Adding Expansions
Posted By: slooowMT on 2008-03-20
In Reply to:
I was wondering how you build your expansion list, meaning, about how many words do you put in day? A few, 20, 50? And do you review them daily so you know what you have? I tend to create them and then forget I have them and then do not use them. What are you tips? Thanks in advance!
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Hardly get to use my expansions any more
Most of the doctors whose jobs I used to not lift my foot for the pedal for from start to finish, are now on ASR and I cannot say that about them anymore. Those definitely take longer because not only do you have to change, delete and add here and there, you have to scrutinize every letter or mistakes the listening device may have made. Obvious what is saved to expansion was checked to perfection already.
Unless, of course, the MTs use only expansions
expansions
Put in a lot of the common things most physicians say for every report like: the patient, increased pain, complains of, tells me that, MRI results, x-ray of the, come back in, return to see me in, was seen in the emergency room, I told her to, I told him to, see me back as needed == things like that. If you analyze a report, you'll see that most of it is plain English and those things are said over and over. Once I switched from concentrating the majority of my entries from medical words to plain English, my speed really picked up. I still add in the medical things, of course, but with my glossary I can work on many accounts with a lot more ease and productivity. It's taken quite a time but well worth it.
expansions
I don't worry about whether I already tried an expansion, because if it's there and I don't hit it right away, it isn't easy enough, so I try again. Usually I stick to a few standard forms, but that can vary from first letters of a phrase plus x on the end to e on then end, to some 2-word phrases that I use the first 3 letters of each word together. I might delete one that is rarely used if I want to reuse the abbreviation for a more useful phrase. I've deleted a lot of the first ones I tried, because they really weren't very helpful. I like to keep the phrases short, rather than try for long ones, maybe 3-5 words, because doctors tend not to be entirely consistent in how they say things, and I have verbatim accounts...less need to reword things that way.
I think that about 40% of what I type is an expansion of some sort on my normal doctors. If I'm doing someone new or someone who isn't consistent in what they say it may be quite a lot less, but that isn't really counting the individual word expansions, just the phrases. Many of the words over 3-4 letters I get with 1, 2, or 3 Keystrokes at most. You just have to keep your eyes on the expander, and sometimes even slow down enough to see words not at the top of the list. I use Smartype, so they come up in order of most used, which I can change at any point if needed.
EXACTLY! Thank you for adding.
x
And that is without adding in the
Ouch, ooch, eech, (walking out to grab the paper off the step this morning).
And adding to that. ..
What happens when the company runs low on work, which is known to happen. There is nothing in the contract about the "penalty/incentive" does not apply.
My expansions on MQ's server
Conditions at my local MQ ofc have deteriorated to the point where I am ready to throw in the towel and look elsewhere. My question: I am using my own computer. Is it possible to retrieve/print out my Expanders and shortcuts that I made up myself before I leave. I've only worked for MQ, and imagine I've accumulated over 2000 of these shortcuts. I know they are on my hard drive, but I have no program that will enable me to access them. Does anyone know of any such animal? Secondarily, has anyone ever left one MQ ofc for another, or just plain asked to be switched to other accounts. TIA
According to their web site they pay for expansions (sm)
I personally think we aren't paid for blanks and headers and that makes a difference. I have been working on DQS for a couple of weeks now and have gotten up to a whopping 200 plus per hour so I feel like I am making headway.
I have a question about DQS expansions.
I have 6000 phrases in my PRD which I am about to transfer to the DQS expansion program (I won't start for a couple of weeks). The tech says anything more than a few hundred might cause expansions to be sluggish while I'm transcribing :(. Has anyone been having this problem?
Also, is it better to use my own Window-based glossary program instead of the one DQS provides? The tech says he can't advise me on that and the techs won't provide assistance on it.
Watch those expansions for BM
She had a large, foul-smelling black male overnight with massive bleeding.
Need HELP to transfer expansions
I want to transfer my shortcuts (expansions) from DocQScribe to Microsoft office word. Is it possible to do this? Can anyone tell me where to go for instructions/guidelines on doing this? Please help!
drug expansions
How you set up your expansions for drugs?
I use the first three letters and the last letter. For example, for Plavix, I would set it up as plax. Also, for drugs that I type frequently, I sometimes shorten it more - Lasix is lx.
I want to add dosages also, but I'm undecided how I want to do it. I would love to hear how others do it. Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas and suggestions.
Did they ever say they wouldn't pay for expansions? More likely,
s
IMO, it will. I, too, used the same expansions for many years...sm
and found IT to be a pain in the tush. I did, however, find ShortHand or ShortCut to be much better choices. Not sure if they are still around as I use ESP and AutoCorrect (you can use both if you allow it in the preferences). I learned the expansions one way and found too many choices to be a hindrance. Good luck with your search!
