As a special addition to our member promotion services, the Chamber is now offering a free Featured Member Profile, which will be printed in the Chamber View and posted on the website for a month, then moved into a prominently-placed online archive for the remainder of the year.  To win this free publicity, just drop your business card into the Featured Member Fishbowl at each monthly Networking Mixer and be present for the drawing.  For more information, call the Chamber, 410-719-9609.

Featured Member

March 2010

Transcription Relief -
Growing to Match a Changing World

In challenging economic times, you’ve got to keep an eye to the future, even when your business seems to be thriving.

That’s what Kim Turner of Transcription Relief is doing these days. Even with nearly 17 years of entrepreneurial success in her pocket, even with large and small clients seeking her company’s services, she’s scanning the industry for new fields to conquer.

Medical transcription is a changing field, she says. With health care reforms requiring medical offices to have electronic medical record systems in place in just a few years, some doctors are trying voice recognition software or programs that allow them to point and click to choose boilerplate phrases – in essence, taking their own transcription.

“I’m looking to broaden my services,” Ms. Turner says, “maybe go into several other areas such as general, legal, law enforcement, and/or insurance transcription, maybe even explore offering virtual assistants. There are a lot of avenues to explore.”

Thanks to her company’s secure virtual office environment, her options are indeed broad. Clients can record dictation via telephone, microphone, or handheld digital device.  Transcription Relief subscribes to a HIPAA-compliant, encrypted, secure web-based dictation/transcription platform. Transcribed files are stored on a central server, accessible only to the clients and Ms. Turner’s team of 22 transcriptionists scattered across the nation.

 “I can offer my clients 24-hour turnaround,” she says. “With MTs living and working in different time zones and with different schedules and habits, I can literally have work being done 24/7.”

While some of her employees have been working with her for years, Ms. Turner partners with accredited transcription schools to recruit new transcriptionists.

“I like to give new graduates a chance,” she says. “Someone took a chance and trained me; this is my way to give back. I remember what it was like, not having experience and not being able to get a job because I didn’t have experience.”

“Besides,” she adds, “I like to catch them before they’ve developed any bad habits, and train them to meet my standards. I take pride in my company’s work, and when the medical transcriptionists don’t do a good job, that’s my reputation on the line.”

A cardiologist’s office in Randallstown gave Ms. Turner her first transcription job, and launched her entrepreneurial career two years later with a company downsizing. “The guy I was dating asked me why I was nervous – this was something I’d wanted to do,” she says, smiling now. “I told him – ‘I’ve never worked for myself!’” Nevertheless, her business grew, and seven months later, she hired her first employee.

Being a mentor for younger women now is a natural step for Ms. Turner, who was personally trained by a transcription teacher in her neighborhood. “She’s still one of my best friends,” she says.

Another source of inspiration has been Ms. Turner’s mother – a long-time secretary, now the bookkeeper for Transcription Relief. “She’s the best,” she says. “When I first came home to set up my business, I said, ‘Mom, you’ve got to come and work with me.’ And she left her job and came.”

While Ms. Turner considers her company’s next move, she’s added a sideline: selling Silpada Jewelry. “I love it,” she says. “you can sell it at expos, at parties…it makes you feel so good about yourself! The company was founded by women, and it’s very empowering to women. “

Even as her primary business evolves, she plans to be active in the Chamber. “I’m thrilled to be a member, and can’t imagine why I didn’t join before,” she says. “I want members to know that when they hire Transcription Relief for a project, they’re going to get good quality work and great customer service.”  

 Past Featured Members