How to choose the best insurance transcription company

Choosing the best insurance transcription company for you can be challenging. The insurance industry deals with confidential information and is one of the most targeted industries by cyber attackers. Not only that, the quality and accuracy of the transcripts are vital to ensure the client’s claim is taken in the right direction. With that in mind, you surely can’t choose any transcription company you come across.

Making the right decision for your insurance company involves knowing which characteristics make a transcription service reliable. Once you find the right match, it could be a long-term relationship that helps your company grow and keep operations running smoothly.

choose the best insurance transcription company

In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know to make an informed decision on which insurance transcription company to choose for your insurance business.

Table of Contents

What Is Insurance Transcription?
The Four Transcription Options
How Outsourcing Is Helping the Insurance Industry be More Future Ready
The Role Transcription Services Play in Your Insurance Company
Keeping Up With Insurance Compliance Laws
A Transcription Company’s Quality Promise
Insurance Transcription Company Checklist
Downloadable PDF
Over to You

What Is Insurance Transcription?

Insurance transcription is transcribing audio content that is used mainly for insurance investigations and record-keeping. Insurance companies must keep consistent records of all claims. Without documented information, it’s safe to say that insurance companies would have an organizational crisis and put the wrong clients at risk of losing everything.

What can be transcribed?

An array of audio files can be transcribed, including:

Interviews with clients making an insurance claim
Conversations with medical and legal professionals involved with the claim
Interviews with witnesses, victims, and suspects
Fieldnotes
Meetings or statements from insurance professionals accessing the claim
Telephone conversations

Types of Insurance.

The most common types of insurance people buy are auto, home, life, travel, health, liability, and disability insurance.

However, the insurance industry offers so many kinds of insurance that there’s something for every situation.

Here’s a list of some of the different types of insurance that exists:

Agricultural insurance
Deposit insurance
Mortgage insurance
Pet insurance
Property insurance
Medical insurance
Legal insurance
Self insurance
Flood insurance
Income protection insurance
Kidnap and ransom insurance
Shipping insurance
Condo insurance
Critical illness insurance
Credit insurance
Pollution insurance
Interest rate insurance
Terrorism insurance
Weather insurance
Tuition insurance

Yes.

No matter what kinds of insurance your company offers, we will be able to transcribe it.

The only thing to keep in mind is some types of insurance have specific requirements. For example, medical and health insurance require any third parties they work with to be HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant.

Law enforcement related insurance needs its transcription service to be CJIS compliant. The end-to-end compliance is for the all-around protection of your client’s data.

When choosing an insurance transcription provider, always ask what kind of compliance laws they follow.

The Four Transcription Options

In the insurance industry, accuracy is crucial. One error in a client’s claim can change the entire story and cause false accusations. It’s so important to choose a transcription option that will meet your transcription needs from the start.

If you’ve been researching, you’ve likely come across these four options:

Download an Artificial Intelligence transcription app
Send files offshore to be transcribed by humans in other countries
Hire an in-house transcriptionist
Outsource files to a insurance transcription service

Let’s go over each option in more detail.

1. Like Siri and Alexa, AI transcription apps listen to your voice, filters it through their machine, then replays what you said in a text.

AI transcription tools are a good option for single speaker notes and recordings that don’t involve people with accents. You can get fair accuracy for less expensive pricing. The issue is that AI still doesn’t offer the same 99% accuracy rate that humans can guarantee — AI on its own typically performs at an 80% or so accuracy rate.

The insurance industry especially has a multicultural client base. The thing is, AI transcription companies have built speech recognition systems to be very familiar with the “General American English” and may not adapt to the different accents and dialects of your clients.

2. Another transcription option is sending your files offshore. Companies send work overseas often to save on prices. It’s transcription is done by real educated humans who do this as a career, such as medical transcriptionist or legal transcriptionists. It’s more accurate than AI. However, the transcriptionists aren’t native English speakers and may not understand jargon, slang, and other content on the file.

You may also experience common grammar and spelling errors and have to recheck the work and fix errors before submitting and storing the documents.

So your best move comes down to two options: hiring an in-house transcriptionist or outsourcing to a US-based transcription provider.

3. Hiring an in-house transcriptionist is the ideal situation because you can train them to fit your company’s culture and have hands-on communication as they’re in your office or CMS platform.

