Veterans Affairs Medical Centers (VAMC)

Experience

Celebrating its 50^th anniversary in 2008, the Bureau of Office Services has been providing transcription service to VAMC’s for over 20 years.  We currently serve nine VA facilities and their affiliated CBOC’s across the United States, including facilities in VISN’s 6, 7, and 19.

Our pool of 50+ VAMC transcriptionists and interface specialists have an average of 15 years' experience transcribing and uploading  report types unique to veterans’ health issues and are accustomed to transcribing various authors’ dialects. They know the importance of meeting turnaround times ranging from 2 to 24 hours while maintaining transcription quality and accurate uploading of completed reports.

Contractual Fulfillment

The Bureau’s management and IT staff thoroughly understand and adhere to all contractual obligations inherent in government contracts. We are fully aware of the importance of security, personal and timely communication with VA staff, turnaround times, quality assurance, verifiable billing, contingency plans, record storage, FAR clauses, and prevailing wage rates, to name a few, and are available 24/7 to address any problems or concerns.

Performance Standards

Quality Assurance (QA) is a continuous and integral part of the Bureau’s automated document processing system. QA staff adhere to standards based on VAMC, AAMT, and JCAHO publications. These standards are designed to provide accurate and timely processing of reports for the VAMC’s and informative feedback to transcription and managerial staff.

Service

Our ability to listen and react to the needs of VA staff combined with our vast knowledge and experience working with varied government platforms enables Bureau staff to provide solutions to resolve any problems that may arise in a timely manner when transitioning from a previous service provider to the Bureau and throughout the length of the contract. The Bureau is pleased to be able to do its part to serve America’s veterans.

Security

Transcriptionists, QA editors, Interface Specialists, and Administrative personnel have all completed the extensive background investigations and security clearances required for  any Bureau employee involved with the day-to-day processing of government work including:

• National Rules of Behavior
• Rules of Behavior for each VAMC if requested in addition to the NROB
• Statement of Commitment and Understanding
• VA Cyber Security Awareness
• VHA Privacy Policy Web Training

Additionally, as part of each transcriptionist’s Employment Agreement with the Bureau of Office Services, he or she must read and acknowledge understanding of the HIPAA-Specific Employee Rules Notice.

Our corporate security policy ensures that our systems, networks and data are safe and available. Employees work within the framework of an encrypted, streamed environment. This means that sensitive data is only stored in our secure Class III data center. When you entrust the Bureau with your data, you can rest assured that all access is protected, meticulously documented (logged) and relevant. Bureau systems are fully HIPAA compliant and a complete history of access to records is immediately available for all processed work. All security requirements outlined by the VAMC’s are met or exceeded by Bureau protocols.

User-Friendly Dictation Technology

VA dictating healthcare providers using the Bureau’s Crescendo dictation/transcription system have a variety of options to select from when dictating reports. For those who choose to use a standard telephone, toll-free numbers are provided without additional charge. Others such as radiologists may find it more convenient to use a Bureau-provided portable digital handheld unit with bar code scanning capability. Once the provider has completed his or her dictation, the unit is simply placed in a docking station connected to a computer and voice files are then transferred securely to the Bureau’s Crescendo dictation bank.

Providers at facilities electing to use their own dictation systems are historically limited to dictating via standard phones. In such cases, Bureau transcriptionists either dial into the facility’s system to transcribe reports or when an HL7 feed to the Bureau’s system is available, copies of voice files are transferred to the Bureau’s dictation bank and transcription staff  simply work via the Bureau’s secure system.

Distribution

Completed reports are returned to each facility by the Bureau’s dedicated staff of Interface Specialists via the One-VA VPN. Work can either be simply uploaded if the VA has the staff in place to manage it, or Bureau staff can verify that reports are in the patients’ records and handle alerts as necessary.