Here's how I've build my own expander-ese:
Posted By: Serendipitous (sm) on 2009-01-14
In Reply to: Need kind strangers again! - Irish
For multiples, I use numbers based on several criteria. For example, my related Expanders may be 'abc1, abc2, abc3'.
I may use the most-used phrase as #1, less-used as #2, least-used as #3, etc.
Or, I may base it on the length of the phrase - shortest phrase 1st, longer 2nd, longest 3rd.
Or, I sometimes use the numbers to signify tense or multiples. If ABC stood for, let's say, 'abdominal clamp', I may assign them s follows:
abc1 - abdominal clamp
abc2 - abdominal clamps
abc3 - abdominal clamping
That's just a 'fer-instance', but you get the idea.
ALSO: I use my auto-correct as my expander, so space in it isn't limitless. To make one abbreviation go further, type it in lower case. Example:
'dx' - for 'diagnosis'.
When you type in 'dx' in lower-case, you'll get 'diagnosis'. Type the first letter capitalized ('Dx'), and you'll get 'Diagnosis'. Type it in all-caps ('DX'), and you'll get 'DIAGNOSIS'! Three abbreviations in one!
Hope that helped!
:)
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Are you using an expander? Build up
you're macros/normals. I'm able to batch my work. I type all my reports in each batch and then I go back and relisten to each report, but I turn the speed up so they sound like the Chipmunks. I feel like it goes faster than reading each report, and I find that I'm able to catch errors that I wouldn't have caught by just reading the report.
No expander, I've just been using the autotext for a lot of things because
in my opinion the 'stupid' errors I make are transposition of a letter in words or leaving off/adding a letter at the end of a word. Like "does" vs "dose" or along vs alone. When I go back to read over, its like my brain is not really "seeing" what's there....because it already knows what I'm 'mean" for it to say, if that makes any sense.
To be truthful, none of it makes sense to me becasue like I said its only a few reports out of many that I do in a day...so you figure, If I can do majority of them without the stupid errors, why not all.
Build-a-pc
Get the best sound card you can. My first computer had a cheapy sound card and it caused all kinds of problems. Make a list of all you want/need to do with your computer and talk to the techies about it. They will be able to make suggestions. And be sure you have Microsoft Word and probably Word Perfect, just to cover all bases. Maybe a cd burner to easily make back-up discs of system and to make discs of info if that should ever be necessary.
you build and add yourself
It is a different style of system. You use the first letter of each word in your phrase so there is no memorizing, you can't forget the sequence of the phrase you are looking for. it is annoying having the screen at the bottom, but i just show the first 5 lines. you get used to it real quick. I love it.
I build my own also. So does my son. It's so (sm)
very nice when we build pc for customers and present them with the finished product. The smiles on their faces when they see that they received exactly what they wanted/ordered is priceless.
there is no way a new MT can build sm
a Medical Phrase Index like the one in print. That book is a great teaching tool and a lot quicker than asking questions on the Word Board and waiting for an answer! Seems to me folks don't want to do the work and research anymore to become a good MT and want everyone else to do their work for them.
if you know what you want get a geek to build you one
Cheaper and better! Not mention you'll know who to call and whether or not they speak English...;)
If you live in the Seattle area, try this link:
http://www.dresch.org/web/dcs/default.asp?c=1
I know him and his work - he'll put a 'puter together to your specifications and it'll be far superior to Dell (or anyone else, plus cost a lot less money)
what are you trying to do, build another city...
please go down about four posts and see the one titled "It never fails to amaze me" and see what happened to that train of thought and the responses to the same. You might get a clue to your answer. Have a great day. 
build your shortcuts to the max
it's ALL about your shortcuts. you have to shorten every word, phrase, not just medical ones, regular English too, assuming you transcribe for someone who SPEAKS English!! 
I have been using the same shortcut program for 10+ years and I STILL add things to it almost daily. 1st rule is if the shortcut doesn't just pop in your head, keep typing and don't think about it. it has to come to you automatically. then you have to be creative. example - I have this one doc who constantly says "once this was done" so I have that in as OTWD. "The patient tolerated the procedure well" is PATOL. I have things like ADP for adenopathy, then you have to expand that on further to be LADP for lymphadenopathy, AADP for axillary adenopathy, etc. if you have one doc who says some phrase constantly, even if it is only one doc, if you type him every day, make it a shortcut. I have typed in "codes" for so long they are drilled in my brain. I'll look at a license plate and it will say RSD456, my brain says "reflex sympathetic dystrophy." the longer you use it the bigger it will get and pretty soon you're typing all shortcuts and not much else.
He can build it. Just keep reciepts. nm
:+
Temporary dog house is easy to build.