How many expansions have you put into your autocorrect over...sm
the last 14 years. I started with a blank autocorrect 10 years ago and now have many thousand expansions from individual words, to phrases, paragraphs, and even full reports. I still add new ones almost every day. The way I have it set up I save more than 50% of my keystrokes.
Word expansions ... that is the MAIN
help for me. I do have good accounts but they have ESLs and some non-ESLs who are even worse. I have to slow down for them but then try to make up my speed with the next good dictation.
I put EVERYTHING into word expanders...words, phrases, etc. EVERYTHING. I couldn't do half my line counts probably if I didn't use my expanders so well.
Don't answer the phone. Don't check email or forums until I take a break. Don't eat or drink while working.
How does one temporarily disable expansions
x
How do I transfer DQS expansions to MS Word
I already know how to access and copy the user.aco files from DQS, but I can't figure out how to copy them into another copy of MS Word Auto Correct to use for another platform.
Not sure what you mean by "work together." Do you mean can your list of expansions for one be
imported for use in the other or do you mean can both programs be running simultaneously?
yes, need to disable your expansions in Word and...
you also need to open ShortCut BEFORE you open your platform (Word or whatever you are using).
Good luck.
How do I copy a list of my expansions?
nm
Expansions for numbers/lab values
Do you all use Expanders for numbers and lab values? - Ex.: 0-10 red cells, 10-20 white cells ... things of that nature. I have a few, but it seems there are so many different combinations of number items that I can't come up with a good system.
Any ideas appreciated. 
Instant Text expansions
can be 16,000 characters long.
Did you use IT with Meditech? You may have experienced the limitations of Meditech not being able to handle more than a paragraph at once.
Nothing about MQ is adding up anymore.
x
adding my 2 cents
It can be done, as I have been in your shoes as well. It will be tough without family close by, but thank goodness you have a job that can keep you close to your children. When I did it my job was 12 hours a day. Just wanted you to know that you have support here, and by the looks of it you have alot of it. You and your children are in my thoughts.
lol.. thank you for adding humor to my otherwise
nm
Keep adding to that expander SM
Just backing you guys up. I'll never have those quick fingers either (nv hv tos qk fgs eir), just not in me, but by continually creating and memorizing abbreviations, I transcribe fairly challenging acute care hospital work somewhere between 330-340 lph--including short breaks for coffee refills and so on. It wouldn't add up to 3000 over 8 hours (most of my work is actually editing these days), but could be if I were doing work I could make more templates for, clinic for instance. Zero stress, BTW.
Did you try leaving the .09 and adding .09.vox? nm
nm
Are you getting paid for adding the
demographics, such as the patient's name, the medical record number, the dictator's name, two spaces instead of one at the end of a senstence. Is the space included in your line count? Some companies are now paying by the character only. Unfortunately, a lot of these things we used to get paid for have been taken away, thus you need to work a lot harder for the same amount of money. Try to master the more difficult dictators, and once you do, then ask for a higher rate.
just adding my 2 cents; not sure where you have
worked with 'Indians' to have such a negative viewpoint, but my experience was pleasant and the people I knew from India were polite, quiet, respectful but probably mistrusting of Americans I supposed. Most everyone is India gets a college education, not like here. Even on the phone from call answering centers, the 'Indians' I have spoken with for the most part are very soft-spoken and polite.
They were given an opportunity and are taking it and making the most of it and for that I don't blame them. It is our American companies that sought them out and went over there and started these transcription companies, yes?
I had 6346 and adding each day. :) nm
.......
My trick for stopping expansions from expanding....SM
This might not work for you but I find it quicker to add it in my shortcuts. I simply add the last letter on it again when I don't want it to expand. For example, BP = blood pressure but BPP = blood pressure. COPD = chronic.... but COPDD = COPD. That's a lot faster for me than to do all those other steps. Just thought I would throw that out there in case it might work for someone else too.
Need expansions for both mitral valve repair
nm
Agree---and work on those expansions..it stinks at first
but it WILL pay off in the long run. Especially once you're familiar with the doctors and you can *almost* type what they're going to say before they say it. When you're that familiar, it makes for a fabulous line count:-)
Is selecting expansions from a list a hassle?
With Instant Text how do you choose the expansion you want from the list at the bottom of the screen? Do you use the mouse to click on it? Do you use the arrow keys on the keyboard?
How do I add expansions/abbreviations in Word 2007?
