More about phrases as other poster addressed
Posted By: Cara on 2009-04-03
In Reply to: How about developing your own system? - Happy MT Robin
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.
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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.
was the post addressed to YOU?....sm
Have you got a life, yourself, by the way? 
Another topic that might be addressed
in this context would be the potential for identity theft. I am sure that if I, without a larcenous bone in my body, could think of the following scenario, others could too.
Suppose an unscrupulous overseas MTSO "contracted" with an ID theft ring in the US to supply names and SS numbers harvested from medical records.
This MIGHT have already happened to me; there's no way to know for certain. But last August, I went to the local GI clinic for "that procedure" that they recommend for everyone over 50. I used my credit card for my copayment, of course.
I happen to know from my local MT contacts that this practice offshored its work to India a few years ago.
Not too long after my procedure, I received several dubious "male enhancement vitamin" products in the mail. Huh? And then my credit card was charged for the products. Since I didn't order them, the credit card company reversed the charges. The identity thief was too stupid to actually change the mailing address, in addition to thinking that the "vitamins" would perform as advertised. (Anybody want 'em? I still have them. I wasn't going to pay to ship them back, no way.)
The timing of this COULD be sheer coincidence... but it's just a little suspicious to me. My credit card number was stolen from SOMEWHERE.
This town is small enough that if my local congress-critter (and his wife) have had "that procedure," they probably had it done at the same practice where I did.... I do believe I shall write him a letter; but I will have to compose it in words of one syllable or less, because he is really, really stupid.
One from MQ, and in it a letter addressed from the lawyers
I am just afraid the rug is going to be yanked completely from under us, and I have no plan B. The changing of management, no raises, and losing accounts is nothing new, but my biggest fear is being sold and being at the mercy of a lower pay plan, worse rules, etc., i'm comfy where I am.
Yup, I addressed this with the company I work for,
and they said they would crack down on it. But did they?
And mom isn't doing such a hot job of picking husbands, either. THAT should be addressed. nm
x
I also noticed that they *finally* addressed....sm
the issue of generic versus brand name drugs and state that generics should not be capped. One thing that drove me nuts, but nothing to back me up.
It means I saw an email stating this, but it was not addressed to me.
nm
I justed attended a meeting and this was addressed
There are now computers that will be performing surgery. The medical field is changing in ways that are not good, according to the speaker, in that the younger physicians coming into the field are not comparable to physicians of yesterday, generally speaking. He thought it was a good direction, this computerized physician. He also did state that insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies have much to say about what goes on in the medical field (they have power/money).
Need to hook up a USB pedal to RealPlayer. I'm sure this has been addressed before. sm
I have a test wave file I need to play. It runs fine from my desktop, but I can't get the pedal to work. I have an Infinity In-USB-1 I just plugged into the hard drive, but it will not play the file. Will this work wtih RealPlayer? TIA.
Were STAT reports addressed in contract? sm
I had a doctor that did this same exact thing. He would procrastinate on doing reports, or just overbook himself so he never had time to dictate, and then when someone called wanting a report, he'd call me to see if I could do it ASAP. Of course, he didn't want to pay extra for this service, though. He would also call me night or day and expect me to drop whatever I was doing for other (better-paying) clients and do his "urgent" report. I go by the old saying that poor planning on his part does not make it an emergency on my part. I will do it for them IF I have the time and IF they pay a higher rate. Otherwise, I will not cater to this behavior because the poster above is right - they will continue to do it as long as you oblige. You have to be the one to set the boundaries. Get voice mail and caller ID if you don't already have and screen your calls. I found that sometimes just waiting a few hours before calling them back allowed them to calm down and realize it's not the end of the world, and they'd then say it was okay to get in by the next day or whatever. Sometimes it's not so much that it's a stat report in terms of the patient's need but that they need it to get paid, in which case they'll sometimes back down if you quote a higher rate or tell them you simply cannot fit it in right then. Same doc would pile me up with a week's worth of dictation and expect it all back in 12 hours, too, so it was an overall mentality with him that he wanted everything done NOW. It wasn't even humanly possible most of the time but try getting them to see that. You should have no social life, after all, and live to work! LOL
Good luck with that. I got rid of the client that did it to me. He felt I should be at his beck and call but argued the rate at every turn, and it wasn't that much to begin with so it wasn't worth the aggravation! Seems like the most demanding ones are usually the biggest cheapskates, too.
neither slow, nor stupid, but I think there are lots of variables that need to be addressed..
such as all the crap some companies want you to put into headers, cc's, etc., and make sure you know every word in the client's profile and check every day to see if anything changed - (of course, they don't PAY for time spent researching client profiles) - it's like "who's on first?"
