Tag Archive for: verbatim transcription

4 Ways Insurance Transcription Helps Adjusters

/0 Comments/in /by Karla Ellison

In the insurance industry, time is money. Thus, it is important for claims representatives to have the right tools and processes to make their job as easy and efficient as possible. One way this is done is by having access to a recorded statement transcription service. Here are four ways insurance transcription helps adjusters.

#1: Save Time

One of the most obvious ways insurance transcription helps adjusters is by saving them time. Looking back through a verbatim account of a recorded statement to find certain details is often easier and more efficient that having to listen to an audio file. Furthermore, it allows managers and fellow team members who might be taking over a file the ability to catch up to what has already been reported without having to listen in real time. For companies that shift claims cases around various departments on a regular basis, having this type of record on file is essential to effective time management.

#2: Catch Discrepancies

Utilizing a secure transcription service also helps adjusters by allowing them to catch discrepancies. If a file warrants multiple recorded interviews with either an insured or claimant, the transcript documents can be compared for both glaring and small differences. In situations where fraud is suspected or the situation is quit unique, determining whether or not details match up can be a very vital part of the discovery process.

#3: Have a Complete File

Recorded statement transcription also helps adjusters by allowing them to have a complete claims file. In situations where a claim is either going to litigation or requires further inspection by a legal team, having the transcription versus only an adjuster’s notes can help a legal team get a full picture of the case at hand. In certain scenarios, this can mean the difference between a file being handled one way versus another.

#4: File Arbitration

Arbitration Forums is a membership-driven, non-profit organization that helps insurance companies settle various claims disputes among each other. Both sides have the opportunity to present its case before an appointed arbitrator and the decision made becomes legally binding. While this process is often an excellent way for carriers to save money and eliminate the need to file in court, there is one caveat to the process—they do not accept recorded audio as part of a case file. In order to present an insured or claimant’s statement verbatim, it must be in a transcript format.

While these are just a few of the many ways insurance transcription helps adjusters, they are certainly four of the most important. For more information on our services, please contact our team at Allegis Transcription today.

Why Verbatim Transcription Matters

/4 Comments/in /by Karla Ellison

Verbatim transcription is a unique type of transcription where every utterance – every “um,” “ah,” false start, stutter, repetition, grammatical error, and partial word – is reproduced in written format.

This means a verbatim transcript reads just how the recording sounds. A transcriptionist seeks to turn the spoken word into text, most accurately reflecting what was said.

Recorded statement transcripts are almost always verbatim style. Steven Kerry Brown defines a recorded statement as a, “voice tape recording made by a witness covering facts and/or the witness’s recollection of the pertinent incident.”

Adjusters and insurance special investigators typically take statements and it does not matter if they are taken in person or over the phone.

 

Uses for Verbatim Transcription

A recorded statement is a key piece of evidence in the investigation of a claim. Subrogation and special investigation (SIU) professionals typically put in the requests to have a statement transcribed.

A subrogation professional might prepare a claim file to be submitted to arbitration, and having a transcript included as a piece of evidence often adds significant value and credibility to the file. As Hector Quiroga, a law professional, points out, he has seen many cases in which arbitrators will rule in favor of a better documented file.

The most common use for recorded statement transcripts is in claim files used for inter-company arbitration.

Arbitration Forums is the most popular group of insurance arbitration professionals, and provides a neutral panel of claims professionals to hear cases. The organization offers arbitration through a number of different forums, including auto, PIP, and property forums, to name a few.

Insurers might also use verbatim transcripts as an exhibit in court.

 

Every Word Matters

This style is important for interviews where the way in which something is said is just as important as the content of what is being said.

Claims professionals can often pick up on valuable information based on certain sighs, stutters, pauses and other utterances the interviewee produces and it takes a skilled transcriptionist to accurately reproduce all the utterances of an interviewee.

Having every utterance reproduced in typed format can help a fraud investigator more easily identify areas of the case to devote greater attention to. For example, if the interviewee stutters more and uses more filler words (perhaps indicating nervousness) when explaining who was driving their car at the time of the accident, perhaps the interviewee is attempting to distort the truth.

Transcribing verbatim style can be quite a challenge and still requires human expertise. The adjuster and interviewee might speak over one another, accents can be difficult to understand, and poor recording quality can complicate the transcription process.

How to Assess Transcription Accuracy

/0 Comments/in /by Tyler Marshall

I’ve talked about transcript quality control previously and Allegis’ overall process for ensuring transcription accuracy, but now I’d like to get into how we actually calculate transcript accuracy. Making sure our customers and prospective clients have a shared understanding of how we calculate verbatim transcript accuracy is very important. Transcript scoring guidelines do vary somewhat from vendor to vendor and what I discuss here only applies to verbatim transcription. This is the style of transcription insurers typically rely on because transcripts often go to arbitration, and a having a verbatim, typed reproduction of a verbal statement can be a key part of a complete claim file. Verbatim transcripts seek to reproduce the spoken word in written form, as accurately as possible, with every “um” and “ah” intact.

Why We Created the Transcript Quality Scoring Guide

We initially created a guide for internal use, which has evolved over our nearly 20 years in business. It creates a consistent means of evaluation for our quality control (QC) team. Eventually, as Allegis brought on more customers, we encountered a need to share our scoring guide more frequently. Some customers wanted a way to evaluate our transcription accuracy and others wanted to compare Allegis’ transcripts to another vendor’s.

Not All Inaccuracies Are Equal

Without a common means of comparison, people were assigning different scores to the same transcripts. For example, a person might deduct one point for a misspelled word, as well as one point for a gross misstatement of the facts of loss. If, for example, a transcriptionist types that a claimant turned right instead of left, this mistake has the potential to substantially alter an arbitration outcome. Internally, we deduct fewer points for a misspelled word than for a misstatement that alters the meaning of what was said.  We assign one point to formatting errors, typographical errors, and other persistent minor errors.

