by Liesa Jo Jenkins, Executive Director, CareSpark and Elisa Comer, CPHIT, CPEHR, CQA, CEO, Eagle's Landing Transcription Service

Medical transcriptionists, like other health care professionals, invest lots of time and money for training and technology to stay abreast of the advancements in the field, even as a growing percentage of transcriptionists choose to work from home-based settings for personal reasons. While no one contests the importance of accurate transcription that meets quality standards, pressure to reduce costs within healthcare organizations has resulted in competition from outsourcing of transcription services to overseas companies and a rise in use of alternative documentation methods. Add to these considerations the recent movement to encourage physician adoption of electronic medical records, and you may be asking yourself what the future of medical transcription might be, or even if such a future exists. 

The well-regarded chief health informatics officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs has moved over to become the new interim national coordinator of health information technology at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Robert Kolodner, a career employee of the Veterans Health Administration who has led the development of the VA's e-medical records (EMRs) systems, becomes the second person to lead ONCHIT. For more on this story, click here.

For more information contact:
Karla Hurter
For: eHealth Initiative
khurter@health2resources.com
(703) 319-0957

September 26, 2006, Washington, D.C. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen was among high-ranking officials from three states lauded by the eHealth Initiative (eHI) for their contributions to the advance state-level infrastructure to support electronic health information exchange. The honors were bestowed at a dinner honoring leaders from 45 states during eHI's Third HIT Summit, held Sept. 25-27 in Washington, D.C. at the Renaissance Hotel.

The U.S. Pharmacopoeia's 5th annual study of medical errors reports that errors in electronic order submission have actually exceeded errors made by handwriting.

U.S. Report: The number of errors in electronic order submission have actually exceeded errors made by handwriting. "With powerful and capable software, we have yet to achieve the quality and safety improvements that are at our fingertips..."
U.S. Pharmacopoeia, 5th Annual study/James Feldbaum, M.D.

Surprising results from the U.S. Pharmacopoeia show that the number of errors made with e-prescribing have actually exceeded the number of errors from handwritten prescriptions. In the July edition of Healthcare Informatics, James Feldbaum, M.D., takes a pointed look at the use of Computerized Physician Order Entry, or CPOE, and its effect on the quality of patient care. "With powerful and capable software, we have yet to achieve the quality and safety improvements that are at our fingertips..." he states. In this well-written commentary he examines cutting edge technology and demonstrates that the implementation of software, in and of itself, will not be enough to get us to effective and safe electronic medical records.