21 Spheris employees have potentially lost their homes and all their possessions; 15 are in their homes, but are not able to work because of lost utilities; and several employees have relocated and been able to resume work.” According to Simpson, Spheris is currently assisting with additional relocation efforts of other employees unable to return to their homes.
On Tuesday, Aug. 30, as the world began realizing the devastation facing millions of Americans, Spheris established a Spheris Employee Relief Effort as a means to provide corporate-sponsored assistance to Spheris employees who experienced a significant hardship directly caused by Hurricane Katrina.
Spheris started the fund with the initial contribution and vowed to match a large percentage of Spheris employee contributions. In the days that followed, Spheris saw overwhelming generosity from its employees wanting to help, and in response set up an automated process for Spheris employees to donate their unused Paid Time Off (PTO) and cash contributions through payroll deduction on the Spheris corporate intranet.
In addition to using the company intranet, Spheris is sending regular e-mail updates to all its employees and an e-mail address (Naturaldisasterloop@spheris.com) has been established to enhance the company’s ability to communicate and respond to its employees’ needs.
To date, Spheris employees have personally donated more than $77,000 in cash and $112,000 in donated hours of PTO for their colleagues in need. And, those donations are already helping numerous Spheris employees.
Peggy Stolf, who lives in St. Bernard Parish outside of New Orleans, is a Spheris MT supervisor who is receiving assistance from her employer. “Words cannot express the gratitude my family has for Spheris,” said Stolf. “Through this entire disaster, Spheris became my family's rock that we could cling to, to help us through.”
The Stolf family lost its house, all of its possessions and its beloved dog to the devastating flood waters and is now living with family in Augusta, GA. While it would be easy to focus on what she lost, Stolf chooses to focus on what she gained. “Though we did lose a lot, we did gain a renewed faith in humanity and compassion,” said Stolf. “And, I cannot even find the right words to express the kindness and care that Spheris has shown toward me and my family.”
look who wrote the article - an Indian. SM [2005-09-09]
You should send the hospital administrator an anonymous letter and let them know that their records are being sent to India. Spheris just got in trouble for not informing a hospital in California that they were sending the records overseas.
Evergreen+Spheris=India [2005-09-07]
I'm sure everyone noticed in sm's submitted article about India's opportunities for housewives in medical transcription, that one of their work sources is Spheris. Another submit states that Evergreen Hospital is outsourcing to Spheris ---- does Evergreen know their medical records are going to India? Doubt it!!!!
PS. The article about India said Stheris -- it's an error -- wonder how many of these errors show up in transcribed reports. Hmmmm
Court records sent abroad [2005-08-25]
Trial and hearing tapes were farmed out to Hong Kong for transcription, in violation of rule
Marion County judicial officials are investigating what appears to be an unprecedented security breach in which workers in Hong Kong prepared hearing and trial transcripts in a yet-to-be-determined number of cases.
The outsourcing of what is supposed to be an in-house court function has alarmed Indianapolis judges because these records often contain sensitive information and are critical for appellate judges to understand what transpired in courtrooms months or years before.
Local officials have informed the Indiana Supreme Court of the breach, and the court, which enforces rules on the handling of court records, is awaiting information from Marion County.
This is prompting a thorough investigation, said Marion Superior Court Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson, a member of the court's three-person executive committee. We're talking about the record that goes up on appeal. If it's wrong, that's big stuff.
She said no judge is believed to have authorized a court employee or court employees to send official trial tapes offshore.
A spokesman for the Virginia-based National Association of Court Reporters said he was unaware of any U.S. court sending transcription work overseas and that the group has tried to determine whether it's going on.
The best-quality transcript is prepared by someone who was present at the proceeding, said Marshall Jorpeland, the national group's communications director. The best-educated English speaker in Hong Kong isn't going to know street slang unless they've moved there from here.
Other concerns include Social Security numbers appearing in transcripts, as well as the names and addresses of crime victims or their family members and sensitive information about employment or income, Jorpeland said.
