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WORKCULTURE:
HealthScribe India
A few
years back, when medical transcription became a buzzword in the
industry, almost every entrepreneur wanted to hop onto the bandwagon.
Entry barriers were very low and getting “cheap” talent
was easy. When HealthScribe India was launched in 1994, its promoters
knew that the quality of the manpower had to be excellent for creating
a unique brand equity. “Medical transcription is not a ‘hi-fi’
job, therefore being employee-friendly has been our mantra since
the very beginning,” says Prasenjit Ganguly, vice president,
human resources, HealthScribe India. Working in a medical transcription
company is a monotonous affair and this might lead to absenteeism
and low productivity. “We are always exploring innovative ways
to keep our employees happy,” he adds.
 One
of the exemplary initiatives taken by the company is the appointment
of a full-time ‘chief fun officer’. He is responsible
for creating a fun-filled working atmosphere within the office.
Fun, in fact, is the corporate mantra at HealthScribe India. “The
work culture at HealthScribe is pretty cool. Working is fun, as
it is a learning process every day for all employees. In addition,
we have transcription-related contests and presentations by doctors.
We also have many extracurricular activities, which pep up employee
morale and helps them work better,” says Dr Savitha, trainee
proofreader.
The
chief fun officer is responsible for keeping the spirits of 1,150
employees high all the time and this is done by forming various
fun clubs. The company also invites a professional counsellor once
a month for the benefit of employees, most of whom are fresh out
of college. “The work culture in HealthScribe is informal.
We have a lot of competitions, dances and cultural events which
help relieve the pressure and in the long run leads to more productivity,”
says Bhuvana Subramaniam, medical transcriptionist.
Training
at HealthScribe involves proficiency in both soft and technical
skills. “Knowledge of English is mandatory for all recruits,”
points out Ganguly. Technical training is 19 weeks long, after which
successful candidates are put on the production floor. The technical
training division comprises of around 28 professionals. The company
has been outsourcing its four-month-long induction training to Bangalore-based
National Institute of Teleworking. Trainees are selected on the
basis of a rigorous English test and are then put through 19 weeks
of comprehensive training, which is a combination of computer and
classroom sessions. What follows is a three-day testing process
at HealthScribe, after which they are absorbed into the organisation.
Once the trainees are absorbed, two months of pre-on-the-job-training
follows, after which the candidates move into on-the-job training
(OJT) phase. OJT can last up to 12 months and according to the company
it normally takes 18 months for a trainee to reach the acceptable
levels of a medical transcriptionist.
HealthScribe’s
clients in the US include the University of Michigan and Columbia
Healthcare. “Catering to such clients demands high quality
levels and this can only be done by maintaining a team of quality
professionals,” says Ganguly. Recruitment is done through road
shows and campus interviews at the top six colleges in Bangalore.
45% of HealthScribe employees are undergraduates, while the rest
are either qualified professionals or postgraduates. There are 100
doctors out of the total strength of 1,150 employees. The staff
members work in eight-hour shifts. The company provides free transportation
to all transcriptionists, apart from providing meals during work
hours. “47% of our employees are women, therefore we have to
take care of the transportation as we work in shifts,” informs
Ganguly. Usually, around 8-12 employees leave the company every
month. “This is a natural attrition because many of our employees
are women and they leave the job after getting married,” he
explains.
“HealthScribe
motivates its staff to unleash their potential and continue to perform
better in all areas,” says Naveen Raj-HR executive. The HR
division at HealthScribe is a ten-member team headed by Ganguly.
The fun club reports to him directly. “We also plan frequent
meetings, which are very informal and are named on various themes.
For instance, one of the recent meetings was called dhamaka. “The
average age of employees at the company is 25 years and everyone
is free to interact with the top management. The advantage of having
a young team is that everyone is fun-loving and flexible,”
he says.
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