The trouble of hiring an in-house transcriptionist comes down to money for most. You need to buy the transcription equipment, pay a salary, benefits, equipment and software maintenance and updates, and more. Roughly speaking, the pay ranges from $20,800 to $83,800 per year for the transcriptionist’s salary alone.

Companies who have the money to invest in an in-house transcriptionist can choose this as their better option. For companies who don’t have the budget and still want an excellent transcription option, outsourcing to US-based transcription companies is less expensive than hiring in-house and provides the 99% accuracy standard that AI and offshore transcription generally can’t achieve.

4. US-based transcription services work with some of the most experienced and talented transcriptionists in the country. They dedicate themselves to get your files back according to your deadline, provide the format you need, and they have highly experienced insurance transcriptionists. They’ll even pair you with the transcriptionist that is most suited for your project.

Concerning prices, US-based transcription services charge more than AI or offshore transcription because of the guaranteed accuracy rate, personalized service, and quality promise. When you consider the time you’ll spend editing your AI or Offshore transcript, the price of US-based transcription evens out.

So, how much does it cost to outsource to US-Based transcription companies? Most transcription services put insurance transcription under the general transcription category and range anywhere from $1.50 and $5.00.

The rate depends on the number of speakers, the audio quality, and the turnaround time you require. Most transcription services will even return your transcript the same day or within a few hours if requested.

So, what transcription option should you choose?

The type of transcription service you choose depends heavily on your insurance company’s needs and resources. Any transcription expert would mention that using AI and offshore transcription can cause more harm than good — You’ll spend a lot of time going through the files and any error you don’t catch can be disastrous for your clients and your company’s reputation.

An in-house transcriptionist is an excellent option if you have the resources. Otherwise, outsourcing to a US-based transcription service is economical, you’ll receive your files back ready to use, the service is personalized, and the transcriptionists are knowledgeable in insurance terms.

How Outsourcing Is Helping the Insurance Industry be More Future Ready

According to the 2020 Global Insurance Outlook, the overall global insurance industry grew more than 4% in 2017. North America alone contributed to 73% of the total premium growth from 2010 to 2017.

Insurers wanting to capitalize on this financial trend are finding new strategies to ensure business operations run as smoothly as possible.

However, legacy and technology hurdles, shifts in customer buying, and constantly changing compliance and regulatory requirements have made it challenging for insurance companies to reach greater competitive advantage and meet specific business goals. For these reasons, insurers lean towards outsourcing to address a multitude of back office work and find new growth opportunities.

The term “back office” is used to describe in-house employees that have no contact with customers. These employees are generally paid a salary with benefits and paid time off.

In 2017, the global outsourcing market reached $24.6 billion and is predicted to be $220 billion in 2020.

One of the most time-consuming back office duties for insurance companies is transcription. Outsourcing transcription helps:

Reduce workloads and operating costs
Expand core business functions
Increase flexibility and scalability
Regulate compliance, regulations, and reportings
Streamline administrative services

The insurance industry has always been a bit slow in regards to the adoption of new practices. While outsourcing may not be as common in the insurance industry as in other sectors, it certainly brings many advantages, such as allowing insurers to minimize operating costs, streamline back office operations, and provide operational and financial stability to business models.

The Role Transcription Services Play in Your Insurance Company

Outsourcing, in general, is helping companies shed layers of financial and operational responsibility. As transcription is one of the most prominent back office duties, using a reliable transcription service can do the following for your insurance company:

Provide Reliable Data

Transcribed files play various roles — they are used by investigators in claims, brought to court and used as evidence by a lawyer, revised by the clients who made a claim, and stored away for future reference. Likewise, transcribed documents help reflect on customer service, competition, market condition, and more.

This data must always be accurate and reliable. Transcription services provide a 99% accuracy rate, which most of the time is guaranteed. Your files are sent back, ready to use in any situation (whether you are storing it or it’s being sent to the court with the customer’s lawyer). There’s no need to double-check for errors and accuracy.

Helps With Organization Among Claims Staff

Having everyone involved in the insurance claim listen to an audio file can lead to misinterpretations and affect the case’s final decision. To avoid this, a written document can be distributed among your team. Everyone can refer to the same information and highlight important parts. Should the document change hands in your department due to a sick staff, higher expertise needed, or anything else, the new person dealing with the claim can be brought up to speed quickly and with little effort.

