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I had one yesterday that hiccuped through the entire report. I had about 10 blanks!

Posted By: M on 2006-03-18
In Reply to: Yawning doctor - Jodi

nm

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Yawning doctor - Jodi
- One of my PAs constantly rides the microphone, click, fuzz, missing word, chew, click, - missing half-word, click, slurr...
- I had one yesterday that hiccuped through the entire report. I had about 10 blanks! - M
- That totally drives me nuts.... - ama
- I know what you mean. I had one of those yawners this a.m. nm - 2teens
- I know. So inconsiderate! (no message) - Peggy

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Blanks in a report
Are you serious? Are there really MTs that leave 20 or 30 blanks in a report? I feel bad about leaving a blank when the doctor dictates the wrong dosage or I cannot verify the dosage and decide it is better for QA to check it. Sometimes I leave a blank because the background noise is too loud for me to hear what the doctor is saying. The most blanks I have ever left were three during my first weeks as an MT. Now I know why my production has been low (because I researched). I am proud of my accuracy being at 99.97% to 100% and my reliability at 100%! Why is an MT allowed to leave that many blanks?

Wow.. Thanks.. what a relief.. no blanks in that report thanks to you!!

20 or 30 blanks in a report is a NEWBIE.
nm

Are you saying you left the entire report sm

blank because you could not understand the dictator? If so, no company will put up with that. Even if you can only understand every third or fourth word, you are expected to transcribe those, and put in blanks as you need.

No one will put up with you leaving an entire report blank and sending to QA. They are not supposed to transcribe, just try to fill in the blanks.

omitting-no not the entire report just a few words
No! I would NEVER omit an entire report. As a matter of fact I got most of it leaving no blanks until I got to the lab section. The English was so bad and broken I was unsure what tests he was talking about so I left blanks about every 3 words or so. I think a total of 4. And for this I got a rather nasty comment that I omitted dictation. No blanks are not an act of omitting dictation. They are an act of being responsible as not to guess what you can not understand.

My biggest irritant is the MT that leaves 20+ blanks in a report... SM

with the majority of the blanks being unnecessary and due to just plain laziness. They don't want to pick up a reference book or they don't own any reference books and they are too lazy to Google it.

It's almost as if I've transcribed the entire report myself!

Whenever one of my coworkers asks me to listen to a report and fill in the blanks or make SM

corrections, I always put my initials on the report right after hers and I expect anyone who goes into any of my reports to make a correction to do the same and that includes QA people. Where I work, the transcription clerk will put her initials in a report even if she just had to go into the report and delete a blank line to make the report upload correctly. She puts an asterisk by her initials to let us know that she didn't make any changes to the text, just made adjustments for uploading purposes.

I've been told at other jobs by the QA bunch that whatever software we use automatically keeps a virtual record of each person who accesses a report, but I just like knowing who else has messed with my report. I can't tell you how many times when I worked in the office, an irate doctor has come in saying "who's LN" or "who's RB". So if QA went into the report and changed something, I want the doctor to see their initials too.

yesterday I had an 800 second report....sm

The dictator kept apologizing but continually had me go back to the HPI and take away stuff, add stuff and it was back and forth the entire report with him continually apologizing for *driving the male or female MT crazy* and he said that exactly. You're so right, I wouldn't want this dictator being my doctor AT ALL EVER.

Now we can both EXHALE *LOL*

yesterday I had a 1500 second report....nm

I had a guy do that to me yesterday. I couldn't even tell which type of report
he was dictating because it sounded like arefanunionsom. Ummm, that's not a choice, dude. There are no reports by that title.

You do not need the 1099. You just need to report the income. Report the company/person ...sm
to the IRS for not sending out the 1099.

I charge the same amount for a "normal" report as for any other report.
You still have to listen to the dictation and change anything that's different. I had one woman try to pull this on me. She'd dictate, "Just pull up my normal, but change this, change that, switch that around, move that, add this, delete that, and change the other." Then she'd only want to pay me what equated to $.03 per line. She wanted 1:1 on her dictation to transcription ratios. I told her to take her cheap account down the road because I'm worth more than that.

