Commas (sm)
Posted By: Gem on 2005-09-22
In Reply to: I AM FREAKING OUT..... - what to do, what to do...
I am from the old school where commas were essential for clarity in reports. I find in today's world there are far too many errors being made, both in and out of the medical field, because people have not been properly trained in the English language. I have requested copies of my medical reports for a serious medical problem only to find multiple transcription or dictation errors which are inexcusable. The hospital I requested these reports from is a large metropolitan research facility where people come from all over the world for treatment. Obviously they are sending their work out to the lowest bidder. They do not have a transcription department. Not only was my name repeatedly in the body of the report, but it was spelled incorrectly and not in harmony with the correct spelling of my name in the header. Commas were not used in the proper places and the report was horrendous. I have not brought this to the attention of my physicians because they could "care less" in my opinion as long as they were reimbursed. What a darned shame! I don't know where they got their QA people, if they have any, but there is no "quality" in any of those reports. Don't feel bad. Whether we are talking commas, periods, common sense, etc., it is all "out the window" and the cheapest price gets the job! Just venting (and pretty upset). This is MY body and MY serious illness. I am so sick and tired of those pompous "asses" who proclaim 98% accuracy. I once received a reply to an E-mail from one of those companies who told me I "scored high" on their testing and stated I would "here" from them soon regarding potential employment. It's all pretty disgusting to me.
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commas
You really need to think about this comma situation. Grammar and punctuation are there to make a document readable. A medical document is a patient care and legal document.
I know the transcription companies and hospitals do not pay fairly and I really don't blame you for trying to do something to increase your line count, however, this is simply not an appropriate way to do it.
I think if you approach your supervisor with some contrition and try to make a conscious effort to not do this you will probably see some positive results.
Again, I don't mean this to criticize you, but doctors are really down on transcriptionists a lot because this sort of thing drives them crazy and I can see how it could.
Good luck to you and I hope your situation turns around soon.
maybe you should try using commas...
in all those compound sentences in your post if you are so big on grammar.
commas
 Thanks for the help!!!
BOS and commas
The day that a doctor can actually transcribe a complete sentence/thought with the correct noun/pronoun/subject/verb/adjective, I will then use appropriate commas. Run on sentences is what they do. Most transcription is verbatim. As long as the WORDS are exactly what the doctor says, the punctuation (other than a period) is not even important, has nothing to do with the body of the report. I don't profess to be an English major and whoever thought it needed to be applied to transcription needs their head examined. In this industry, nothing is forever. A few years from now they will scrap the nonsense and move on to some other idiotic idea some moron comes up with in the BOS.
I applaud accounts that refuse to use BOS. I wish they would all do it and put an end to the insanity.
commas and which
which and that are often used interchangeably. You must decide what the dictator intends.
That always begins a restrictive clause.
Which always begins a nonrestrictive clause.
Test: Do you need what is said after which to tell tell what is meant? If the answer is yes, no comma. If the answer is no, add a comma.
Restrictive: Essential to what precedes it - no comma.
The arm which was fracture was splinted.
Nonrestrictive: Place a comma before which.
The right arm, which was fracture, was splinted.
That begins an essential clause or phrase. That is always specific to what comes before it. Do not place a comma before that.
I hope this helps.
too many commas? Nope -
perfect punctuation - way to go!
...and someone who does not use commas. ROFL! nm.
nm.
typing letter. Do my commas look oky?
She is a 66year-old white female who recently transferred to our practice with diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism, hypertension and hyperlipidemia, who I refer to you at this time for further evaluation of anemia
Grrrrrrrrr Wrong COMMAS!!!
OK this doctor dictates things like this all the time...."He wanted to cry (comma) and appeared unhappy."
There is no comma there, right? What should I do? Pretty sure you need a subject on both sides of the comma.......that's what I thought.
BOS is a crock, but commas are still important!
Especially as demonstrated in the post above. I think we all know (or should know) when a comma will change the meaning of a sentence. I agree that is very important. I believe in the AHDI BOS, Third Edition, it states that comma punctuation points are not deducted on audits because most of them are open to interpretation anyway. Some sentences could take them or leave them, doesn't matter.
Somebody please tell me why these stupid hyphens are so important!!!! How can they change the meaning of a sentence? And another thing, who has the right to change the title punctuation in M.D. to MD. We tried that on our account, HA, HA, HA. Heard from those doctors right away and they did not like it one bit. These things are why I say BOS is designed to cut an MT's pay, make more money for the MTSOs, and to give QA something to do!
I, too, love commas! I was told by an English
teacher years ago to use a comma anywhere in a sentence where you want to pause, emphasize, or separate. I worked for this one national where QA used to dock me all the time for my comma use. However, I got out my college grammar/English book and scanned in pages to prove I was right. Didn't matter. It was, "Listen to your QA person." She wouldn't even use a comma to separate two independent clauses with a FANBOY. I couldn't unlearn 25 years of grammatical habits, so I quit.
I can see your point about grammar, but using commas to pad line counts??!!
Please, tell me you're not serious, okay?
Did I use my commas correctly? Because I gave it a lot of thought, too much so to use it as a way to pad my line count.
What a crock. I've solved it by starting to put in commas
more Keystrokes for me, and hey - QA just LOVES their commas! The more the better, in their eyes.
No flame--commas & periods go inside quotation marks--ALWAYS.
"right", they get "left". Hate to see a good MT not do this correctly.
I also separate with semicolons--allows use of commas where needed within dose instructions. SM
I see the value of stopping each med with a period; but the voice rec programs I've worked with so far have been using commas (or nothing), and breaking the strings up with period+spaces+caps, etc. is much too time consuming. Plus, account instructions typically ask for either numbered lists or comma/semicolons anyway.
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