Billing Method Principles

Best Practices Rationale

MTIA believes that best practices in the area of billing should involve an open and ethical exchange of relevant information between service organization and healthcare provider/client–one that strengthens not only the relationship of trust between the client and that service organization but also the overall trust of that provider/client with respect to the transcription outsourcing industry in general. Trust in the billing practices of the outsourcing industry must be predicated on an understanding by both parties of the definitions and formulae being applied to the measurement of services, upon which billing is determined. As these principles are born from reasonable business practices, one should assume that any billing method that might be questioned in the context of these principles may not be as sound as method as one that cannot be questioned.

While MTIA has recently released a recommended standard unit of measure for measuring transcription services (See Standard Unit of Measure for Transcribed Reports), the goal of this best practices paper is to provide a means by which to evaluate any medical transcription billing method, or internal transcription cost accounting method, whether existing or proposed. These principle statements do not, in and of themselves, suggest or intend to suggest any preferred billing method. Rather, they seek to acknowledge and preserve a creative, broad spectrum of methods while simultaneously reaffirming strong fundamentals on which the medical transcription industry can flourish.

Billing Method Principles

Verifiability: A medical transcription billing method should be subject to verification, with such verification being available to parties to the transaction.

Definability: A medical transcription billing method should accurately define all measurements and be free from definitional ambiguity.

Measurability: A medical transcription billing method should allow for complete understanding of the formulas used in its calculation and result in a clear and concise invoice.

Consistency: A medical transcription billing method should be generally reliable and consistent in its application.

Integrity: A medical transcription billing method should be fair and honest, resulting in invoices that accurately reflect and charge for service rendered.

The application of these principles is totally at the discretion of those who would apply them. They have, however, been developed with all industry constituents in mind including but not limited to, buyers of transcription services, providers of medical transcription services (of all size and construct regardless of location), medical transcriptionists, caregivers, medical patients, and all those who would enter the field of medical transcription in one facet or another.

BMPPHIP