Straight answers on accepted audio formats, US pricing, turnaround windows and the HIPAA and jurisdiction requirements that govern medical-legal reports.
Concise answers to the questions physicians, evaluation companies and legal teams ask most often.
Medical-legal transcription turns a physician’s dictated independent evaluation into a structured report for a legal, insurance, disability, employment or workers’ compensation matter. Unlike a routine clinical note, it must preserve the evaluator’s exact findings, causation analysis, impairment language and jurisdiction-specific terminology.
An IME is an independent medical examination requested for a legal, insurance or employment question. In California workers’ compensation, a QME is performed by a state-certified Qualified Medical Evaluator, while an AME is performed by an Agreed Medical Evaluator selected by both parties. Each report follows different procedural and formatting expectations.
Standard turnaround is 24 hours from upload. STAT service is 18 hours, and overnight delivery can be arranged per file so dictation sent at the end of the day is ready the next morning. The deadline is confirmed before work begins.
Yes. Files are transferred over encrypted connections, stored encrypted, restricted to authorized users and tracked through an audit trail. A Business Associate Agreement or NDA is available on request before the first file is submitted.
Yes. Provide a blank template or an approved sample report and the finished Microsoft Word document will follow its headings, numbering, sections and signature blocks. PDF delivery is also available on request.
The service covers California, Florida, New York and Ohio. Work is assigned by jurisdiction so California QME terminology, Florida EMA and MCC language, New York IME-4/5 and SLU practice, and Ohio BWC or Industrial Commission terminology receive the appropriate review.
What we accept from your dictation hardware, and what you get back when the report is typed.
We accept every common dictation and consumer format: DSS, DS2, DVF, MSV, VOX, DCT and REC from Olympus, Philips and Dictaphone hardware, plus MP3, M4A, AAC, OGG, OPUS, WMA, AMR, 3GP, WEBM, WAV, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, PCM and GSM. If your recorder writes something unusual, send one file and we will confirm it before you commit.
Reports come back as Microsoft Word (.docx) built on your own template, with PDF on request. We keep your headers, numbering, defined sections and signature blocks intact so the file drops straight into your review workflow.
Yes. Send the blank template or a sample finished report and we mirror its structure, styles and section order. We also work from platform exports used by IME management companies, matching their required field order.
The upload panel accepts up to eight files and 24 MB in a single batch, with resumable chunked uploads so an interrupted transfer continues rather than restarts. For longer dictation or bulk batches, email us and we open secure upload access sized to your volume.
Yes. Background noise, speakerphone recordings, dictation through a mask and a wide range of accents are routine work for medical-legal typists. Anything genuinely inaudible is flagged in the report with a timestamp rather than guessed.
How medical-legal transcription is priced in USD, and what changes the rate.
Pricing is quoted per audio minute or per report line in USD, depending on which suits your reporting. Per-audio-minute pricing is the most predictable for IME and QME dictation because it is fixed before we type a word. Send one file and we return a written quote with no obligation.
Turnaround (standard 24 hour, STAT 18 hour or overnight), monthly volume, template complexity, number of speakers and whether records review or exhibit indexing is included. Long-term volume commitments move the rate down.
No setup fee, no minimum volume and no contract to start. Most evaluators send a single file, review the finished report and then decide. Volume agreements are optional and only exist to lower your rate.
We invoice monthly in USD with a line-by-line report list, or per batch if you prefer. Payment is accepted by ACH, wire, check and card for US clients.
No. If a finished report misses your template or a term is mistyped, corrections are free and returned the same business day.
When a file sent tonight lands back in your inbox.
Standard turnaround is 24 hours from upload. STAT service returns the report in 18 hours, and overnight delivery can be scheduled per file so dictation sent at the end of clinic is typed before your next morning.
Yes. Our typing teams cover weekends and US holidays, so Friday dictation does not sit until Monday.
Every upload gets a reference number and appears in your client dashboard with its live state: received, in progress, completed or failed. Completed reports carry a secure, expiring download link.
Yes. Capacity is staffed for surge volume, which is the usual reason management companies move overflow to us. Tell us the batch size and deadline and we confirm the schedule before you send.
HIPAA handling, confidentiality and the state-specific requirements that apply to medical-legal reports.
Yes. Protected health information is transferred over encrypted connections, stored encrypted, access-controlled per user and retained only as long as your agreement allows, with a full audit trail. A Business Associate Agreement is available on request.
Yes. We sign both a Business Associate Agreement and a confidentiality agreement or NDA before the first file where your policy requires it, including management-company paper.
Only the typist assigned to the report, the reviewer and you. Your dashboard shows only files sent under your own account email, and download links are short-lived signed URLs rather than public addresses.
Yes. California QME reports follow DWC formatting and PR-4 conventions, New York IME reports follow Workers' Compensation Board IME-4 and IME-5 practice, Florida work follows Division of Workers' Compensation and EMA expectations, and Ohio follows BWC and Industrial Commission practice.
Transcripts are typed verbatim as dictated. We never add clinical opinion, change findings or reword conclusions. Certification statements can be included at the end of a report where your jurisdiction expects one.
Speech recognition is used only as a first pass inside our secure environment to speed up typing. Every report is reviewed and finished by a medical-legal transcriptionist before delivery, and nothing is delivered on machine output alone.
