How many expansions have you put into your autocorrect over...sm
Posted By: oldtimer on 2008-08-03
In Reply to: text expander programs.... - Annie
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.
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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.
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
Adding Expansions
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!
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!
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.
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?
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.
There's a tutorial in the program and yes you do create expansions while you work. Love it! nm
s
I put them all in my autocorrect so I only have to look them up once..nm
/
under autocorrect
It has an option to check to capitalize the first word in a sentence.
AutoCorrect
I discovered (or rather, re-discovered) how to use Auto Correct to Save entire documents that can be called up with just one or a few letters (or numbers). Highlight the text IN
YOUR DOCUMENT, then go to AutoCorrect. Select Formatted text (if it isn't the default, I think it may be when you do this) and then you can save whole blocks of text.
I also recommend Instant Text. There's an importer program and I used it to transfer all my old DOS-based PRD shortcut files to Instant Text. But if you can't afford another program or work somewhere where all you have is Word, AutoCorrect is great....that's all I know at the moment, I haven't used the macros feature yet. I actually am an in-house Transcriptionist for now, though my job may be shipped offshore soon and I'm trying to refresh my memory as to available tools.....Hope this helps...
AutoCorrect
Does anyone know if you can make a copy of your AutoCorrect words and transfer them from one computer to another?
Thanks!
AutoCorrect
I have version 2003 on both computers.
autocorrect
If you type in what you need in bold then highlight it, then go into autocorrect, and put it in what you want it to be.
A way to use AutoCorrect in WP
You could use Instant Text V Pro, an Expander that works with both.
AutoCorrect lists can be converted into an Instant Text glossary with a few clicks. Instant Text follows you with your glossaries wherever you need them.
See link below.
You can use Autocorrect.
/
Autocorrect
Is there any way to move all your Word Autocorrect shortcuts from one computer to another? TIA
Help!!! My AutoCorrect is not
functioning properly . . . I know I've read on here before that AutoCorrect has limitations, but what has happened is that only my doctor's addresses and one other short are working. With all the other shorts I had stored, they are still there, just do not work when I type the short. I've searched for the .acl files without success, and had decided to go ahead and start re-entering the shorts (ugh!). Anyway, when I begin entering a short, it is already in there, so I am just replacing rather than creating a new one. The short then will work fine in my Word document. Also, I should mention that when I go in through tools to AutoCorrect I am not seeing the shorts (except the ones mentioned above that do work, including those that came with my MS Office 2000), so I am only seeing them when I go to enter it as a new one and, again, it says replace and the short is there.
I am baffled by this, other than from what I have read I may have done something to the Normal.dot template in Word . . . I just don't know, and any help you guys can offer would be much appreciated.
TIA!!! 
Add it into your autocorrect (sm)
it is a Word-based platform, works the same way. Hope this helps.
What about autocorrect
What if you put the entries into Word's autocorrect. That might make them usable in ExText. I have never worked on ExText but in other Word-based programs it has worked for me in the past.
Autocorrect
Does anyone know how many entries autocorrect will store in Word?
I used to use only AutoCorrect before, so with
an expander, I'm really lost. I never really worked for a national until this past year or being paid by the line, so I've really upset over this and really don't know the "secret" to getting high line counts.
I was just checking my shortcuts for the past few days and I must have 3 or 4 different shortcuts for the expanded terms. I'm trying to get them consistent now.
I checked my Expander this afternoon and saw the same expansions with different shorts, so I decided to copy and paste the most often used phrases to word and print them out, put them by my screen one alphabet letter at a time; i.e., use A consistently until I get them down pat, then tomorrow, B, etc. for those terms I know are used the most often, but may take a few months.
I haven't tried it yet but do you think this will work? I hope so, as I am spending as much time working on my expander as I am working.
Thank you for all your comments and suggestions.
autocorrect
If you accidentally hit your "insert" key, that will effect your autocorrect function.
Autocorrect
I changed to a new computer and i am wondering how to copy my autocorrect ShortHand to my new computer.
Thanks
AutoCorrect
I found this information a while back. I have the location of my own files in blue and the file names in parentheses. It would probably be different on your computer. These are just sketchy notes I kept. If this is unclear, you can find information online, which is where I found this.
q To find out where your “regular” templates are stored in Word, select Tools + Options + File Locations, and note the paths listed under “User Templates” and “Workgroup Templates.” AutoCorrect entries saved without formatting are stored in an acl file; whereas entries saved with formatting are stored in Normal.dot. (Show hidden files to locate these folders and files.)
C:Documents and SettingsOwnerApplication DataMicrosoftOffice (MSO1033.acl)
C:Documents and SettingsOwnerApplication DataMicrosoftTemplates (Normal.dot and templates)
The best thing to do for the future is get an expander, since your typing speed will greatly improve. And transfering to another computer is also easier. Hope this helps!
I put it in AutoCorrect
I have all of my abbreviations in AutoCorrect and then when you type ddd all you have to do is hit the spacebar and it expands it for you.
I have it on autocorrect
LOL... I know it's wrong, and I have "alot" to "a lot" on my autocorrect in Word, and I almost always make it two words when "on my own" but I figured once again I was just being too anal about the petty stuff and I let it slide. Of course, that's when you get called out, right? I don't think I have ever typed or seen noone -- that would bug the heck out of me!
don't put the ; in the autocorrect
just while typing put ; in front of the yo...like this:
35;yo
and it should come out looking like 35-year-old.
Again, Thanks Cheri!
AutoCorrect
I just use the Auto Correct feature in Word. I keep a list of all the ones I put in it and I reference it until I can remember it. I try to keep it simple.
lx = lower extremity edema
hcho = hypercholesterolemia
inds = indicates
rrar = regular rate and rhythm
so on and so forth. I programmed the words or pharses the doctors I work for use most often. After I got those settled and started implementing them into my everyday transcribing, I started adding ones for long words that arent used as often, but as easy to remember:
ger = gastroesophageal reflux
shb = shortness of breath
But, seem I use Auto Correct and not a real expander, I have to be careful of what I program into it.
I would write down what you program into it and reference it as often as you need until you remember them. I adivse not to go nuts and program a million things at first. Start by programming extremely long words or words and phrases you hear over and over for the account(s) you work on.
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