As part of the Joint Task Force on Standards Development, the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) released a white paper discussing the current state of the industry relative to Turnaround Time (TAT) for selected work types.  The white paper also “provides commentary on how changes to TAT may impact operational efficiency, enrich data capture and documentation, further empower clinical decision making, and enhance patient care.”

For your convenience, we have included the Summary of Findings of the white paper below:

1. Medical transcription (including the editing of draft reports created with SRT) is currently the dominant and preferred method of creating narrative documentation in the U.S. healthcare system and is likely to remain a critical practice for at least 10 years.
2. Fluctuating (unpredictable) dictation workloads and a critical shortage of skilled transcriptionists are factors affecting TAT in many instances.
3. The evolution of the health record in emerging systems such as EHRs and PHRs (personal health records) will increase demand for quicker TAT of patient information to achieve desired financial and clinical benefits
4. SRT and perhaps other technologies will grow as documentation solutions in the marketplace can enhance TAT in some circumstances.
5. Medical transcription production will continue to expand globally, which can in some cases improve TAT.
6. Faster TAT on transcribed reports in cases where skilled workers are critical to the process will likely increase overall costs.
7. Market recognition of the benefits of TAT standards in which expectations are properly set and managed will improve patient care/safety and provide a more efficient healthcare operation.  In all cases, regular dialogue between all constituents affected by documentation TATs will result in a better outcome.

Click here to read the entire White Paper: Transcription Turnaround Time for Common Document Types.