Good things take time. (this is addressed to OP, BTW) My first 15 years or sm
so of MT was without the benefit of using an expander. When Expanders became the norm, I was reluctant to try, thinking that it would be more cumbersome than by not using it at all. Was I surprised and pleased I had ventured into the Expander world.
Since you're at home you can add entries on your free time, even if you do 5 or 10 at a time, when there is no pressure on you. Start out with expanders for "the patient," "-year-old," the names of your doctors, anything that is repetitious. You will be surprised how much time this will save you. My initial expander, PRD, actually calculated saved Keystrokes and productivity. Back then I was saving 30%!
The expander is especially helpful for those crazy terms that are hyphenated or have camel caps, those that I always had to look up to check myself. Create your brief form by just using straight lowercase, for instance, duoneb for Duo-Neb (or d-n).
Speed will come, don't worry. Good luck to you!
(Posted in the wrong place--I always do that!) This is in response to OP.
I think presenting a letter addressed to him and/or the office manager to submit to him is very
appropriate. That is exactly how I presented it as I was having a hard time thinking how to say and what to say. It was much easier to "plead my case" on paper. Go for it.
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
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.
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
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.
Three word phrases are all that I put in my expander.
dd
Are you using just word shortcuts, or phrases? sm
You should be able to type entire sentences with just a few keystrokes.
Maximize your expander with phrases rather than words.
Check out every productivity board that you can for more tips and tricks. Even after 8 years I've increased my speed with productivity tips.
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.
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.
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.
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
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!!!
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?
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.
Good one. An anonymous poster blows another anonymous poster's head off. Great win for MQ?
 I guess that is a small pleasure for those of you who have lowered your expectations for the company you work for. 
Bet you're married to a fat bald guy too.
Unless a facility name accompanies the phrases you hear/type, you should not capitalize.
xxxx
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.
Sounds like a strawberry or raspberry cheesecake brownie. Google the phrases + recipes and lots of
s
THANK YOU to the above poster - sm
God, I thought I was the only one that could understand the simple fact that we have access to SSN numbers, insurance numbers (which a lot of times are SSN) and we are given computers and equipment that we could turn around and resell.
Apparently only one Transcriptionist in the whole US has been in trouble for identity theft. The rest of us must be honest folks. And yes, I am being sarcastic.
Thanks. I was about to tell the poster the same!
Poster must be new to this board. For us "old timers" we remember the Terry S posts from awhile ago and how that took up most of the board.
This board is NOT just for MT, but a place for MTs to visit and ask, talk, vent, discuss, buy, sell, ask for help, look for new jobs, send a funny joke, etc.
It's a great board.
If you don't like it, then go elsewhere. There are plenty of MT chat boards out there, but this, by far is the best. 
Only MY OPINION, so I don't need losers telling me I'm stupid. Thank you very much!
I do believe that poster. They may not
but they were in my area as well. I don't live in Illinois, though.
That's not good money. :(
LOL!! to you and other poster (sm)
The young 'uns are 18, 21, and 25 hahaha!!!
Can I still send them over?
It's just I normally don't work until after 10 p.m. or so, so they are not used to "indoor behavior" until then.
The 25yo is building a computer so he was updating me on every little thing.
The 21yo is his girlfriend (the one talking in the hall).
And the 18yo in my college daughter who just got her first B in English (all A's until now) and she had to give me all the details...
You know they do grow up, but they're still young 'uns I guess.
I just needed to eek out a few more lines before I turned into a pumpkin, so I was slightly stressed. Getting piece of crap dictators didn't help.
But thank you both!! You made my night :)
what you think that poster said
and what that poster said is different. The poster DID say the MTSO should pay the MT the extra cpl the MTSO was getting from the client.
above poster said it all (sm)
I think you will like it there. It's about as close to an "old time" transcription company as you'll get.
poster, eh? NOT..................
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