Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA): Billing Method Principles Beacon Award Finalists and Winner Announced.

CHICAGO -- Two years ago, a set of Billing Method Principle Statements were designed to provide a means to evaluate any medical transcription billing method, or internal transcription cost accounting method, whether existing or proposed. These Principle Statements do not, in and of themselves, suggest or intend to suggest any preferred billing method. Rather, they seek to acknowledge and preserve a creative, broad spectrum of methods while simultaneously reaffirming strong fundamentals on which the medical transcription industry can flourish.

The Billing Method Principles are Verifiability: A medical transcription billing method should be subject to verification with such verification being available to parties to the transaction. Definability: A medical transcription billing method should accurately define all measurements and be free from definitional ambiguity. Measurability: A medical transcription billing method should allow for complete understanding of the formulas used in its calculation and result in a clear and concise invoice. Integrity: A medical transcription billing method should be fair and honest, resulting in invoices that accurately reflect and charge for services rendered. Consistency: A medical transcription billing method should be generally reliable and consistent in its application.

Companies competing for the Beacon Awards were scored on their description of the BMP approach, i.e., their marketing, sales and support activities, operational components, technical components, business components, case studies, and references. Based on these criteria, a distinguished panel of judges from AAMT, AHIMA, and MGMA scored Cymed, Inc. as the overall winner of the 2005 Beacon Award.

"MTIA's Beacon Awards demonstrate their (MTIA's) commitment to a standard of integrity in the relationship between transcription service and client." Sandy Fuller, Executive Vice President and COO of AHIMA, and a member of the panel of judges.

The Beacon Award should not be interpreted to recognize or offer any opinion on the winner's competency, integrity or service capability--it is solely an evaluation of their description of their BMP approach and their client reference comments.

MTIA congratulates the companies who were chosen as finalists: Acusis 2nd Runner Up, Webmedx 3rd Runner Up, and DRC 4th Runner Up.

MTIA is a nonprofit membership association founded in 1993 to represent medical transcription companies of all sizes. For more information about MTIA, contact Elaine Olson, Executive Director, at 800-543-MTIA or [e-mail].