Take a large cardboard box, cover outside of it with multiple sections of newspaper, then tape large plastic sheets (open up garbage sacks) over it. It is well insulated against cold and wet.
I try not to pressure myself so I don't get that way. I build up speed naturally. -nm
x
Get a custom build from a local place.
I don't know about the Macs compatibility though. I had my computer custom built through a local place and am so glad I need. My kids have done things to this computer that no one has ever seen or been able to quite figure out how they did it but the local placed fixed me right up and they keep companies of all my program disks in case I have a complete crash and need to reformat the beasts. They also custom built an HP laptop which I love, love, love.
I believe most of the MT software programs have a build it "cannot edit"
mechanism,so that once a document has been signed; electronically or otherwise, it cannot be altered. Regarding Addundums, if you were not the original Transcriptionist who typed the document, most companies want you to bypass it in the pool, which will then be reassigned to the original tramscriptionist. It's not good company policy reading and or making an addenda to anyone else's report other than your own.
I believe most of the MT software programs have a build it "cannot edit"
mechanism,so that once a document has been signed; electronically or otherwise, it cannot be altered. Regarding Addundums, if you were not the original Transcriptionist who typed the document, most companies want you to bypass it in the pool, which will then be reassigned to the original tramscriptionist. It's not good company policy reading and or making an addenda to anyone else's report other than your own.
Personally, I would prefer to build my own list versus
using a premade list. If you build it yourself, you know what's in there and you use a system that is comfortable for you. It takes time, but it's well worth it. Quite frankly, I think this smacks of wanting someone else to do the hard work for you, taking the easy way.
No idea...in 3+ years when we build I wil figure it out....probably a wolf theme
xx
New giveaway! $50 Build A Bear Bucks, see sticky post above.
/
Elaine Johnson of Boise, Idaho, you won the Build A Bear Bucks!
Email to admin@mtstars.com with your full mailing address and we will send you your gift.
POLL: Productivity gain using your expander and what expander you use.
Guess I need to make it work harder.
The shortcuts expander works with the Bayscribe expander as well.
All at the same time.
I use EXText with my current job and I've used at a couple of other jobs I've had. I've ne
used DocQscribe, but I have used Meditech, Cerner, Vianeta, the Precyse platform (I can't remember the name), Dolbey, and Lanier platform I think was called Cequence (?).
Out of all the different platforms I have typed on, I have liked EXText the best. In my opinion, it's very user friendly, easy to learn, and I really like ESP which is the built in abbreviation expander. Plus it is very easy to create your own normals which I love. My fingers literally never leave the keyboard because there are macro keys for everything. You can use your mouse if you prefer or learn the function macros. I love it. I think I'm more productive on EXText than with any other platform.
Word Expander Programs - Are there any expander programs that are easy to use and learn
that are similar to the MS Word expander? I prefer something very simple. I like MS Word expander; however I have gone over my limits and cannot add any more shortcuts so I need a program that will hold a larger amount of shortcuts. Many thanks.
Spell as best you can or blank them and keep going. I've passed many tests when I've left blan
s
As you can already see, you've come to the wrong board! By using the word professional, you've
excluded about 99% of the population of "whatever" it is that hangs on these boards. Certainly not professional for sure! But you sure are doing a good thing for someone! Its the thought that counts. Sorry you met the dregs right at the start.
HELP! I've turned my screen sideways, I can't straighten it up. I know I've seen sm
this before, but I can't remember what it is. Do you realize how hard it is to read sideways? TIA.
I've lost track of how many people who've asked about it to NOT
.
I've always verified every line I've typed (I have my ways) -sm
If you're supposed to be paid a certain $/line, that's what you should be getting no matter how they do billing unless of course it's specified in YOUR contract with THEM.
BTW, I've never caught a company cheating me ever.
I've used it. It's the worst piece of crap I've ever seen.
seriously. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy, or their Vianeta program. Awful, just awful.
Wait until you've been there six months and if you've improved
quality and quantity, I'd say go ahead and ask. Otherwise I'd say annually... good luck
I've seen the same every place I've done acute care, and
pointing out dangerous or repeated errors (often in normals for goodness sakes!) never got the result I expected. When I would press the issue, supervisors said if the dictators didn't complain, then the mistakes must not matter!
It didn't matter if the MT changed what had been a cardiac med in the beginning of the report to an antifungal by the end - I kid you NOT! One poor girl used facial for fascial and fascial for facial!
I've used a few expanders, and of those I've used, all must be "coded" to get things lik
One thing I do to get around this, is to create a macro and then link the ShortHand command to the macro. It works for me, but I do the same five clients every day and only have about 20 or 30 macros/Shorthand commands that work like this. This may not work well for you if you have lots of formats and hundreds of docs.