Oh, a report just came in. A report actually just slid in, can you believe it. Hip Hip Hooray. I

had better get that sucker typed before it gets out of ONE MINUTE TAT.

blanks

Can anyone out there clarify how a company penalizes for sending in a report to QA and how do you know if your company does that? Thank you upfront!

blanks

Can anyone advise how long an MT should spend researching an item as opposed to letting a blank? The company I work for is very reasonable about 1 blank per document etc. I was just wondering if there is a general rule.

Thanks for the opportunities this board offers to learn, vent and feel less isolated.

How many blanks in a day?
I am wondering if I am a good MT. I am an IC that worked on the same account for 3-1/2 years and NEVER sent any blanks. The doctors were great! I lost that account and now my company has given me a new account for the past 2 days. I think I have left at least a few blanks in EVERY single report I typed that had to go to editing...is this normal? What are the average number of reports that most good MTs have to send to editing in a day?

Blanks
With a new account, you are getting used to the dictators.

Go back and listen after you have typed the whole report and 9 times out of 10, you will hear what they are saying.

more on blanks
The specifics of how to mark a blank for QA vary from account to account, service to service, etc.

When I was a QAS, I really didn't want my MTs to put sounds like phrases in, for example:

____(s/l) bazaar or bizarre____

because it would often be something completely different. I prefer to approach the blanks I'm filling in as a QA person with an open mind. I read through the body of the whole report while filling blanks in order to make certain that the word I'm hearing fits the context of the report, but I prefer not to be told in advance what the word is.

Yeah, I like crossword puzzles too.... LOL!

BLANKS

Hello, I am having a very tough time with blanks, especially with doctors who have accents. I try listening really close to how they pronounce the word, but after listening for a good few minutes, I find I still have to leave a blank; this is so fustrating. Are they any tips to cracking blanks?

Blanks
First question I ask -- are you a fairly new MT? second question, do you have access to company IM? I have worked in this busines many years and even those of use with experience have trouble with blanks at times - I did a dictation today and the docs dog was in the background -- one blank and really not bragging here but if I leave 3-4 blanks in a report it is because of horrid sound or terrible docs -- this is really where a lot of newer MTs need to be able to have contact with someone who "has an ear"

BLANKS

Thank you all for the advice. It is much appreciated, and I will try the suggestions.

If you are careful with putting the correct report in the correct report shell and patient, you will
not have any problems. I only take away this option when someone is careless. There can be NO room for error on this. One mistake can be very serious. Many do it well though, so just double check and you will be fine.

Realistically, 16 blanks they were able to get and you could not?
x

So you NEVER send anything in with blanks, or
Can you walk on water, too?

How can they predict how many blanks?

This annoys the heck out of me about some transcription companies. How in the world can they set a limit of one, two or three blanks per report? That's unrealistic. What do they want us to do, make it up? Well I sometimes wonder if that happens, or some things are just "skipped over". It's tempting, but I haven't gotten to that point yet. I don't care how long someone has transcribed, there are things you just cannot hear, understand, or find. I'm finally working for a company that has no limit to blanks. They have a great editing system. I do a reasonable amount of research on terms I have not heard of. But if I can't hear it....I CAN'T HEAR IT. And don't even get me started on the subject of blanks in ESL dictation. Even the editors can't grasp a lot of it. I used to spend LOTS of itme on blanks, but I've wised up now and let the editors figure it out if I can't get it after a minute or so of research.

There is nothing wrong with a report going to the hospital with a blank. If I were a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional, I would rather deal with a blank than incorrect information. The doctor can fill in blanks when he signs the report.

I leave blanks for even slightly unclear lab values. I see when I review the QA'd report later that they have been filled in by the Editor and it amazes me that they could hear it clearly. Unless they called the nursing station at the hospital and asked them to look it up....which of course does not happen

Maybe I'm too naive about it. I could make a lot more money if I'd just ad lib and send it in. But, I never have been a good liar.

Definitely finish with blanks. nm
-

I think it is normal to have a lot of blanks when ...sm
you are learning an account. You have to learn the things the doctor says and get accustomed to it.

I think leaving blanks when you are new...sm
to an account is normal. You have to get used to the account and the doctors.

Docking for blanks
Encourages guessing....totally wrong. This is a policy adopted by people who have never done the job.

Blanks in tests

Hi!

I am looking for an opinion please. I have been taking my very first at-home test(hoping to come home and leave the politics behind). I was wondering if it would be counted against you if there was a blank in the one of the trascrption samples. My current employer prefers blanks to guesses but then again they are familiar with their employees' strenghts and weaknesses.

