A party for our patients...
Posted By: I work in a cancer center on 2005-12-16
In Reply to: Favorite company Christmas party.. - Busy MT'ing
Every year, the staff in our clinic takes it on ourselves to throw a party for our patients. We all cook finger food, make snack trays, cookies, baked good, cheezes, bread, meat trays, the works. We have breakfast foods and lunch foods. We decorate tables in our lobby to spread this out on. We usually do this one day a week for the four weeks before Christmas so many patients will get to enjoy it. We have coffee, hot chocolate, orange juice, cokes and punch. We have fruits and dips....something for everyone, even diabetics. The patients are touched that we go to the trouble and we are touched by how much they love it! These patients have gone through enough suffering with their diseases and some are elderly and don't have family members. Some tell us this is their only Christmas! We have been doing this several years now and the patients are beginning to tell us to be sure we appoint them to return on the days we are having our "Christmas spread." I just thought I'd share the Christmas party that means the most to me... and this is definitely it! Just the look on their faces as they are enjoying it is Christmas to me.
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we should just once, as patients (sm)
go to the dr's office and waste THEIR time!!! Let them know how it feels for a change. But then again, the doc wouldn't wait two seconds on a patient, now would they? Wow, whatta double standard! 
Patients
On a really bad day, I feel like a vampire for making money off of other people's misfortunes.
Maybe sometimes we have too much time to think! I don't know.
Just because 2 patients have the
same dx does not mean they are treated the same and symtoms are the same in many dxs. Do you have your degree?
Well, too bad that they have 30 patients - sm
to see so they don't want to spell things out. Do they cut corners on patient care, as well, when they have 30 patients to see - or is that reserved for us peon MTs? So they're "frustrated" with 30 patients - well, cut your patient load! We're not paid to "guess" or have to look up everything they don't feel like spelling, especially other doc's names. Just won't do it.
By the way, I wonder if they know how many documents we have to type a day (30 maybe?) to even eke out simple minimal wage - but that's OK, I suppose, compared to their 5 or 6-figure salaries.
Just give everybody the bum's rush because you have 30 patients. Suppose we did the same?
It is not our job to judges the patients sm
or why or where they seek treatment. It is our job to transcribe the dictated reports. If you don't like the healthcare system, then go out and change it.
Just how many lives do YOUR patients have?
Apparently mine have more than one because I have one dictator who likes to use the following phrase: Patient was told that he might have death and loss of current life. 
Now we have to insist patients
being treated are actually examined before treatment is rendered?
Wasn't it bad enough medicine when ER docs would proclaim a diagnosis before exam, only to have to backpedal after taking a look?? I guess if they are going to do things in that order, doing physical exams is going to result in their looking stuupid, so their solution is not to do that part.
Big grrrr.
If the patients were aware of that, they could
nm
Do any of you ever feel sad for the patients?
Maybe it is because I am on my period and am more emotional than usual, but today typing all these terminal cancer reports is making me want to cry. I feel so sad for the patient and their families. I just cannot imagine being told that I only have a few months left of my life. And the doctors sound so cold about it. I know they are very used to it....I just know that I could never be a doctor. I could never get used to telling someone they are going to die.
A question regarding patients' rights
I was just wondering this. My mother was recently sent to a "liver specialist" who is local gastrointestinal doctor because of concern over persistently elevated liver function tests. He drew a LOT of blood work on her and only told her that it looks like she might have a fatty liver. He set her up to come back in six weeks to "get the results of her lab tests." SIX WEEKS! With her being very concerned, of course, we immediately searched the net and found out that fatty liver occurs in patients 1). who drink alcohol (she never has), 2). Patients who are overweight (she is not) or 3). Patients with diabetes (she hasn't got that, either). It says that a liver biopsy is how they find this out. He never mentioned doing one of those. My question is.. would a physician want to wait 6 weeks to find out lab results? You know it doesn't take 6 weeks to get the results back, they probably had them back within a day or two. In the meantime, she is stressing big time about what could be wrong. 
Not sure when doctors graduate their patients but
I have boys and we stopped when my oldest was 11 because they always made them strip down to their undies for checkups and checked their privates and I didn't feel that was necessary and my boys hated it.
