Outsourcing can reduce costs, but getting the most value out of your insurance transcription vendor requires effort from both parties. Whether your company already outsources insurance transcription or you are considering doing so, the following tips will help you get the most out of the relationship.
#1: Involve Staff at All Levels within the Organization
All individuals within the organization should be a part of the decision making process. Bring in vendor management (aka procurement), business process owners, and end users. End users typically include adjusters and your subrogation team. End users are especially important. Do a requirements analysis and have them involved in ongoing communication with your vendor. This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to surface issues quickly and address them before they become major problems.
When staff from multiple areas of the business come together to make key decisions, results significantly improve. These individuals need to understand how processes work, what to do when there’s a problem, and how to fully utilize vendor’s services. Giving your vendor access to staff will allow them to educate, train, and equip end users.
If you are just getting started with an insurance transcription vendor, make sure the following questions get answered:
- What is the recommended workflow and does this need to be adapted to your specific needs?
- What security risks exist and how are they mitigated?
- What does your order volume look like – is this consistent or should your vendor be prepared for fluctuations?
- What is the customer service response time?
- What happens if there’s a mistake in a transcript?
Companies should involve the entire team to ensure a productive working relationship between insurance transcription vendors and company’s staff.
#2: Communicate Goals and Strategy
Make sure all parties are clear on expectations and goals. Get specific. For example, a task as simple as explaining how to batch upload workers compensation transcription files can be valuable information the vendor can share to streamline the process and save you a significant amount of time.
Also, keep in mind that vendors are often willing to adjust to an insurer’s needs. Do you see a better way to do something? Bring it up with your vendor. Oftentimes, vendors are willing to make modifications to better suit client needs when it is within the scope of their contract to do so.
Vendors can also be great sources of knowledge. Insurance transcription vendors typically do work for multiple insurers. This means they often have decades of insight and experience in what tools and methods work best. They can be experts in best practices related to transcription. For example, vendors can provide advice on everything from how to best transfer audio files and completed transcripts (portal, SFTP, API, etc.). Many vendors also have excellent input on how to optimize call recording quality. If audio quality improves, so will the resulting transcripts.
When you view the relationship as a partnership, you start to find more win-win opportunities.
#3: Regularly Evaluate Results
Insurance transcription vendors routinely provide reporting to customers. Some standard metrics include:
- Percentage of transcriptions completed within promised turnaround
- Breakdown by order type (rush, priority, standard)
- Monthly transcription order volume
- Average page count
Keep in mind that vendors are often willing to customize reports for customers. Report frequency and the metrics included within the report are customizable.
Ongoing reporting simplifies the vendor management process because trend analysis is possible. Insurers can identify potential areas for cost savings (e.g. is subro ordering more priority orders than anticipated?) and catch potential issues before they grow into real problems.
The time and effort invested in involving staff throughout the organization should result in a productive, mutually beneficial business partnership.