Any advice welcome.

We are allowed to send up to 2 blanks SM
per job without having to route it to QA--I can't remember the last time I had to, it might have been about 3 months ago.

Just finished. Took an hour. No blanks. Going to
and drink a beer lol

If it were just editing blanks, that would be one thing. BUT
to provide feedback to keep errors from consistently happening, to type whole reports or even whole paragraphs. It's too much and it does happen.

I give a damn but I don't have any blanks or
any "questionable" parts. So I proof as I go. If I didn't hear it right the second time, I rewind right then and there. If I don't get it then, I'll dig in and rewind, rewind, rewind until it pops in my head. But no, I proof as I go. No reason to go through it again for me.

With our QA department, blanks count against us..sm
If we have more than 1 blank per report, other than for dictation that is cut off or something like that, it counts against our percentage, which isn't very high given the difficulty factor associated with a lot of the dictators. Once the percentage reaches a certain point (and again it don't take much to reach that point) we start losing bonuses that we would otherwise be entitled to and even getting deductions from our pay. So, to say the MT doesn't get blamed is not true for everyone. We shouldn't get blamed, but a lot of us do.

Some accts do allow a certain amt of blanks on their files. Over that, and
m

This whole discussion has turned to blanks, but -
it's about so much more than that. That was only a fer-instance. What my rant is REALLY about is that we are an educated and skilled specialty in the world of white-collar business. I can't understand why our country has allowed a decent-paying job to be trashed by outsourcing.
We lose money, so we end up paying less taxes. The big corporations are given a tax-break by offshoring, so they pay less taxes. The offshore workers pay no taxes. So where is the benefit if I finally give up and go on the dole in order to survive. One more taxpayer bites the dust. If we ALL go, the poor little wealthy darlings of the upper class will start having to pay their fair share and more, if there is no longer a middle class whatsoever.

I go ahead and leave blanks

They can't have it all if they won't let me have it all, IMO. If they want to block the site where I could look up the doctor's names, then they'll get a blank if I can't spell it. Let them waste their own time vs mine until the light dawns on their end, I'm not losing money because they force me to be less efficient.

Medquist docks for blanks, nm
nm

Just about anybody prefers blanks to guesses.
I believe some tests have things they know you probably can't get, just to see if you're willing to put a blank, or if you'll guess.

I have definitely gotten jobs even though I had blank(s) on their test.

Good luck.

here's the entire MQ article
Press Release Source: Medquist Inc.

MedQuist Announces Preliminary, Partial and Unaudited Financial Results
Friday August 19, 5:14 pm ET

MT. LAUREL, N.J., Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MedQuist Inc. (Pink Sheets: MEDQ - News) announced today certain preliminary, partial and unaudited financial results. Once the Company completes the financial assessment and review of its billing practices disclosed in the Company's previous filings with the SEC, the Company expects that an independent registered public accounting firm will review and/or audit the Company's financial statements, as appropriate. While, at this time, the Company cannot estimate the total costs of (i) the billing review, (ii) defense of the class action matters, (iii) the SEC investigation, and (iv) compliance with the Department of Justice investigation, all of which have been previously disclosed in either the Company's filings with the SEC or the Company's press releases, the costs incurred to date by the Company in connection with the foregoing have been included in the results set forth below. Because the completion of the billing review and resolution of the litigation and governmental investigatory matters are pending, the Company is not certain whether any changes to the accounting treatment of any component of its consolidated financial statements will be required and, if any changes are necessary, whether any such changes would have a material impact on its consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, the financial information set forth below is preliminary, unaudited, and subject to change based on the completion of the financial assessment and review of the Company's billing practices and the completion of the review and/or audit of its financial statements, as appropriate.
ADVERTISEMENT

The information set forth below is derived from the Company's internal books and records. The Company cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the information presented below. As a result of the developments described above and in the Company's previous SEC filings, the Company's financial statements have not been audited or reviewed by an independent registered accounting firm. The information contained in this press release also has not been audited or reviewed by an independent registered accounting firm. Such information is not a substitute for the information required to be reported in the Company's Forms 10-K and Forms 10-Q that have not yet been filed. There can be no assurance that the results of the billing review, and resolution of the litigation and governmental investigatory matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's revenue, results of operations and financial condition.