I am talking about adding a few more notches to
make the playback speed increase, only if you want it to, such as if you have a really slow dictator and you want to go back and proof the whole report. Since I proof every report by going back and listening, it really would make the proofing go faster to be able to increase the speed more than we are able to now.
td = 10/13/2005. in IT I just keeping adding them as td.
dd
We got plenty and adding new accounts every day it seems - nm
x
Stuck adding dictionary
I've downloaded Stedmans 6.0 to Word (program files) and am attempting to add the dictionary for spell check. I can locate the file but when I try to add a file name, I get hung up. I'm sure the problem lies in the file name, either the original download or my efforts to add the dic. I would very much appreciate an assist, pulling my hair out. TIA - I have googled extensively and followed the instructions but I am missing something here.
adding 5 a week would not work well IMO
I currently have over 1500 entries in my mail abbreviation program file. If I had built this by adding 5 entries a week, it would have taken 300 weeks, or almost 6 years to build my main file. I have an additional 6 other files with varying numbers of entries built specifically for different purposes - one for medications - one to correct misspelled words in my current MTSO's spellcheck - and one for each of the different accounts I work (mostly entire op notes and templates).
I believe the one on ShortHand's site is a good start. Once you get familiar (or even while you get familiar) with it's pattern, you can add your own. I constantly add to my main file. Sometimes when I come across something I haven't seen in a while and don't know for sure it is in the file, I follow the pattern, and voile'...there it is and I don't have to guess at the spelling or look it up. 
In addition, if you activate the prompt screen of available entries on your screen, you do not necessarily have to memorize all the entries. You get to chose from a selection of 9 entries to help jog your memory if needed. I am a firm believer in the use of expansion software, even though the first one made me dizzy for 2 weeks 
Beg to differ with the adding of words
to report if not necessary. That is commonly known as "line padding," especially adding "the patient" when it is not said. I know MTs who have been let go for doings things like that.
Adding some info to this post...
Here is an interesting bit: http://law-wire.blogspot.com/2008/02/india-to-adopt-data-privacy-rules.html
Also, you may want to look into the Information Technology Act (India).
And adding insult to injury,
I have a few that dictate like they're trying to keep it all a big secret; ironically, it usually sounds like they are trying to keep their voices down so they don't disturb the people having the LOUD conversation 5 feet away! Hello, get a clue! Gaaaah!
Adding up line counts
I am about to start as an IC with a company. Up to this point, I have not had to add up line counts at all. What do you use to figure this out to invoice the company? Any favorite softwares?
Adding insult to injury,
it's IC (independent contract) work with an insultingly low line rate. If I were going to take THAT big a pay hit, it had BETTER have one KICKER of a benefits package attached to it. No, thanks. Don't call me and I won't call you.
In addition to the various fees charged if you don't jump through all their hoops (and they were a bit fuzzy about whether those fees would still be assessed if the failure to complete the required work was THEIR fault not yours, there was also some verbiage in their contract that sounded like they might require you to use a dedicated computer--i.e. you can't use the computer you use for their work for anything else. Naturally, they do not supply this dedicated computer. Excuse me, if I own the computer, I can do whatever I bloody well please with it.
Do you use expansions for common English words and phrases too? sm
I have read that something like 80% of sentences can be formed using the same 200 most commonly used words of the English language.
Think of common English phrases that you can add to your expansion software that you use quite often in MT reports such as "he has no significant" or "there are no significant" or "there was no significant," etc. :)
*This link leads to a listing of the 500 most commonly used words in the English language:
http://www.world-english.org/english500.htm
*And here is a listing of the top 100 English verbs:
http://www.world-english.org/100verbs.htm
No, but with an expander you can just set your expansions to the approved versions for that account.
nm
Wow, there's an easier way. I think the OP is calling text expansions "macros."
Instant Text and ShortHand can import autocorrect, but you have to know which file they are stored in.
If you're just moving your autocorrect and true macros to another computer, all you have to do is find your .acl file and normal.dot. All your true macros and shortcuts to run your macros are in the normal.dot. All your formatted autocorrects (those with spaces or bold) are in the normal.dot. The rest of your autocorrects are in the .acl file. You don't have to mess with installing Microsoft's macro to move anything. The autocorrect utility in macros9.dot is for Word 2000. Word 2002 and 2003 is called support.dot. There's no macro included in 2007 for this.
Just for your info.. this 30-year MT is NOT adding s to Down syndrome
so that is not what the problem is... I don't care HOW long you've been transcribing a split infinitive is a split infinitive! and verb tenses haven't changed, as far as I know... so don't act like 30-year MTs just aren't "with it" cause this one is!
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