Marion County's judicial leaders are trying to figure out how much work was sent overseas in violation of a local court requirement that transcriptions be done in-house by county employees to protect against privacy violations -- including identity theft -- and to ensure accuracy.
At least one court reporter has acknowledged some work on major felony cases was sent to a private firm, said Mark Renner, the Marion Superior Court administrator.
Renner declined to release the name of the court reporter or the judge for whom the reporter works. The employee has not been reprimanded but could face disciplinary action, including a possible dismissal.
Renner said the breach occurred after an experienced court reporter hired an Indianapolis transcription firm, Baynes Shirey, which does business as ClearPoint Legal, to prepare transcripts. That work was then outsourced to Scriptero, a Hong Kong company that has more than 50 clients from all over the world that demand at least 4,000 transcripts a year, according to court officials and the company's Web site.
Neither company responded Tuesday to requests for comment.
No one is accusing either firm of wrongdoing. Renner said he intends to send a letter today to Baynes Shirey asking for a complete list of proceedings the firm has transcribed for Marion County's court system.
On its Internet site, Scriptero says it is often hired to transcribe depositions, which usually are closely reviewed for accuracy by participants, and that it uses only native-language transcriptionists. The Hong Kong firm boasts a 99.75 percent accuracy rate, but that's been of little consolation to local officials.
This assignment of transcripts to anyone other than another Superior Court reporter shall cease immediately unless the Judge of your Court gives you express permission to so assign the responsibility of transcription to some outside entity, Renner wrote in an e-mail sent Friday to court officials.
Renner said a Porter County judge notified Marion County officials of the breach last week after hearing about it from a member of the Indiana Shorthand Reporters Association
An e-mail that was ultimately received by the Judge in Porter County from the company in Hong Kong confirmed that they had in fact been doing work from Marion County, including full transcripts from jury trials, Renner told court officials.
Tina DeBone, president of the Indiana reporters association, said she blew the whistle to court officials but did not name any of the firms involved. She said no Porter County judges were involved.
DeBone said she heard about the violation from a court reporter in Arizona who had been approached by the Hong Kong company. DeBone, a victim of identity theft, said she was worried about sensitive information falling into the hands of terrorists who might use it to enter the United States.
Farming out transcription work is in complete violation of the reporter's contract that each reporter signed, Renner said in his e-mail. These contracts, signed with Marion Superior Court, do not provide for hiring private companies to do transcription work.
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.
Transcend and MDI Founder Announce Stock Option Agreement [2005-08-19]
ATLANTA -- Aug. 18, 2005 -- Transcend SERVICES, INC. (Nasdaq SmallCap: TRCR) today announced that a co-founder of Medical Dictation Inc. (MDI), Sue McGrogan, has agreed to invest $200,000 in Transcend as of August 15, 2005 through the purchase of 71,942 shares of common stock. This purchase is part of an overall option agreement that provides four options to purchase $200,000 each that could result in $800,000 of total investment over the next two years. Half of the investment will be in cash and the other half in the forgiveness of a note due to Sue McGrogan from her sale of MDI to Transcend. These purchases will be made at a price of 110% of the average market price for the ten trading days prior to said purchase. The remaining three options are exercisable on the six- month anniversary dates of the execution of the option agreement and cannot be carried forward once the option date has passed.
MDI is a transcription company that has been in operation since 1988 in Brooksville, Florida founded by Sue McGrogan and her mother Liz McGrogan. The McGrogans first entered the industry in 1972 as owner-operators of a medical transcription company in New Jersey. MDI recently became a wholly owned subsidiary of Transcend.
Both Liz and Sue McGrogan have played an important role in Transcend since the acquisition of MDI by Transcend on January 31, 2005. Liz currently serves as interim general manager at MDI, which has grown from $6.4 million in revenue in 2004 to a current annualized level of over $8 million. Sue is a Business Unit Manager at Transcend, managing a significant portion of Transcend's field operations. Alex Munoz, Transcend's EVP of Operations stated, Having worked closely with Liz and Sue during the integration of our two companies, their level of increased commitment is exciting as we continue to make changes within the company. Liz McGrogan agreed, commenting, We are both very excited about the future of Transcend and MDI, and the potential growth through new business and acquisitions. Sue added, The decision to invest money into Transcend is indicative of our confidence in Transcend and its future.