No thanks. Anorexic geriatrics patients don't do it for me.
x
Very true, but a list of patients?
An invoice by the patient? Some clients need to do their own book keeping. It is bad enough you have to worry about the content of the reports. To have to retype a patient name into an invoice with the line count is utterly ridiculous especially as an IC. IC's get taken advantage of. As an IC, yes you should be charging for "everything". If you're an employee, they can put it under "other duties as needed". Business is business. If it takes more time, that takes more money. End of story. Don't do nothing for nothing. Your clients sure do not. They go all this time with this Transcriptionist with her invoicing and then all of a sudden decide they want each patient name and line count? Cut me a break. You don't think there should be a charge for that? You can work for free, but I certainly WILL NOT! To make statements like be paid to walk to the computer is really being a bit of a smarty pants in my opinion. Keep it to yourself if you want to work for free, most people don't! Have a great day making nothing to do A LOT!
I read it... does it mean US patients would have to travel - nm
.
A lot of physicians refer to their patients
as heterosexual or having same sex partners, it is very relevant in some aspects, as in exposure to AIDS/HIV, etc.
New Doctor, some patients already typed
I got a new doctor. They girl who had been working for him left him in a big mess, undone dictations, etc. The office gave me a flashdrive to do with about 30 patients on it over the holiday weekend. Today they've told me ten patients had already been typed, how did I want to handle that? It seems they don't want to pay me for these. My husband says to bite the bullet and not charge them, since this is a new account and I'd like to keep it, is possible. What do you think? I know it's a land of confusion there from what is done to what is not done. Thanks!
It's called BEING FAIR TO PATIENTS
. Why should patient care suffer?! The patients haven't done anything wrong, even if management sucks. I thought that's what MTs were ultimately hired to benefit, the patients.
How does outsourcing dictation allow doctors to see more patients?
In an article in the MT News section, it states this. Do they really need to see more patients? Most of them herd them in and out like cows.
And that is because the GYN forgets to tell his patients that when changing pills you have to use an
alternate method of birth control for a month until the new level of hormones in the pills kick in, whether higher or lower. That is how come so many get pregnant on the "pill." The facts...my cousin is GYN and he tells all of his patients that.
Just wondering, for you MTSOs, about how many patients/reports per day...
For, say, an orthopedic surgeon, or a family practice doctor. Or, maybe, how many minutes of transcription on average per day.
THANKS.
these are the docs that I don't think care about their patients. my opinion. nm
ss
The clock does play into how much time is spent with patients
The way the CPT codes bill insurance have guidelines for the physicians built into them that give amounts of time spent with the patient (in addition to certain information covered in the ROS/PE), especially in consultations (whether inpatient or out), hospital discharge codes and critical care time (inpatient or out).
Yes, that computer is in fact billing the insurance company because it not only saves not having to pay an MT, it bypasses a billing clerk (eliminating that salary), and if the doctor's office space is paid for by a hospital, that file is sent to the hospital's database where a *scrubber* compares what the MD submits versus coding guidelines. If it is an independent office, the MD can upload all that day's billing before he walks out the door and leave it unattended to update patient accounts and reconcile the days money intake.
In a nut shell, your doctor is no longer just practicing medicine. Your MD is doing the documentation and billing and saving money on two warm bodies.
I understand your concern as I see it more and more in today's medical care, but yes, this is the way things are going. I am fortunate that my MD has been very computer literate for a long time, so the amount of time he spends with his laptop is minimal. Once he enters the info, he kicks his shoes back and we chat and get into a deeper discussion both professionally and personally (we've known each other a long time). Give your MD a chance to play catch up to what he or she is doing with that computer and you should see a more relaxed physician soon.
Good luck.
We need actual examples of patients harmed by outsourcing
to take to the media. Then we could probably get enough interest for someone to do an expose on it.
I do reports all the time where patients have asthma, COPD, emphysema, and
even cancer and continue to smoke. In our local paper they are following a woman in her battle with cancer. She continues to smoke, as does her husband. They were broke before the cancer diagnosis, having to borrow daughter's babysitting money to pay bills. Just think how much money they've blown on cigarettes.