I've been doing this doc for many years, so I've learned how to function with him. sm
I can tell what's a stutter, what's another word, what's just an "uh." Years of experience will get you through a lot.
Wouldn't want to do his charts all day, of course, but a few per day aren't bad. I haven't had to send his to review in a long time, but they do take a little longer to shuffle through.
I've worn contacts for 30 years. I've had both
hard and soft. My vision is much better with the soft ones than they were with the hard ones. When I first started trying contacts soft ones were still new and they couldn't get me to 20/20, so I went to hard. Hard were okay until my eyes started changing shape and then I could no longer wear hard ones. The soft should give you better vision as they conform more to the shape of your eye.
I've been a bully; I've been bullied.
I used to sell a lot on eBay. There are some people who buy high-priced items and play games with you. I've had to call them repeatedly, report them to different agencies. It's not fun. You put time and money into the business of selling, and there are people out there who live to manipulate the system and cause trouble.
And, I've been bullied by buyers who made unreasonable demands, insist that they pay by check when you clearly state you don't accept them. It's not fun, and is one of the reasons I don't sell anymore. People!
I've also bought from some sellers who I would not deal with again because of their unprofessional attitude.
But, overall, ebay can be a great place to be.
I've become the man I've always wanted to marry.
I live alone, am 46, never married, no kids, just dogs horses and chickens and just got done building a new house out in the boonies away from the rat race. (Used to live in Manhattan) Couldn't be happier. Selfish maybe, but never out of time, never stressed, and I don't take anything out on others. There's something to be said for being alone but not lonely. I'm not looking for a man to "make me complete." They only sap me of my time, energy and money (how little of it there is with MQ). I consider myself lucky getting to choose my time with friends, and not just stuck with a deadbeat partner. Ladies especially: Be strong and allow yourself to be independent. Any old man will not make you stronger!
expander
I have been transcribing for 10 years, 4 at home. I have never used expanders, do they really help, how hard are they to learn and use?
oh yes! must have an expander! I really
like shorthand and they have a free trial period. I've gotten so that I can't type without it. I abbreviate everthing from phases to everyday words. on average it saves me 3-4 hours of typing a day (according to the stats it gives you).
shorthand and speedtype are the same except shorthand is cheaper because it only has email support rather than phone support. very, very easy to start and learn....highly recommend 
expander
Shorthand and ABCZ by Jon Knowles. Together they rock.
What expander do you have...most can be ...
recovered. You just need to know what the files are named and find the right folder...
expander
I type directly into a hospital system. I use S/H and Jon Knowle's word program. About a $120.00 investment has increased my productivity by about 32% last time I check. I type rad reports - get paid by report. Words you type all the time - group together
Ti=there is
tin=there is no
tine=there is no evidence
tineo=there is no evidence of
I used to jot this down and input later but now I do it as I type.
I also browse www.productivitytalk.com very helpful in shortcuts. Give you good ideas.
expander
http://www.pcshorthand.com
That's the webside to check out. It's Shorthand. And my supplement word Expander is ABCZ Typing (i.e. osab=osseous abnormality)
mamm=mammogram
sugg=suggesting
website http://home.earthlink.net/agjon/abczrule.htm or
www.productivitytalk.com
DQS has its own expander, which is okay. SM
You'll get instructions on how to change your expansions over to the DQS program. Good luck on your line count. It will plunge wildly. Mine did. Best wishes to you.
No; expander, expander, expander.
I start out at a higher lph rate and then dwindle down, so the last couple of hours of my sessions are at much lower lph.
I have good and bad dictators, ESLs, and mainly Op Notes. Probably average around 7 to 9 minutes per report.
I cannot stress the Expander enough. I rarely type out anything - have it in my expander.
Mainly, stick to it for 2 hours, take a break; 2 hours, take a break, 2 hours, break, 1 hour. Then I take off 2-3 hours and hit another session of 6 hours which are SLOWER than my first session. I start out doing pretty good and break every 2 hours and am pretty slow (for me) by the time it is over.
DQS has an expander and then
CTS (Spheris software that I use) has Shorthand.
What expander do you use, and
how do you remember them all?
Expander most like DQS
When I worked for MQ, I liked their expansion program - it was simple and I added them as I thought of them. What expansion program is the most like it? I'm finding Instant Text to be too cumbersome.
Expander
Instant Text is my all time favorite. It's not cheap but it is well worth the price.
expander
It is WELL worth the price. I wouldn't be without it. I have tried others and this one does the most.
expander
It only takes a couple of days to get used to it. In my opinion, it is much easier than the other expanders. But like I said, that's my opinion.
WP expander
I use Instant Text with WP and it works great. Hope this helps.
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