Maximize your expander with phrases rather than words.
Posted By: my 2 cents on 2005-09-27
In Reply to: How long to make decent $$$?? - JanieB
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words and phrases
I currently only use the auto correct feature in Word. So my Expanders are mostly 2-3 word phrases and a few longer words like hypertension, hyperlipidemia, gastroesophageal, etc.
Words and phrases advisories
Hello,
Any time you give a word or phrase a dedicated short form (meaning a short form consisting of 2 or more letters) it automatically goes into the Phrases Advisory.
An entry with only one letter for a short form automatically goes into the Words Advisory.
Favorite words/phrases
And then there's the psychiatrist who ends every sentence with "you know." Well, I sure do now.
Some single words, but mostly 2-3 word phrases.
I have a few full sentences, too, but with so many different doctors, I tend to stick to the more commonly used short phrases, and build sentences & paragraphs from those.
Words and Phrases in Instant Text
The reason why you have a Phrase advisory different from the Word advisory in Instant Text is because these two advisories work differently.
The Phrase advisory works more like a traditional expander: you have a short form (abcz or tp) and it expands what you defined for it whether it is a word or a phrase.
The Word advisory works like a wild card search. There are no dedicated short forms. You type the first letter and any letter that is in the word like cardpu or cdpu for cardiopulmonary.
If you want the words to be in the Phrase advisory without having them cluttering your phrase selection you may want to follow sm's suggestion and create a glossary where the short forms are identical to the words themselves. They would then all be in the Phrase section, but as an included glossary these words would show up at the bottom of the phrases of your base glossary assuming it is a standard IT glossary (no words in the Phrase section).
If you need help, please contact tech support at Textware Solutions and we will be happy to guide you.
Marianne
Textware Solutions
Words, phrases, chunks of text ... sm
If a word has 5 letters or more and I use it more than once a month, I make it an expansion. Albeit, only do 1-2 a day this way but I don't have to add to my expansions daily now as I've done this for years and it is built up. Examples: Use fuv for follow up as a verb. Use fun for followup as a noun/adjective. Use a k in front of all drugs so kt is Tylenol, ka is aspirin, kprv is Pravachol.
Phrases -- do all kinds of combinations as you use them. Example: Use tpw for the patient was. Use mgr for murmurs, gallops or rubs.
Chunks of text -- not quite a whole standard but more than just a phrase, e.g., sentences. Example: Use nka for no known allergies but nkah for ALLERGIES: No known allergies.
Abbrevs/Acronyms -- Let your Expander do the all cap work for you and use an x to show expanded versions. Example: Use copd for COPD but use copdx for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
You should be able to skip along with the dictator just using expansions with occasionally typing whole words.
Three word phrases are all that I put in my expander.
dd
Having IT provide phrases, sentences is its best advantage. Two words together.
But one word? By the time it arrives in the layout screen, you have typed all but the last letter.
claudicatio - semicolon
of the - bracket
I miss Word's auto correct boohoo
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
Think I found it: ortho/neuro words & phrases by ..
Health Professions Institute. Found it on a book site. The 1994 edition got a good review. The 2000 edition got a bad one. Anyone?
HPI General Surgery/GI Words and Phrases shows lower case also. nm
NM
All; heavy dependence on single words and phrases/standard sentences of all lengths. SM
Like San Francisco does, they can be used with any account/any dictator, which is extremely important. Just entering mostly whole reports and sections makes one dependent on that account/that employer and back to square one when it's time to take on a new account or even a new dictator.
I also have dozens and dozens of headers, bolded, unbolded, capped, lower case, etc., in various forms of each, like "Indications" "Indication," "Indications for Procedure," "Indications for Surgery," and so on and on and on.
Two words--text expander. Try it.
.
Once you hear something for the 3rd time, into the expander it goes - words,
s
Lots of 'em, but use a Lab Words, Sted's Ortho/Rehab Words, & Tessier's Surgical Words most
s
Or: in the right upper corner you have the minimize, the restore/maximize and the close button. Cl
nm
Line was too long: Click the middle button to restore or maximize...nm
nm
Common phrases. LOTS of common phrases, just like ops. SM
pser = the patient was seen in the emergency room
wwd= the wound was dressed
Just two tiny examples. People need to learn to use their Expander programs. I'd be making like $10 per hour without mine. I also work in a job where I do the work type I do best. That's very important. I would imagine (don't know for sure) that H&Ps and DSs have the most lines (I work on a gross line count) but you have to think more, look up more, and type more to get those lines.
I have everything magicked in there. That's the way I like it, that's the only way I will work.
You'll need a lab words book and maybe the Derm and Immunology Words..nm
s
Stedmans Med $ Surgical Equip words, Path and Lab words, and Tessiers Surgical Word book (3rd
edition). I never buy drug books anymore. Waist of money in my opinion. New drugs come out so often, it's best to use the web.
overused phrases
 LOL has to be one of the most overused phrases today.
I use w for was and wr for were within phrases to differentiate.
x
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.
CATCH PHRASES ARE "AMAZING" - NOT!
It's time to move on from these phrases that I've heard ad nauseum from people who can't think of anything on their own.
"At the end of the day."
" . . . amazing."
" . . . awesome."
Anybody else?
