In my experience, if you don't know for sure, blank it. sm
Posted By: omt on 2006-03-09
In Reply to: Life-threatening MT errors. sm - Jerkette
It doesn't happen to often with my line of work as I only do clinic notes. I do know which drugs are used for what and the differences between similar sounding drugs. I have reference materials to help if I don't quite understand the pronounciation, as long as I have been given a particular diagnosis for which the drug is used.
If I am completely unsure (i.e. med list for PMH with no given symptoms or diagnosis) I ask or leave a QA note. That is much safer than putting the wrong med in the patient's record and that is the extent of what MT's should be expected to do.
As far as the doctor dictating the wrong side of the body for any reason whatsoever, there is no way an MT could possibly determine in a case of it being left rather than right. In the event of a dictator switching between left and right, that is a red flag to leave a note that simply says, "dicatator is indicating left and then right but does not clarify by end of note."
When my son had his mastoidectomy a year ago, the surgeon came in and drew a big blue circle around his left ear and looked at me and said, "This is the ear that I am operating on. This is his left ear. Are you in agreement with me that I have the correct ear that needs surgery?" Well, I kind of chuckled a little bit as my son looked rather strange at the moment and the doc said, very nicely: "In all seriousness, we are human and we do make mistakes, but I don't wish to make a mistake with your little boy."
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Experience on top, current experience first. Education second. Leave out ALL fluff.
Recruiters don't need your life story. They need to know if you can do the job. If you want, put your current employer, then state "I have 20 years in the profession doing....." Keep it simple; keep it clean. If you want to go into more detail, do it during the interview. A HUGE red flag is to see that you've worked for 10 different companies, for months at a time. I know that someone who has worked for the same company for 2 years or more is going to have some degree of loyalty and will work through issues rather than cut and run.
to blank or not blank
I've taken tests like that before, and, yes, they seem impossible but point is to stick it out and put all the blanks that are needed because that is the point, to see if you will blank it or guess something st*pid. They know what the dictation is like. I recently took a test where one voice file was horrendous. I had a ton of blanks but I got the job. The other 3 files I still had blanks too. Then again, on the flip side, I've tested for places that had tests like that too and were indicative of their regular dictation, so you had to just test it out and see for yourself because you might be pleasantly surprised that it's not so bad.
Personally, I would blank it. You should
the spelling and for other reasons, i.e. privacy, I think it would be a good idea. Some tests I've taken have asked me to put in three underscores __ __ __ when items bleeped for confidentiality. Even if not asked to, I think that's the way to go IMHO ...
Since you had a bad ESL did you blank or put what it sounded like?
x
Blank emails-me, too
I have always used Spybot and Adware SE, but read they sometimes miss things, so I just bought NoAdWare. Was I surprized at the stuff it found compared to the other ones (including Norton AntiVirus, and my server software)! I had 4 "dangerous" and 92 "severe" the very first day...that have been on my system for quite a while.
Since then, I have also been receiving blank emails. I'm now up to 5 every time I receive my mail. I've been getting a lot of junk mail all of a sudden and have no idea why. My favorites are winning the lotteries. If I believed them, I would have a bankroll of well over $100,000,000,000. The other ones where I am named in someone's will. Love it. Dream on. 
Don't know what to say or what else to do about it without changing my email addess again, and I sure don't feel like doing that. I just did change it 3 months ago.
No Blank Accounts sm
I heard about this but it sounds kinda strange. Anyone ever run into this kind of account? How do you not leave blanks if you don't know what they are saying?
What about when you leave a blank
and then QA goes in and "guesses" and fills in the blank? I have relistened after QA, and it absolutely sometimes is not what was said, it's just what the dictator "usually says" so QA puts that in. That makes me look dumb for putting so many blanks, and QA look good for knowing the answers.
blank lines also
When I started my surgical/oncology account 6 years ago, the gal that had been doing it charged for blanks, from first line to the last line on letters, consults, etc. All blanks were counted so I just continued, the OM, docs are well aware of it. Also, that is why my cpl is lower than others also, it usually averages out in the wash.
Screen blank for me too.
nm
Take out all blank lines
Go through and take out all blank lines and count or put on your line count on your file and see how many blanks there are and subtract. Remember if you have a header though on pg 2 and 3, it does not count those lines. Also I think that Sylcount will count lines only and no blanks. Also when doing your line count in MS word, it gives you the paragraphs and so if it is 20, subtract 20 lines, date to address is 4, address to RE is 2, RE to salutation is 2, etc. Usually there are ten blanks from date to Dear. Good luck.