I've even known one man with a trach who smoked through his trach.
I wasn't clear. I guess patients' names is what irks me the most. SM
and you know how famous they are for dictating "Krenazcyssky, Jane, that's J-A-N-E.
neat web site 'chemo angels'. Help cancer patients
http://www.chemoangels.com/
Doctors patrolling themselves? What a joke! They barely have time to see ALL their patients....
Doctors today are totally incompetent for the most part. YOU cannot worry about it when it comes to transcribing their gawd awful reports. THAT is between the patient and the doc. Just knock the report out as fast as you can and make sure it's accurate and then after that, forget about it.
The docs make the big bucks - you don't! Let THEM worry about things that will eventually catch up with them, one of which is called the Karma bug, and that little bug ALWAYS bites those who don't deal fairly right in the butt! And big time, too! 
My nurse said most patients make calls with their cell, no problem
x
Do you have an I-party near you? OR....SM
try the web for homemade costume ideas. A cute one I've always wanted to do was to hang cereal boxes all over the body with fake rubber knives sticking out of each onewith fake blood and go as a CEREAL KILLER.
new yrs eve party
we met at 2000 new yrs eve party. i went out with my brother & his friends that night b/c my friend blew me off and it was there that i met my husband. :-)
Also, who knows what the other party
in their recorded statement. I used to transcribe these things too and the one thing I noticed is that out of one accident, each party always blames the other guy and sometimes the statements vary wildly as to what happened. You might want to get your version on the record. Just be sure to speak clearly and don't talk over each other.
Yes were going to a party party
wait, I think that's backwards, LOL
Spa party help, please
I'm hosting a spa party at my house on Friday at 6:30 p.m. I'm going to serve:
Vegetable pizza
Chips/Mexican dip (cheese, cooked ground beef, salsa in the crock pot)
Fresh fruit (strawberries, grapes, blueberries)
Lemon squares
Tea/soda/coffee
Would it be okay to use pale yellow paper plates, napkins, utensils, hot/cold cups with a white tablecloth and a vase of fresh flowers? Can I move the chairs away from the kitchen table and serve the food there or should I put it on a table in the den where we'll be having the party? Should I offer drinks as people arrive and wait until everyone is there before we eat or should everyone just get their food/drink as they arrive?
I've never had or been to this type of party, so I'm really nervous. Does my menu sound like enough, too much, yucky choices??? I thought it would be fun having a spa party, but it's made me a first-class nervous wreck planning it!
I'm open to all ideas and recommendations. Thanks.
Party...party...party......
Party...party...party....
Or have a party going on right behind them
Many of the ESL's I get must either choose dictation stations right next to congested areas or don't have a clue how their dictation sounds because they never play it back. It's hard enough to understand them without loud personal conversations and bursts of laughter right near by, or the somebody loudly paging someone right through their dictation, or sitting right next to a phone that rings and rings. This is the norm on most of the dictations I've been getting, and I'm really tired of it! When I worked in-house people KNEW to be quiet when someone was dictating, and the doctors edited their dictations enough to hear what was going on the background. This is one of the down sides of working off site - you can't grab anybody and say - "come listen to this, and then don't blame me if its full of blanks"!
We are not an outside party
We are directly under the physician. We are not BCBS or the government.
Having an engagement party for our son and his g/f!
YAY!
Wow, a party on a Monday? Can I come?? (sm)
I'll bring food too; I'm a good coo, I swear I am!.
I made this for a party once..sm
You may have already seen these, if not they are rather cute.
Purchase some plastic (deli type) disposable gloves. These are made to touch food, etc. Put a candy corn in fingertips (for fingernails) stuff rest with popcorn. Tie top with colored black/orange ribbon, and put plastic spider rings (found everywhere at halloween) on top of glove after they are stuffed. These are really kinda cute.
Party dilema...
