REDUCE TRANSCRIPTION COSTS

When the Cincinnati Eye Institute (CEI), the largest ophthalmology practice in the United States, wanted to reduce medical transcription costs, they turned to Emdat.

Emdat is a suite of web-based applications that completely automates the preparation, routing and delivery of the entire dictation, transcription and documentation process. Emdat begins with the proven foundation of traditional dictation and adds web-based cost-saving features to give clients a fully integrated solution that improves workflow, reduces cost, and saves time.

Previously, CEI transcriptionists -- all of whom worked off-site because of space constraints -- made frequent trips into the office to pick up dictations and drop off completed transcriptions. Along with being inconvenient, it was an administrative nightmare for CEI Project Manager Marsha Wylie. In addition, the company paid transcriptionists for each hour of drive time, making for a costly and inefficient combination.

Using Emdat, CEI's simplified its transcription process. A straightforward and user-friendly system, Emdat is easy to learn. CEI’s transcriptionists easily transitioned to the new online system. Administrators effortlessly managed each step in the transcription process. Dictating clinicians quickly adopted Emdat because there's very little change to the dictation process.

CEI began reaping the benefits of the Emdat software right away. Almost immediately, CEI reduced its transcription turnaround time from three weeks to 24 hours. During the first three years alone, CEI reduced transcription costs by $250,000. The company estimates that 80% of their savings resulted from Emdat’s line counting methods and built-in print template feature that automatically generates redundant fields, reducing the number of lines per transcription. CEI also reduced its letterhead and postage costs because Emdat can send and store transcriptions electronically.

By switching to an electronic transcription system, CEI saved money and increased productivity without significantly disrupting the status quo clinical workflow.