Seventeen employees will lose their jobs [2005-08-17]
2005-08-16by Lori VaroshJournal Reporter
KIRKLAND -- Seventeen employees of Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland will lose their jobs, most by Aug. 31, victims of a trend toward outsourcing the work of medical transcriptionists.
Spheris, a Franklin, Tenn.-based contract medical transcription company, will begin today to take over the work of typing doctors' dictation into Eastside patients' records, hospital spokeswoman Amy Gepner confirmed Monday.
The practice is increasingly common among area hospitals. It provides benefits in expertise and cost savings, supporters say. But critics warn that, without careful safeguards, the practice can put patients at risk.
Outsourcing has become the area standard, said Caitlin Hillary, spokeswoman for Overlake Hospital Medical Center in Bellevue, which outsourced its transcriptionists in 1999. Such companies have the expertise and the employee base to handle the peaks and valleys of patient loads, she said.
Overlake had been having trouble recruiting transcriptionists before it outsourced those jobs, and the solution has worked well, Hillary said.
Job quality is `inferior'
But others find outsourcing generally ``is inferior to having long-term, loyal staff,'' said Diane Clark, supervisor of transcription services for the UW Medical Center, which outsources about half of its transcription work.
Because they offer lower pay, transcription companies attract people with less experience, Clark said. Those workers have no particular loyalty to the medical center, and no personal investment in the work.
And, because they often work on a per-line basis, ``the faster they type, the more money they make,'' which can result in mistakes, Clark said.
Nor do physicians always review the transcriptions as they should, she added.
If the doctors' notes are not transcribed accurately, ``it could result in patient care issues,'' Clark said. Outsourcing can work if the companies routinely sample the work for accuracy and have a second pair of eyes proof-reading the transcription.
Spheris was chosen because of its quality, said Evergreen's Gepner. Physicians at the Kirkland hospital read and sign off on all transcriptions before they go into a patient's medical record, she said.
In an April memo to physicians obtained by the Journal, however, medical staff warned that problems are possible during a transition period to the new system.
``There will be a period of time in which the new dictation service will need to adapt to the phraseology and individual traits of our Evergreen physicians; during that time there will be more blanks and errors, so please pay close attention to your dictation for accuracy,'' the memo said.
The taxpayer-supported hospital expects to save $400,000 a year over its current costs for transcription services, including salaries and benefits, Gepner said. But the move is also being made because existing transcriptionists cannot keep up with the workload without a $500,000 to $750,000 investment in equipment as well as personnel.
``It doesn't make business sense to be significantly increasing the cost,'' Gepner said.
The hospital's administration proposed outsourcing and the hospital district's commissioners approved because it was ``best for patient safety,'' Gepner said.
``What we need to do is get (the information) as fast as we can in the patient record,'' she said. Spheris already is capable of working with the new patient records system Evergreen added two years ago, she said.
The contract with Spheris also requires that no work be sent out of the country and that all 17 Evergreen transcriptionists be offered jobs, Gepner said. ``Three have chosen to go with Spheris,'' she said.
The company has taken out ads in local newspapers seeking more transcriptionists.
Some employees complain, however, that the contractor is simply not offering a living wage. Spheris offered 7.5 cents per line, said one transcriptionist, who asked for anonymity for fear that a ``measly'' severance package would be withdrawn.
An average Spheris worker would make less than two-thirds that of an Evergreen employee, according to the figures the Transcriptionist provided.
Evergreen transcriptionists earn $13.50 to $19.62 per hour, plus a 7-cent per line bonus for more than 938 lines a day. At a consistent day's work of 1,200 lines, the midrange Evergreen employee would earn $150 a day, compared | | |