Who Can Benefit from Using the Guide

You can put this guide to use in many different ways. You might be an existing Allegis client and want to check the accuracy of our work. Perhaps you want to evaluate another vendor’s work. Also, many insurers maintain internal or in-house teams. These teams often have an interest in benchmarking performance against industry standards.

If you use verbatim transcripts and want to check document accuracy, this is the tool for you. It is worth noting that scoring criteria does vary slightly from vendor to vendor, but with Allegis being the largest recorded statement transcription vendor on the market, our standards are widely adopted.

98% Accuracy is Nearly Perfect

As you can see based on some of the examples provided, achieving 98% or great accuracy for verbatim transcripts is a very, very high standard. Three incorrect punctuation marks would cause a transcript to fail our quality control standards.

Download Allegis’ Transcript Quality Scoring Guide for Yourself! It’s our free gift to you. Just use the button below to access the guide.

 

QC Guide Click

How to Compare Transcription Pricing Methods

/0 Comments/in /by Tyler Marshall


Pricing methods vary from one recorded statement transcription vendor to the next. Some charge by the completed page, some by the word, and still others charge by the audio minute. This complicates the vendor selection process. The two most common pricing methods we see for insurance transcription, are per-page and per-minute pricing.

We price our verbatim transcripts by the typed, completed page. Over the years many people have asked us how to convert our pricing to a per-minute basis.  Here we would like to share the simple formula we use internally. While not 100% accurate, it acts as a reliable “rule of thumb.”

 

To Convert Transcription Pricing Per-Minute to Per-Page Pricing

Price Per-Minute x 1.335 = Price Per-Page

Example: $2.50 Per-Minute x 1.335 = $3.34 Per-Page

 

To Convert Per-Page Transcription Pricing to Per-Minute Pricing

Price Per-Page x .75 = Price Per-Minute

Example: $3.34 Per-Page x .75 =  $2.50

 

Other Considerations

Keep in mind that these calculations are not exact. We recommend asking vendors for a sample transcript to evaluate other factors such as format, layout, and spacing rules. Page header height and margin standards also play a role in how many words are on a page.

When speaking with recorded statement transcription vendors charging by the audio minute, ask how they charge for sections of blank audio. For those charging by the page, ask how they charge for partially completed pages (e.g. the final page of a transcript contains two sentences. Are you billed the price of a full page or is the pricing reduced by a certain amount?).

Finally, transcript turnaround speed also affects pricing. Most vendors offer multiple turnaround speeds, and the faster the turnaround, typically the higher the price.

 

 

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How to Consistently Provide Quality Transcription

/0 Comments/in /by Tyler Marshall

Quality Transcription Matters

By now you have probably noticed that most transcription vendors advertise transcript accuracy of 98% or greater. The 98% threshold is an industry standard and we thought it would be worthwhile to share how vendors consistently deliver on this promise.  Having a thorough, reliable process in place is foundational to maintaining consistent, high quality transcription.

Specific to Allegis, we know that insurance subrogation and SIU teams need to be able to confidently rely on the transcripts they utilize. A single mistake – a mistake in transcribing the facts of loss, for example – could make the difference between winning and losing in arbitration. Accuracy matters.

Performing transcript QA requires experience, a reliable process, and an overarching strategy to pull all the pieces together. It begins by hiring experienced transcriptionists, maintaining a strong QA team, and then tying it all together with solid customer service.

 

Quality Transcription Begins with Quality Transcriptionists

Highly experienced and well-trained transcriptionists with relevant industry knowledge are the starting point of a successful transcription quality control system. Vendors spend a significant amount of time recruiting qualified transcriptionists and providing extensive initial and ongoing training.

Customers frequently ask about automatic audio transcription or voice recognition software and it is worth mentioning here. This technology is rapidly improving and some transcription vendors are beginning to use the technology. Unfortunately, this approach still requires human editors, which typically means listening to the audio again and, based on Allegis’ tests so far, the benefits do not yet outweigh the costs. For now, human transcriptionists are still the best route to quality transcription.

 

Quality Assurance Team

Most reputable vendors maintain a Quality Assurance Team. The most common approach is to select and review a statistically significant sample size of completed transcripts. Having two humans listen to each and every audio file – first the transcriptionist, then the QA employee – is not necessary. This model means that the QA team selects the right amount of transcripts (a statistically significant sample) to catch any transcriptionist who might be producing subpar transcripts.

Utilizing this approach, the QA team is then able to quickly and cost-effectively focus on areas needing extra quality assurance.  The team can then place any transcriptionist in question under close supervision, who are then re-trained until they once again consistently produce quality transcripts. This process is an important application of statistics, enabling vendors to provide affordable transcription services. Having two humans listen to every audio file is neither cost effective, nor is it necessary.

 

Customer Service is Key

Customer service is a crucial — and often overlooked — part of transcript QA.  Transcription is currently a human-based business. Quality transcription is so important, yet errors – albeit minor –do occur. This makes having an effective customer service team a necessity, not a convenience. If an error makes it through a company’s QA safeguards, a vendor should provide an easy route for customers to request corrections. This is where customer service really proves valuable. Being able to have errors quickly resolved is an important final step to the QA process.

 

Quality is Intentional

98% accuracy is a high standard, but by hiring experienced transcriptions, maintaining a strong QA team, and delivering excellent customer service, these standards are achievable every day. Highly accurate recorded statement transcripts are crucial to the subrogation and SIU professional. Verbatim, insurance transcription vendors have the responsibility to deliver high quality transcripts every time.