I love OPs because they can be so interesting. (sm)

Give me something to transcribe like a total cystectomy with an ileal conduit and neobladder creation, or an open brain surgery with PCA aneurysm clipping or meningioma resection, or any other kind of really complicated OP, and I'm happy!!

Kind of morbid, sure, but still fascinating to do.

Of course, one can do only so many laparoscopic cholecystectomies or C-sections per day before it becomes a bit monotonous/

• Why do so many people LOVE operative notes? I see posts about it all the time... - jj
  • RE: OP notes - klownmom
  • I rarely get to do them - sm
    • Can't you ask if you can receive more of them? - I would ask about it.
  • Why spread the word?.. - MT1
    • Some just can't be quiet and have to ruin it for others. - MT2
    • I don't think it's really a secret... - MT
    • Yes this is a joke. MT1 comes to this forum obviously to try to get useful tips for herself but she - jj
    • LOL! Is that a joke? I don't ancticipate SM - Tillie
      • No, it's not a joke... - MT1
        • Something Tells Me That - - You're the Type of MT...
          • LOL... just had to say that - Emily Ayn
          • Well...first, I wouldn't come on bragging. - Selfish MT
            • We Must Have Totally - - Different Perspectives
    • I've no intention of switching over just cuz they're a "money maker" - No worries here...
  • I absolutely love them, I fly through them - lk
  • No nonsense. Straight to the point and repetitious. - MT IC OP Specialist
  • Love them too - lk
  • I love them because there is a rhythm sm - Earlinda
  • Ops are my fave - Katie
  • I love OPs because they can be so interesting. (sm) - MT1981
  • Because surgeons tend to be - Me
    • Makes sense, I understand that surgeons will dictate the same report over and over, but.... - jj
      • Yep Yep - BellaDonna
        • Some who do ops tend to speak faster than lightening sm - gemini

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Love NOT getting paid while sitting doing my nails too.  It's a real turn on.

I tell all my friends to try it -- sit in front of your computer while you have no money to pay your rent and instead do your nails, you get a real buzz down in the pit of your stomach.

a check for around $100.

I thought too it was just for folks who had typed on DQS, but not so!

So, the mystery continues.

I did go to your link and found out it is KForce.  I looked at their jobs and they do have positions for traveling transcriptionists (also for traveling coders).  It looks like the MTs are needed in Pittsburgh and somewhere in Oregon.  Also looks like the pay is $20/hour. 

That would be fun to do.

But don't you think a hospital would send out work to a service rather than have a temp come in to do their work?

I'll have to try that.

I have been setting up one row the way I want and then doing just a Ctrl-C and pasting it into the next row. Once I get a few rows built up, I copy the block of rows and paste a block at a time.

Fortunately I have decided to let this account go so I won't have to do this much longer. If there are any radiology MTs out there looking for pretty much all the work you can handle and then some, click on the link below. It's a good account, but I have two other part-time accounts that provide enough income and I just don't need the stress.

I was just checking out that site for filesanywhere.com - I gave them a call - they said they are a "webfolder" and I am checking into that - it sounds like a possibility, but any other ideas still appreciated. 

Have you ever used filesanywhere or know if it works well for anyone?  Thanks

So you put your phrases first, and your words second in the phrase side?  How do you do this?  I am horrible at reading comprehension and have read the book that came with Instant Text a million times but I still get confused on some things.  I have been putting things like "anticoagulant therapy" as "anth" on the phrase side as well.  Can all of these smaller entries be moved down to the bottom of the list?  Any help or suggestions is welcomed. 

I'm going to have to think about and process this.  It makes total sense.  It also takes away the time you would spend proofing your own document. 

I'm stuck at my lph right now.  I'm going to try this a little and see what happens.

Thanks!

I know many transcriptionists whose facilities have gone to EMR and still do traditional transcription, myself included.  I think what you are referring to is that your physicians are going to EMR with possibly some type of templates or point-and-click system, etc.  EMR in and of itself is not a template or point-and-click system, it simply means electronic medical record.  Having electronic medical records is better for patient care.  Whether transcription is affected by implentation of EMR depends on the specific facility.  I hope MTs will go and research what exactly EMR is and how it may or may not affect transcription.  I feel we have been left behind as far as knowledge of technology is concerned.  The more I research myself and read comments on MT sites, the more embarrassed I become at how far behind we are.

The only other job I worked where I got paid by production was in a sewing factory(definitely blue collar). But every time we picked up a bundle, we tore a ticket off it for our particular job. We knew when we completed that stack of 20 side seams we would get $3. For the stack of 20 button holes we knew it would be $1.50. 20 cuffs, $5.25. We knew exactly what we were getting it and why we were getting it. Funny how we don't expect the same for our professional jobs.