Not only does it keep workflow moving smoothly, it also saves time. Anyone in the insurance industry can agree that time management when dealing with claims is vital.

Translation of Languages

It’s not always possible for some insurance companies to keep a multilingual staff member on the claims team. Because of this, many firms outsource transcription and translation to an insurance transcription service.

Any audio file that’s in another language can be transcribed and translated to English upon request. It’s helpful so that the entire claims team can have a clear idea of what is said in the recording.

On top of that, translated transcripts help find critical points in recorded statements. In situations where a family member or friend is translating on the phone on behalf of the person you are interviewing, a translated transcript allows you to compare what the interviewee said in their native language to what the translator said.

Translation service is important if you send many files to arbitration or your company’s special investigation unit. Many investigators do not speak second or third languages, and having a translated and comprehensive transcript clears any hurdles.

Aids in Arbitration and Subrogation

The arbitration and subrogation portions of the claims process allow insurance companies to reclaim outstanding funds that have already been paid out and positively impact the insurer’s bottom line.

When you send a basic subrogation file to an adverse carrier that has accepted some degree of liability, sending a transcribed statement is a courtesy. It depends on the individual carrier’s practices. However, it’s a widespread practice throughout the industry.

When it comes to an arbitration claim, having a transcript is even more necessary. To make each case as complete as possible, Arbitration Forums specifically recommend having a verbatim transcription done on each recorded audio statement. It makes it simple for Arbitrators since they don’t have to listen to every audio statement, causing missed points.

Helps Detect Fraud

According to a study, an estimated 35 million Americans have lied on an insurance application. While most people agree that honesty is the best policy, many people are willing to fudge the truth to get a better insurance rate or claim.

The FBI estimates the total cost of fraud in the insurance industry totals to more than $40 billion per year, and insurance fraud alone costs the average US family between $400 and $700 per year.

Insurance companies can utilize transcription services to help detect fraud by providing documentation directly from insureds and claimants. Transcribed statements can be compared to one another to find discrepancies and lies as analyzing written language is much easier and less time consuming than listening to audio recordings repeatedly.

A verbatim transcript leaves in all the pauses, mix-ups in language, hesitations, and other cues that can indicate fraudulent activity.

Transcription is crucial to the way insurance companies conduct business. While these are prime examples of the role transcription services play in your business, they aren’t the only reasons. They serve supervisors to review positive attributes, customer service satisfaction, and several other important factors.

Keeping Up With Insurance Compliance Laws

As technology advances and insurers are operating in a complex and increasingly regulated economic environment, coping with new risks, making more substantial commitments, and being innovative is what keeps insurers moving forward.

Ensuring this movement includes putting safeguards in place by authorities. Insurers are constantly required to maintain high standards.

Let’s face it: the insurance industry has a gigantic store of personally identifiable information (PII) about policyholders. That’s why the insurance industry has become a target for cybercrime. Data breaches in the insurance sector over the past few years have reached over 100 million people.

In October 2017, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) established a model law for data security and released it to different states for legislative consideration. It has been adopted in 11 states so far.

The NAIC Model Law is one of the most robust legal frameworks insurance companies can follow for data protection. The security program requires the following:

Risk assessment: This proactive test considers possible threats to security information systems and the potential damage these threats can cause. Are your policies good enough to safeguard against them in the event of a security breach?
Risk management: Your information security program must be designed to mitigate the identified risks. Implementing the proper security measures, periodically reevaluating, and training staff on cybersecurity awareness are all ways to manage cybersecurity.
Oversight by board directors: The information security program should include an annual review of the program’s strengths and weaknesses.
Oversight of third-party providers: Third parties, including a transcription service, must follow strict rules (email encryption, firewall, etc.) when handling your company’s PHI.
Program adjustments: Program adjustments must be made in case of improved technology threats or better technology submerges.
Incident response plan: A written response plan needs to be in place that details an actionable response and recovery plan in the event of a cyber attack.
Annual certification of compliance: Insurance companies should submit a written statement certifying their compliance with their state’s insurance commissioners’ above security requirements.

One of the important rules mentioned above is the oversight of third-party providers. Whenever your insurance company outsources anything containing PHI, it’s crucial to ensure the service is handling your data with care.

