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Still think AAMT/AHDI is your champion?
http://mtindia.info/news/latest/heartland-information-services-spryance-inc.-merge.html
Heartland Information Services, Spryance, Inc., Merge Written by News Editor
Wednesday, 15 November 2006
Combined Companies Create Premier Outsourced Transcription Provider
Heartland Information Services has merged with Spryance, Inc., forming one of the premier offshore transcription providers in the United States. Spryance shareholders will fund the purchase of Heartland Information Services from HCR ManorCare. The new combined company will be marketed under the Heartland Information Services brand.
Headquartered in Boston, Spryance provides transcription service to more than 175 hospitals and clinics across the country, utilizing 1,200 MTs in India. Heartland’s corporate headquarters is located in Toledo, Ohio, with work centers in Bangalore and Delhi, India. By combining companies, the new Heartland will have over 2,500 medical transcriptionists providing service to over 200 hospital and clinical customers.
Dennis Paulik, General Manager of Heartland, will become the President and CEO of the new combined company. Raj Malhotra, CEO of Spryance, will become Chairman of the Board of the combined companies. Joining Mr. Malhotra on the board will be Gene Barduson, Chairman and CEO, Alteer, Inc., Dennis Byerly, former CEO Third Millennium Healthcare Systems, Inc., Mahendra Patel, formerly with DEC, David Beecken, Partner, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company, and Thomas Schleisinger, Partner, Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company.
“Combining the two companies creates synergies that will add value for customers,” says Dennis Paulik, President and CEO of the new Heartland Information Services. “For example, Heartland provides industry-leading quality and customer support and Spryance provides capacity and scalability.”
“The Spryance investors, led by Beecken Petty O’Keefe & Company and International Finance Corporation, provide the financial strength and resources for the new Heartland to grow rapidly,” adds Mr. Malhotra, Heartland Information Services Chairman of the Board.
THE cost-saving initiative of out-sourcing medical notes to India for typing is facing major problems. An internet link used to transfer patient information from Lister Hospital to India has failed to meet the needs of East and North Herts NHS Trust, both in terms of speed and capacity. The Trust had hoped to save as much as £1million by axing 15 medical secretary posts and outsourcing their work. However, a medical secretary from Lister said: "After the medical secretaries were made redundant it was discovered that the NHS server for the typing to be sent over the internet to India could not cope with this system. Medical secretaries are being told that the typing will be kept at the Trust for us to type, as done in the past."
Danny Mortimer, the Trust's director of human resources, said: "Like any project of its size, there will always be initial teething problems."
"Nationally the NHS is experiencing problems with this link, both in terms of its speed and capacity of transfer of information across the internet. Contingency plans are being considered locally by the Trust, including using a separate, secure link to the internet for the medical transcription service until the problems affecting it are resolved nationally. The Trust has introduced the medical transcription service because it knows that it will save money, while at the same time providing a consistent, high-quality service. This is proving to be the case already, although more work remains to be done."
American Association for Medical Transcription, in association with Prometric, announced the Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) credentialing exam – a newly developed global ‘level-1’ credential in the arena of Medical Transcription. This program is aimed at helping the existing talent pool to scale up and meet the global standards and quality benchmarks. The two organizations also announced a special ‘India price’ for AAMT’s existing Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) exam.
Medical Transcription is a booming industry with exponential growth prospects and opportunities for committed players. While globally the industry potential is around USD 30-33 billion, in India it is around USD 300 million. Currently, there are around 18,000 medical practitioners in the country and this is expected to almost double within the next 2-3 years. |