Please see article below that was published in 2003. Does anybody know if the law it mentions was ever passed in California?

Following news that a Pakistani medical transcriber threatened to post UCSF Medical Center patient records online unless she received more money,

a state senator said she will introduce legislation barring all California hospitals from allowing medical data to leave the country.

Sen. Liz Figueroa, D-Fremont, said she will introduce the bill in January when the state Senate returns for its next regular session. (A special session on financial matters is likely before then.)

"California already has the strongest medical-privacy laws in the nation, " Figueroa told me. "But not strong enough. There's always something you didn't anticipate."

What she and other framers of the state's medical-privacy laws, which prohibit the sharing of medical information unless for clear medical purposes, didn't see coming is the explosive growth of the $20 billion medical- transcription industry.

U.S. hospitals have such a huge need for help transcribing doctors' dictated notes into written form that the work is routinely farmed out to private transcribers throughout the country. Those transcribers, in turn, frequently subcontract with other transcribers.

In the case of UCSF Medical Center, three separate subcontractors were involved in handling the facility's records. The last link in the chain was a woman in Karachi, Pakistan, who sent an e-mail to UCSF earlier this month demanding help in resolving a financial dispute with the Texas man who'd hired her.

The Pakistani transcriber said she'd post UCSF's files on the Internet unless the medical center assisted her. She backed up her threat by attaching actual UCSF patient records to her message.

This was the first time an overseas transcriber had used confidential records to threaten a U.S. medical institution. The transcriber withdrew her threat only after receiving hundreds of dollars from another subcontractor in the case.

Figueroa said her bill would prohibit anyone possessing information involving California patients from sending that information abroad.

State hospitals would likely be barred from outsourcing transcription work unless they could guarantee that all related files remain within the country -- a move that would make hospitals accountable for any subcontracting that ensues.

"We're not banning the practice of overseas workers doing transcription," Figueroa said. "But we can regulate the practice of medicine within California. "

The law, at least on the health care front, may be on her side.

In most instances, federal law would trump state law, and the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 outlines rules for safeguarding medical data. Anyone doing transcription work for a U.S. hospital would be required to uphold HIPAA standards, although the law is virtually unenforceable overseas.

A unique aspect of HIPAA, though, is a provision that if a state adopts more stringent restrictions, state law will prevail.

"If there were a statute that no health care information in California could be disclosed outside the country, HIPAA wouldn't have a problem with that," said Paul Smith, a San Francisco attorney specializing in health care issues.

"The state has a clear interest in protecting health information," he added. "This would seem a legitimate exercise of state regulatory authority."

At the same time, though, Matthew Nakachi, a San Francisco lawyer who specializes in trade issues, said it's unclear how the proposed legislation would square with federal laws related to commerce. A hospital might argue, for example, that it has a right to do business with whomever it pleases.

"If California decides to do this," Nakachi said, "it would probably go into the courts and take years to fall out."

For her part, Figueroa expects the health care industry to fight the legislation, just as the banking industry opposed state restrictions on the use of customers' information. But she thinks that in light of the public's increased sensitivity toward privacy matters, her bill would eventually pass.

"The interesting thing will be to see where our new governor stands on privacy issues," Figueroa said. "At this point, we don't know."

Mystery woman: The Pakistani transcriber at the center of the case involving UCSF is still something of a mystery.

In her e-mail to UC officials, she identified herself as Lubna Baloch, "a medical doctor by profession." Beyond that, little is known of her.

In May, however, an interesting little exchange occurred on MT Stars, an online network for medical transcribers. Baloch, using the same e-mail address she used in her threatening message to UCSF, posted her resume at the site in hopes of attracting work as a subcontractor.

Sheri Steadman, who runs MT Stars, of Phoenix, said she's against U.S. transcription work going abroad and routinely deletes postings from overseas transcribers. In Baloch's case, she said she was concerned by the vagueness of Baloch's resume, especially as to her whereabouts.

Steadman wrote to Baloch to say that MT Stars is only for U.S. job seekers.

"I am US based," Baloch replied.

"Not enough info," Steadman responded. "Where?"

"Santa Monica, LA," Baloch wrote back.

For Steadman, this wasn't a very good answer.

"Santa Monica isn't in Los Angeles and it's not in Louisiana," she told me. "It was pretty clear that Baloch wasn't in the country."

Steadman confronted Baloch with her suspicion. Baloch never wrote back.

"She was trying to gain work in any way, shape or form," Steadman said. "She was trying to sucker U.S. medical-transcription services into sending her business."

It didn't work that time. A few months later, though, probably using a different online service, Baloch was more successful in her efforts.

That would turn out to be a very dark day for UCSF.

David Lazarus' column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. He also can be seen regularly on KTVU's "Mornings on 2." Send tips or feedback to dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.