MedQuist Inc. - Preliminary and Unaudited Financial Information (in
millions)

Years Ended
12/31/2002 12/31/2003 12/31/2004

Revenue (1) $486 $490 $456

Operating income (1) 71 61 23

Cash (3) 103 162 196

Debt (3) <0.1 <0.1 <0.1

Quarters Ended
12/31/03 3/31/04 6/30/04 9/30/04 12/31/04 3/31/05 6/30/05

Revenue (2) $121 $118 $114 $113 $112 $108 $106

Operating
income (2) 13 13 7 6 (3) (2) (6)

Cash (3) 162 180 183 192 196 199 198

Debt (3) <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 <0.1 -

Notes:
(1) Information presented for the twelve months ended
(2) Information presented for the three months ended
(3) Information presented as of the date

Twelve months ended December 31, 2003

Revenues:
Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenue increased from approximately $486 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2002 to approximately $490 million for the comparable 2003 period. The increase was largely the result of twelve months of Lanier operations being reflected in 2003 results as compared to six months of Lanier operations being reflected in 2002 results, as the acquisition of Lanier Healthcare LLC took place on July 1, 2002, largely offset by transcription service volume declines as well as declining pricing from both new and existing transcription clients.

Operating Income:

Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that operating income declined from approximately $71 million, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2002 to approximately $61 million for the comparable 2003 period. The decline in operating income is largely the result of transcription service volume and rate declines, partially offset by the result of twelve months of Lanier operations being reflected in 2003 results as compared to six months of Lanier operations being reflected in 2002 results, as the acquisition of Lanier Healthcare LLC took place on July 1, 2002.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

At December 31, 2003 the Company had $162 million in cash and cash equivalents. At December 31, 2003, the Company had less than $100 thousand in total debt. Other than minimal exercises of stock options, there were no additional issuances of capital stock or other securities for the twelve month period ended December 31, 2003.

Twelve months ended December 31, 2004

Revenues:

Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenue decreased from approximately $490 million for the twelve months ended December 31, 2003 to approximately $456 million for the comparable 2004 period. The decline in revenues includes the impact of decreasing transcription service volume from existing and lost clients, partially offset by new clients, as well as the impact of pricing declines attributable to a competitive pricing environment. Additionally, the Company has recognized declines in revenue from its front-end speech recognition products as it transitioned from TalkStation to SpeechQ for Radiology.

Operating Income:

Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that operating income declined from approximately $61 million, for the twelve months ended December 31, 2003 to approximately $23 million for the comparable 2004 period. The decline in operating income includes: 1) the impact of approximately $11 million in costs incurred in 2004 related to the ongoing billing investigation and associated litigation, 2) approximately $4 million in costs associated with separation and replacement of the Company's management team, including members at the executive level and 3) approximately $3 million associated with the write-off of intangible assets associated with products no longer being offered. In addition, the base business, as described above in the Revenues section, experienced a decline in transcription service volume from existing and lost clients and a decline in transcription service rates charged to customers. The impact of the revenue decline was partially offset by several cost saving initiatives including reductions in telecommunications costs, office consolidations and associated staff reductions.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

At December 31, 2004 the Company had $196 million in cash and cash equivalents. At December 31, 2004, the Company had less than $100 thousand in total debt. Other than minimal exercises of stock options, there were no additional issuances of capital stock or other securities for the twelve month period ended December 31, 2004.

Six Months ended June 30, 2005

Revenues:

Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenue decreased from approximately $232 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004 to approximately $213 million for the comparable 2005 period. The decline in revenues includes the impact of the result of reductions in contracted transcription service rates from existing clients, further affected by new transcription business service volume replacing lost transcription service volume at a lower average price. Management expects these pricing pressures to continue and for revenue in the second half of 2005 to decline from first half levels.

Operating Income:

Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that operating income declined from approximately $20 million for the six months ended June 30, 2004 to an operating loss of approximately $8 million for the comparable 2005 period. Operating income includes 1) approximately $16 million in costs incurred in 2005 related to the ongoing billing investigation and associated litigation, which represents an increase of approximately $11 million over similar costs incurred for the comparable time period in 2004 and 2) approximately $3 million in costs associated with separation and replacement of the Company's management team, including members at the executive level, which represents and increase of approximately $2 million over similar costs incurred for the comparable time period in 2004. In addition, the base business, as described above in the Revenues section experienced a decline in transcription service rates charged to customers. The impact of the revenue decline was partially offset by several cost saving initiatives including reductions in telecommunications costs, office consolidations and associated staff reductions. The Company continues to strive for improved profitability through service and technology enhancement initiatives, along with other cost reductions.

