Coventry trust outsources transcription

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust has chosen to outsource the transcription of its patient records.

The trust has signed a three year contract with digital dictation, speech recognition and transcription company Dictate IT.

The contract means both the University Hospital in Coventry and the Hospital of St Cross in Rugby will send patient records for transcription to Dictate IT.

They will then be transcribed and integrated back into the trust’s patient record system as digitised documents.

Dictate IT’s managing director, Mark Miller, said it the company had guaranteed the trust 98.5% accuracy and a turnaround time of 24 hours.

“This will not only assist the trust in meeting clinical record guidelines, but could also lead to significant cost savings through reductions in agency staff, overtime, stationary and transcription backlogs," he said.

The trust will pay Dictate IT on a ‘fee per line’ basis, ensuring it will only pay for the dictation which has been transcribed.

The information can be uploaded from anywhere within the trust via encrypted, secure internet routing.

Miller added: “We are delighted to be providing one of the biggest trusts in the country with our industry-leading outsourced transcription service.

"Over the next three years, we will help the ICT team deliver significant cost savings, which in the current political and financial climate is more important than ever."

The trust’s ICT director Robin Arnold said: “The new agreement with Dictate IT reinforces our commitment to providing the highest possible level of care to our patients, whilst also ensuring maximum efficiency and value for money.”