Okay, 5 years ago, our family threw a huge party - a pig roast actually - with over 100 people during the course of the night. My father-in-law said he wanted to do it again this year, but has since backed out because of his health not being the best and my husband has no interest in planning. I would love to charge in and do it myself except for one thing - I have no idea how to roast a pig. I was thinking of just having burgers and dogs as well as whatever sides people want to bring, soda, beer, etc and just turn up the music and have a blast. My husband says you can't have a pig roast one year and turn around and just have hamburgers another time. I think he's full of it! Any opinions? And be kind...he IS a great guy. Just a party p**per when it comes to this.
Happy 4th!
Just was at a grad party and met one of my former MDs
nm
Do a kabob party!!! (sm)
We did a kabob party once. We supplied big bowls of all the things you would put on them including meat (chicken, steak, and pork) and then bowls of other stuff like cherry tomatoes, pieces of pineapple, mushrooms, green pepper chunks, onion chunks, etc. We marinated the meat and had it laying in the bowls already marinated. Everbody got their own kabob skewer and built their own and then carried it out to the grill where my husband grilled it for them. You could put on it whatever you liked. When we were done, we roased marshmallows too! That was the most successful party we ever did. We had everyone else bring a dish to go along with the kabobs and we supplied the kabobs. Hope that helps!
Late to the party, but B is right.
I have Office 2003, Teachers & Students Edition, and it does indeed allow installation on 3 computers in a household.
When you activate trial versions, you have no backup in case of computer/hard drive failure.
Also, you MAY be able to get physical media for pre-installed computer software from the manufacturer, but at the very least you'll pay shipping and handling, and probably a nominal fee for the CDs. Most now place the restore software on the computer's hard drive. It's up to the owner to back that up in case of emergency.
Homemade Chex party mix!
Made with real butter, lots of peanuts, Cheese-its or Goldfish. Rice and/or corn chex or Crispix; none of those nasty wheat chex. Used to mix up a batch and sit and type and and eat and then graze on it throughout the day
Autotext vs. third-party software
I have tested InstantText, SmartType and several other abbreviation Expanders out there. InstantText and SmartType are more expensive and I found I can have the added features they provide with PCShorthand which is about $100. The added benefits include things like adding other functions such as backspace to your abbreviations so the abbrevation "yo" will do backspace hyphen and then type "year-old" things like that. Also with PC shorthand you can have a suggestion window displayed and resize and position that anywhere on your screen so you have a suggestion window like InstantText and SmartType. Then if you build your list properly, you can quickly see which abbreviation to use if you need to and you don't have to remember exactly what abbreviation you used, which are the primary selling points of InstantText and SmartType, both of which are great programs. You can also transfer your autotext entries to any of the third-party programs. They do have a 30-day free trial demo (www.pcshorthand.com) and no, I do not work for OfficeSoft, just like their software and think it is reasonably priced.
Party Ideas for Preteens
Hi! my daughter is turning 10 next month. She wants to have an "all girls party" : ) and wants to have some games. I just don't know what games are still suitable for their age. Any ideas? Thanks.
How about a "Bah, Humbug" party? (s/m)
That was one of the best things I ever attended, one Christmas Eve when I was having a totally crummy X-mas season. A bunch of other gals I knew who were single (some by choice, some by circumstance, some long-term, some recently), but all of whom were stressed-out and bummed about the holidays, all got together and had what is still the best party I ever attended. Lasted well into the wee hours of Christmas morning, and then we all realized how lucky we were that we could come crawling home in rather intoxicated condition at 4:00 AM and not have someone (Husband, BF, significant other, father, etc.) getting on our case about it. Once the hangover was gone, I think we all appreciated our own situations and no longer felt depressed.
What does third party transcription provider mean?
Could be farwell party on Friday. If not, I would think
After 20 years, a big party should be in the plans. If not, they are lacking in manners and it is time for you to go to a new place in your life.
2nd birthday party for the dynamic duo!
Just way too much fun! Especially when they both pushed their little cakes away and said PICKLES!
Next year they're getting birthday pickles. 
Shower for first...diaper party for second.
It was lots of fun and I received so many diapers and wipes, which I was so thankful for. It was much smaller and more personal. Not to mention, it was nice to have a party, even small, to welcome the second baby.
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