Three months ended June 30, 2005

Revenues:

Preliminary, unaudited results indicate that the Company's revenue decreased from approximately $114 million for the three months ended June 30, 2004 to approximately $106 million for the comparable 2005 period. The decline in revenues includes the impact of the result of reductions in contracted transcription service rates from existing clients, further affected by new transcription business service volume replacing lost transcription service volume at a lower average price. As noted above, management expects these pricing pressures to continue and for revenue in the second half of 2005 to decline from first half levels.

Operating Income:

Preliminary results indicate that operating income declined from approximately $7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2004 to an operating loss of approximately $6 million for the comparable 2005 period. Operating income includes 1) approximately $9.5 million in costs incurred in 2005 related to the ongoing billing investigation and associated litigation, which represents an increase of approximately $5.5 million over similar costs incurred for the comparable time period in 2004 and 2) $1 million in costs associated with separation and replacement of the Company's management team, including members at the executive level. In addition, the base business, as described above in the Revenues section experienced a decline in transcription service rates charged to customers. The impact of the revenue decline was partially offset by several cost saving initiatives including reductions in telecommunications costs, office consolidations and associated staff reductions. The Company continues to strive for improved profitability through service and technology enhancement initiatives, along with other cost reductions.

Balance Sheet Highlights:

At June 30, 2005, the Company had $198 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt. There were no additional issuances of capital stock or other securities for the six month period ended June 30, 2005.

About MedQuist:

MedQuist, a member of the Philips Group of Companies, is a leading provider of electronic medical transcription, health information and document management products and services. MedQuist provides document workflow management, digital dictation, speech recognition, mobile dictation devices, Web-based transcription, electronic signature, medical coding products and outsourcing services.

Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements:

Some of the statements in this Press Release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates and projections regarding the Company's business, operations and other factors relating thereto. Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expects," "intends," "plans," "projects," "believes," "estimates" and similar expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this Press Release include, without limitation, statements about the Company's results of operations and financial condition. These statements are only predictions and as such are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions as to future events of the Company's future financial performance that may not prove to be accurate. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in these forward-looking statements. As a result, these statements speak only as of the date they were made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The Company's actual results may differ from the forward-looking statements for many reasons, including any direct or indirect impact of the matters disclosed in the Form 12b-25 filed by the Company on August 19, 2005 on the Company's operating results or financial condition; any continuation of pricing pressures and declining billing rates; difficulties relating to the implementation of management changes throughout the Company; and the outcome of pending and future legal and regulatory proceedings and investigations.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: MedQuist Inc.

Even when they deduct your entire (sm)
report if you make one error that QA doesn't catch and the hospital does?

Seems to me like QA should get dinged, not the MT.

TRS is your typical admin-heavy, treat the MT like a number company, made more offensive by their assumption that everyone in America is "Christian" and will adore prayer requests and other off-topic crap on the company email.

I think this entire season is going to be -
while he is in the hospital and how the business continues without him. We won't know if he makes it until the last episode. Gotta feelin' he won't. The show will die with him. -

been this way my entire life ....N/M

Fox is going to show the entire
fourth season this summer. Two episodes back-to-back every Tuesday night. Maybe you can see some of the ones you missed. :-)

There is an entire section on this

You have been doing for an entire 3 years and
never made $31,000? OMG, I am so surprised (NOT). Those days when the salaries were really good (except for 1 here and there) are mostly over. Unless willing to work about 24/7, weekends, overtime, etc., etc. you do good now to just eek out a living and many on here complaining about not even doing that.

Doing your blanks with the speakers helps too (no headphones) - sm
you "hear" differently. I my blanks both ways usually, helps a lot in hearing. Get tons of samples as suggested, they are great help in figuring out what that particular Dr. is saying. You do acquire an ear, takes some time though, good luck sounds like you took the bull by the horns.

We DO listen to the dictation! How else would we fill in blanks?