Transcription services deal with a lot of PHI. It’s not only in the insurance industry — PHI from medical clinics and physicians, court cases, and police victim statements. When you choose a reliable, US-based transcription service, compliance is always a priority.

The majority of insurance transcription services use secure and reputable online file management systems and 128-bit/256-bit encryption technology.

Some other key security measures transcription services provide are:

All computers, even off-site computers, are equipped with file encryption software, firewall protection, password protection, secure online platforms, daily virus definition, and Windows updates.
24/7 on-site security services to prevent theft and vandalism on files.
Each computer has floppy disks and external hard drives disabled.
All staff undergoes a criminal background check before getting hired.
Checks are set up on a random basis.
Computers are back-up monthly and stored in password-protected lockers.
All employees must sign a non-disclosure and confidentiality agreement.
Secure administrative procedures are in place to guard integrity, client confidentiality, and document availability.
Regular staff training on privacy, security, and confidentiality.

Don’t take any risks with your data security. It’s essential to ask your potential insurance transcription provider what safety measures they take to protect your data. Asking your provider if they’re willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement is a great place to start as any transparent transcription service does this without hesitation. From there, ask them if they do everything in the list above.

An Insurance Transcription Company’s Quality Promise

Insurance transcription companies strive to provide the best quality so your team can consistently move forward without hurdles.

Most transcription companies have a 99% accuracy guarantee. A 99% rate means a 1% chance of error or leniency of 15 errors per 1,500 words. Accuracy measures punctuation, spelling, and grammar.

How is it possible to reach such high accuracy rates?

Having a human transcribe is the first step in achieving accuracy. Humans are accustomed to making out words when there are background noises, different accents and dialects, and can naturally pick up context.

Secondly, personalized service plays a huge role in transcription accuracy rates. A transcription service doesn’t let you send your files with no explanation. They ask you a series of questions to fully understand the nature of the project before getting started. This clears up any miscommunications and doubts.

Lastly, the transcriber edits the file, then the file is sent to a quality assurance team for the second round of edits. The quality assurance team is made of professional editors that review the audio files and the transcribed document line per line.

These steps that make your transcript accurate are not to be underestimated. You never know when a transcript will be used in court as part of your client’s claim and you might even need it years from now if a claim victim starts to develop pain and other symptoms due to an accident your company handled.

Insurance Transcription Company Checklist

Are you ready to start looking for an insurance transcription provider? We’ve made this checklist so that you can keep the important points in mind while making a decision.

A reliable insurance transcription provider should:

Be 100% US-based with native English speaking transcriptionists. This ensures the best accuracy of your transcript as native English speakers know the language (context, grammar, jargon and slang) better than a non-native English speaker can know. US-based transcription services follow compliance laws and security measures. Going after a transcription service abroad for a data breach can cost thousands of dollars.
Strictly follow compliance measures to ensure data security. The company should use secure and reputable online file management systems, 128-bit/256-bit encryption technology, and other security measures to prevent data breaches.
Have a quality guarantee. Your transcript should be returned ready to use. The transcription company should guarantee at least 99% accuracy and take the proper steps like editing and using a quality assurance team to achieve consistent accuracy levels.
Cater to every kind of insurance. In case your insurance company wants to offer more insurance options in the future, the transcription company should be able to transcribe any kind of insurance and follow the compliance laws for the types of insurance that need it.
Be an established business. Established businesses have had time to go through trial and error. Not only that, they also have recommendations and testimonials from happy clients.
Provide personalized service. So that your project turns out how you want it, communicating with your transcriptionist is necessary. Transcription services that provide personalized service will get an idea of your project, then match you with a transcriptionist who can listen to your specific needs.
Have an insurance plan that includes you. Most transcription companies have a thorough insurance plan that covers the company and the client in case of a data breach.

Insurance claims and compensation are sensitive matters. As a precaution, it’s not advisable for insurance companies to use subpar transcription services.

All documents involved in insurance claims are legally binding. Mistakes could lead to a significant disaster with the law and your reputation as an insurance provider.

For these reasons alone, insurance companies should always look for the option that guarantees the best quality. We hope this list gives you a base on what to look for. We’ve also made a downloadable PDF that you can use when comparing transcription companies.