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Success story: MedScribe focuses on serviceThe News Press - Fort Myers, Fla.Author: Yvonne Ayala McClellan Date: Nov 21, 2010 Offering one service and doing it right has helped a Naples-based medical transcription company grow. MedScribe opened in 1992 with four employees in Naples, but over the years has expanded to 36 states and more than 165 employees. The transcription company doesn't offer coding, medical document management or shredding like other transcription companies, said MedScribe president and chief executive officer, John A. Langley, who feels it was the right move. "We've opted to do one thing well and I really think it's paying off," Langley said. The company offers a 24-hour service daily to meet its clients needs and has educated staff on Internet technology strategies to produce a custom user interface for each client. From January to September 2010 the company grossed about $6 million in revenue compared to about $5 million it grossed for the same period a year ago -- a growth of about 17 percent. Langley said the company is projected to gross close to $2 million in the fourth quarter of 2010. It also expects to hire about 35 employees before the year's end, he said. He attributes the growth to a company-wide effort to make efficiency gains in its services and management. Langley also said the company has attracted about a dozen clients this year and existing customers are getting busier, requesting increased services. A majority of the company's healthcare documentation specialists work from home, which diminishes overhead costs, but gives the company access to hire employees anywhere in the U.S. who have internet access and select from a pool of qualified applicants, he said. The company also passes on value to its customers by committing to sourcing staff in the U.S. and requiring five years experience in a hospital setting or other health care service setting, he said. "It's a very skilled position because they've got to understand what the doctor says, as a patient you want to understand what the doctors say," he said. MedScribe has also transitioned its phones from analog service to voice over Internet protocol services in August. This step gives clients access to a local number and will reduce the cost of long distance phone calls by almost two-thirds in the long-term, Langley said. "Our whole thrust is efficiency," Langley said. "Everything we do, we have to gain efficiencies or we don't do it because in health care right now that's the name of the game." Will Grant, chief financial officer of Laurens Health Care System in Clinton, S.C., selected MedScribe to handle its transcription services because of the 24-hour availability. The health care system previously had three employees transcribing from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. "It's been an increase in coverage and a reduction in cost so it's been a win-win for us," Grant said. MedScribe is also advocating increased use of its voice recognition platform, which has improved technologically, but is getting better and has increased the company's efficiency in that sector, he said. From a labor stand point, the company plans to reach a 50 percent efficiency gain in voice recognition, which will help the company have one person produce at the rate of one-and-a-half persons, Langley said. Other ways it's made efficiency gains include outsourcing its payroll and human resource systems, which has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, he said. The company has also kept its selling point at the same rate for the past ten years doing a better job with the dollars it has to work with, he said. "They're finding out too that its less expensive for them to outsource transcription versus trying to do it themselves because that's not what hospitals do well," he said, "they provide health care well." Share your storyIs business thriving in the tough economy? Are you willing to provide specifics for a weekly feature on successful local businesses, such as revenue numbers and tips for success? Share your story by contacting Business Reporter Yvonne McClellan at 335-0492 or by e-mail at ymcclellan@news-press.comWhen you go
Tips for successJohn A. Langley, president and chief executive officer of Naples-based MedScribe, said his company has grown because:
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