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Turnaround time guarantee given by the medical transcription service provider plays an important role in the service provider selection process.

To answer this question, one needs to examine the importance of medical transcription and the part it plays in the provision of quality healthcare. Medical transcription is the process of creating records of the patient-healthcare professional encounter. These records then serve as the foundation for providing healthcare, for referring to specialists, as evidence in case of litigation and form the basis for billing.

One can see that the quality of healthcare hinges on the availability of accurate and timely information, therefore turnaround time is very important for a healthcare facility.

Turnaround time is the time between the audio files is uploaded to the time when the final transcript is made available to the healthcare professional. Ideal lead time would depend on the type of report. For most reports a turnaround time of 24 hours would be considered ideal, but STAT reports would require of 4-12 hours.

This would require the healthcare facility to have a careful screening process of various service providers. To ensure that a service provider would stand by their guarantee they need to be evaluated on the following:

· Technology used: The technology used by the service provider will have a direct impact on the time taken to revert back with the transcripts

· Training methods used: A team of well-trained transcriptionists would ensure that the time guaranteed by the service provider for reverting back with the finished transcripts would be met without any compromise to quality.

· Quality assurance methods used: The methods used to ensure quality would not only ensure accuracy but also save a lot of time in correction of errors, thereby fine-tuning the time required for delivering the transcripts.

· In-house transcription: Transcription done in-house and not through sub-contractors would cut down on time needed for delivering transcripts by avoiding dilution of control over the process of transcription.

While evaluating the quality of transcription services it is important to assess whether the transcription service provider can maintain accuracy and still meet turnaround time guarantees.