Leave a blank
Definitely an error on the MD's part
Always flag/blank something so odd it is likely
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Mine will go to QA if I have a blank.....sm
I do sometimes put that in though.
oh, the dreaded blank
I always do much better filling in the blanks if I don't stress too much over it, finish the report, and go back and listen again after the report is finished. So often the blank can be figured out with the context of the rest of the report available. 
oh, the dreaded blank
I always do much better filling in the blanks if I don't stress too much over it, finish the report, and go back and listen again after the report is finished. So often the blank can be figured out with the context of the rest of the report available.
oh, the dreaded blank
I always do much better filling in the blanks if I don't stress too much over it, finish the report, and go back and listen again after the report is finished. So often the blank can be figured out with the context of the rest of the report available.
right click anywhere on your desktop that is blank, sm
and go into properties; click on the last tab that says settings and on the bottom left-hand corner is screen resolution. slide that bar left and right until you see what you are used to. FYI mine is on 800x600 pixels.
Either blank it or sound it out--no big deal either way.
Good luck!
Fill in the blank: You know you're getting old when....sm
1. For me, when a person I used to babysit from infancy until school age has completed his internal medicine residency and is in a private medical practice.
2. When I get up in the morning my knees and back crack so much that you can hear them at times in the next room (daughter asks "what's that cracking noise" will confirm this!)
You charge for blank lines? WOW! That's a first!
charge for blank lines
not my idea, but I'll take it!
When you test they usually blank out the names - sm
since it is confidential information. If they do not give names, leave blank. If they are saying actual names I would look them up. Tons of resources on the internet to look up Dr. names, even nurses. At my job I look up doctors names and addresses regularly, I macro the info. into a folder though so I don't have to look it up more than once, and update accordingly. I also look up hospital names, etc. when necessary, though I work for a local company that works for one of the local hospitals so I am familar with most of the places mentioned, but if I am not, I look it up. A big part of MT is knowing how to research. Good luck in your testing.
If you can't get it, leave a blank. You always have that option. sm
If the MT cannot understand the dictator, they always have the option of sending it upward for clarification. They are doctors, not English language specialists. I know you would like them to be, but that is not the way it is. We listen, we transcribe, and if we don't get it, we send it upward for clarification.
It isn't easy, no one said it was. But I hate to see people complaining about foreign doctors all the time. They give excellent care, and a lot of us can understand them. It is a knack. If you don't have it, then send it to your QA.
You could just go through and delete all the blank lines.
Since it is just a test, why not try doing that?
I cant see any replies either. Blank screen ? nm
x
Don't overuse but have to blank and counted off for it?
Right now am really bumfuzzled as I do not know in my MTing career if this has happened before. I was just told from a company where I have worked for some time that blanks are counted off. I do not just leave to be leaving, absolutely cannot make out and really taken aback to be truthful. Do most places do this to their MTs? Is this just another way to make their pockets fuller?
Couldn't be anything NEAR how a 20-blank report
What a bunch of hot air you people blow. And QAs DO blow.
They whine when I send them a blank, and tell me
Among other things.
You left out blank dictations
The ones with no dictations - I have a feeling doctors probably pay the MTSO by dictated minutes - but how about MTSO paying the Transcriptionist who has to waste their time listening to them, signing them off and sending them to QA multiple times a day?
Example: If I leave a blank or want to hear something again
is there a faster way to get back to the point I want without using the arrow buttons and waiting for it to go back and forth? There must be, I appreciate your help.
One blank is not reasonable, what if it is a horrible ESL - sm
that you can only understand 1 word in 10? I have had those. Years ago worked for a company that only allowed about 1 blank every 10 reports or so, which was crazy especially since it was acute care and nothing but ESLs. If you went over your daily allotment you would be reamed via email. I understand trying to keep the blanks down but some are just unavoidable.
do you blank it, change it, question it?
nm
I mean without blank lines in between patient notes
Thanks! Been a long night and drew a blank, LOL.nm
x
It would be just as arbitrary to penalize QA for not being able to fill in the blank. (sm)
The assumption is that all blanks are understandable. They are not.
The national I work for has a no blank policy. sm
Plus you have to have 90% no blanks to QA to get bonuses and to maintain full-time status. This is very hard sometimes with some of the dictators that dictate from across the room, while the ward is going ape, and this all right next to the telemetry monitor and the ringing phone or at home with the yapping dogs in the background.
But I have found our QA to be forgiving and understanding, so I am getting more comfortable. I think they have a high standard so we will step higher, but they understand the reality, which I think is good.
DH says he definitely would not go through what I go through to be sure there are no blanks, but I am hoping that in time it will get easier, and I will get more productive, and I think it is.
Our Meditech counts BLANK lines...
we get a sweet line count off our account that uses Meditech.