You have to change your way of thinking about phrases in IT. sm
Think first letter of each word instead of full words and your phrases will come up. No memorizing unless you want to put customized shorts in IT. I watch the advisory lines more than my document window so my eyes don't cross. I just wouldn't work without IT because my productivity went way up in a really short time.
(Forgot to say, 'type the phrases
More about phrases as other poster addressed
Since the dictators seem to say the same thing in so many different ways, I have found I often have to add a a bit extra, and it would have been easier if I had thought of that when I first started making Expanders so I would have started right off being very consistent.
For an example CTDW, CSTDW, CDTDW = (respectively) continue to do well, contintues to do well, continued to do well. - It is amazing how many things will overlap or conflict.
Or, they will use a phrase with the word "or" or "and" in it AND without them ...
like, cyanosis, clubbing, edema ... and cyanosis, clubbing, and edema ... Or even worse, they flip the words around to clubbing, cyanosis, and edema.
So many dicators and so many ways of saying the same thing. That is what gets frustrating to me. It's endless.
Are you using just word shortcuts, or phrases? sm
You should be able to type entire sentences with just a few keystrokes.
How does it work with typing common phrases,
But how does that work in relation to typing phrases that are common usage, the patient, return p.r.n., etc.
I grew up in FL, and my black teachers used a lot of these phrases...sm
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this yet because every northerner I know has asked me about this..."I'm fixin'to" as in, "Get your shoes on, we're fixin' to go to church." 2 of my 5 elementary teachers were black, and they both used this phrase all the time, so it was perfectly normal to us. Those teachers weren't any less educated, they were just native southerners raised in segregated communities. My hometown was still segregated well into the '80s.
It's funny, half the phrases people are naming on here I wouldn't have thought were southern-specific, they're that common to me.
You can add phrases to single word glossary in IT (SM)
When you insert the medication and other information, hit tab and then, backspace to the first letter. It will ask you "are you sure? and just hit return and it will accept it.
I have many two and three word phrases in my single word glossary list. There is a web site for IT users which you can Google for; it is easy to find - forum style.
Ever hear the phrases "Don't let yourself be a door mat" and "stand up for yourself?"
:+
I learned this many years ago: I type in phrases ,even when I'm not expanding but SM
I use Expanders VERY extensively. Doesn't ever have to be a canned report. Everybody says "the patient" and everybody says "within normal limits" for two examples that I'm sure you already are using. No telling how many thousands of abbreviations I have.
It helps me a lot to have most of my common English phrases in shortcuts.
I don't often drop short words just because I don't have to type very many of them, LOL.
I cannot tolerate the laziness of those phrases fixin and reckon!
It makes me scream. It just makes the people that say them sound unintelligent and lazy!!! AAARRRRGGGHHH!!!
Phrases appear in alphabetic order by short form.
You can type a few letters and see all phrases in the advisory or you can type a few letters and see a phrase, then a word, then a phrase. It all depends on the alpha order of your short forms so you are not going to get all phrases, then all words.
You can clear the option to sort by short form and use the frequency order instead, but I don't think that's what you want.
Unless a facility name accompanies the phrases you hear/type, you should not capitalize.
xxxx
The Sted's Ortho & Rehab Words is probably my most used book and then the Lab Words book. GL! nm
s
Sounds like a strawberry or raspberry cheesecake brownie. Google the phrases + recipes and lots of
s
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.
Two words -
If she pursues this matter, I'd have a DNA test done immediately to determine whether your son is financially responsible or not. It's worth the investment.
You took the words right out
Well said!
words, etc.
Has anyone heard of a company called words, etc. from California and their rep, etc? Been offered position and just double checking. Thanks!
looking up words
Somebody recently mentioned a site where you can go and put a * in the part of the word that you can't get. Example:
ap*ectomy = appendectomy.
Can you tell me again where this site is? It's sooooooooo helpful!!
Thanks! 
These were not my words. I merely
copied the paragraphs from a previous post, because the original poster was looking for the item about the "golden handcuffs". I don't necessarily agree with it. Just trying to help the original poster find what she/he was looking for.
But they were my words. How many of the
companies mentioned on this board call you within 3 weeks and give you a raise because you are producing high quality work and producing well? (Not a 1/4 cpl, but a 2 cpl raise.) How many tell you about new accounts and give you the opportunity to change if you want? How many have primarily non-ESL accounts with good dictators? How many have a tech support group that does not have an automatic response that everything is your fault and that can be reached almost immediately so you are not sitting waiting, or have a very productive and easy platform to work on? How many times have you gotten a nice letter telling you you are doing a great job? How many actually talk to the owner of the company or something above the level of a team leader? How many get very clear instructions for the accounts? How many provide good samples of the dictators? And yes, I get benefits as well plus bonuses for high production without asking.
The person who referred me for this job told me this is what the company was like, but I was so hesitant because I had worked for too many of the bigger companies and gotten the bait and switch, the cherry picker routine, no raise, horrible accounts, late pay.
Oh, Words...
I am afraid that's one of my problems--thinking I'll wait until the end but then forgotting. I am trying really hard to pay attention to every detail and then just be confident and let it go! 
three words...........
FILE FOR DIVORCE!
2 words...
I have only said these same words for the last
 whiney MTSO owners who want good MTs and only pay 8 cpl. Baloney, salami, rat's patootie, whatever. Deliver the work and the pay, and you'll get your reports and maybe even some help when you really need it the most. PAY MORE SMALL MTSOs, and you'll certainly get more in return! 
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