Some of my accounts are charged for blank lines..nm
x
Classy my ____--you fill in the blank....
--I saw the clip of Walters announcing Jones' failure to return. That was very practiced and classy, I'll hand her that; but then she's had lots of experience and people to help her craft such an announcement.
--I also saw the King show when Jones talked about what had been going on and why she did what she did. I thought that hat was very classy as well. Her being a lawyer certainly helped her craft her statement.
--Overall, I totally believe Jones' accounting of what happened, when, where, why and who knew what and who knew it when. She was quite clear, her timeline precise.
Her reasons for handling her announcement at the time and in the way that she did also made perfect sense if you listened to her closely and carefully.
I was in her situation once--unfairly "let go" and for totally bogus reasons from a large local San Francisco, CA, foundation.
I was told that I could tell anyone at the foundation anything I liked about my departure.
I was in shock at what had just happened, left my supervisor's office, wandered into the kitchen for something to eat/drink.
A co-worker (high level staff) was there and I spoke to him that I had just been let go. We talked briefly, he offered his sympathy.
After he left the room, my supervisor swooped in, telling me that it was not a good idea to talk about it the way I did...blah, blah, blah....she could only have been in the hallway, listening at the door.
Yeah, Walters, et. al. did do what Jones said they did. And the way Walters handled everything did indeed look "classy"--with time, experience, and help, how could Walters go wrong?
Jones told the truth from start to finish on King's show and the View Crew and network couldn't/wouldn't handle it and did not want to face the fall out; and, they didn't want to lose face.
The further complicating problem was that as a public personality, Jones had additional public outlets to tell the truth.
IF Walters had: Simply kept her mouth shut, just weathered Jones' early initial announcement on air that day, deferred all questions of why Jones' contract had not been renewed to Jones' (citing privacy and confidentiality), responding to all askers with a 'no comment', and referring all explanations to Jones'she wouldn't be in the uncomfortable position she is in now. Walters would not have been so exposed, AND she would not have needed to get to Larry King in advance to cover her ____, to explain anything, and trying to look good, thereby maintaining her "classy" reputation.
Yeah, it was a business decision all right, handled badly and then it came back to bite Walters, et. al. in the butt.
Whether you like Jones or not, she chose to tell the truth and, as such, she had nothing to hide. Brava.
I'm having trouble, too. Put your mouse on the blank screen sm
and click. It may take a couple of times, but it finally pulls in. I imagine they are trying to fix it.
Mine are showing up after viewing the blank
s
How do yoy 'flag' it? Do you mean putting a blank, like that____?..
Is flag, marker and blank all the same?
Curious.. do most put s/l stickys on a blank for the doctor?
.
I leave a blank and finish the report. - (sm)
Sometimes (if I'm lucky), the doctor will say the same word again later in the report, only clearer.
Even if they don't say the word again, often once I've finished the whole report and am proofreading, if I listen to the word a while later, I can then understand it.
The post below that talks about reading the sentence out loud in that accent is also a good idea that sometimes works for me, too.
If the sentence is a fairly common one you might encounter in other similar reports (like in a physical exam, or a hernia operation, etc.), sometimes finding a few samples of those types of reports online can provide an answer, even if it's a different doctor.
If you have the capability to put that report on 'hold', and go on to the next one, that's also helpful, because you might get the same word again in the next report (especially if it's the same doctor), and you might be able to hear it, then. Even if you don't, setting it aside for a while and then going back to re-listen to it is often the most effective way to unravel some of the 'mystery-words'.
I bet you work for Amphion. I had this blank the other night. Never did figure it out. Sorry. n
Line padding is also adding little blank characters
like spaces throughout the report to get paid more. I saw reports at MQ and Sp that had lines of spaces shown on reveal codes between paragraphs where someone either didn't know how to work their expander, was cutting and pasting, or was deliberately padding their lines.
As for typing out abbreviations, I work on an account that doesn't use abbreviations at all. I use otcx for over-the-counter, etc.
How do you put in little blank characters with a macro and not have it show up on report?
I never heard of this type of padding and I'm not sure I'm not doing this by mistake.
When I have sent questions to QA they come back blank. QA couldn't understand either.
What are qualifications for QA people? Anybody know?
I have heard of this two different ways -- Where I work now, we have no blank accounts which mean
that you must leave a QA marker for the QA department and if they can't figure it out, then in most cases they can leave a blank. Where another friend works, her no blank account involves calling other MTs for their input, also as a last resort, can call the hospital and ask for assistance with the chart from the floor.
Unable to read any posts, screen blank. nm
nm
I agree. When hear/research blank, it is SOOO
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