Reference Book Questions

I am a new MT, I am in the process of purchasing MT reference books. I have heard that Greggs and Stedmans are good reference books. I wanted to find out the books that are used the most, please let me know which books that you use so I can make a good decision on how I spend this money on books.

Thank you in advance

Angie

angifogg@aol.com

• Reference Book Questions - Angie
  • Here's my list of ref books (my 'bibles'!) - it'shurricaneseason
  • Stedman's rock! - SM
  • I prefer QuickLook for a drug book or - me
  • books - sm

The messages you are viewing are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select the boards given in left menu

I don't do radiology, but for oncology I highly recommend Stedman's Oncology Words. 

Does anybody have one for sale or know where I can get one for a reasonable price? I've just started doing occasional notes for Prosthetics and I'm not having much luck finding reference materials.  I've checked Barnes and Noble and ebay and have Googled like crazy, but I really don't have $150.00 to spend on a good reference book, especially as I only do this account occasionally.

Thank you!

you are just going to be doing plastic surgery you might could get by with that and a drug book.  I use an electronic version of Quick Look and I like that, not sure how different the book might be, but either Quick Look or Drake & Drake are good drug books. 

The drug books are updated every year, though I only get a new one about every other year.  I believe the plastic surgery book has been updated within the past year, so should be a good resource.  You can check the classified board here and e-bay and you might be able to find books cheaper, just be sure you are getting the most current edition.  You can go to Stedman's website to verify current edition if needed. 

And I am a nut about getting things right.  And I had many many books.  Don't need them.  I got a Quick Book Drug Book and loaded it on my computer......and add to it when I need to add a new drug which is just about every day.  And I got a Steadman's Dictionary........same thing.  I add to it when I need to.  They are the foundation of a notebook to add words to.

I just recently went back to work in the office at a local hospital. We type in both Meditech and Cerner, depending on what you are typing, i.e. Medical Records reports versus Radiology.  We are currently typing blindly in Meditech, meaning we do not have access to our line counts and must depend on management to give us our totals.  In Cerner, we are able to run a line count report and print out a hard copy of our line counts at the end of the day.

We are finding that 800 lines in Cerner equals about 500 lines in Meditech.  We are not paid per line nor do we have an incentive plan, but we have a new HIM Director who would like to institute an incentive plan and the administrator over our department has laid down the law and decreed that all transcriptionists not making minimum in the department will be written up.  Problem is according to Meditech line totals that we have been given, that would be about half the department.

The transcription supervisor has taken our concerns to the new director who told the MT Supervisor to hold off on writing people and has taken home all the line counts from the last month and she is going over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I am not a very trusting soul by nature, so I am doing a little research on my own.  I've been in this business for about 15 years.  I started out in a hospital and have worked for a few services at home and am now back in the hospital setting.  So I know a few things about line count and I consider myself to be pretty well informed on trends and technology in the industry.   I would like to walk into our next department meeting armed with as much knowledge as possible.  So I have come up with some questions that I would like some fellow MTs to answer, give opinions, and maybe even direct me to websites or individuals who could give me a better understanding of Meditech and Cerner.  Here are my questions:

1. Is it possible for an MT to have access to her line count in Meditech or is strictly a management function?  Any MTs that work in Meditech on this board, do you currently have access to your line counts and if so, how do you check them?  Is it an option on the main menu after you log into Meditech?


2. How is a line defined in Meditech?  (i.e. 65 cpl, with spaces, without spaces)


3. How is a line defined in Cerner?


4. What abbreviation Expanders work with both Meditech and Cerner?


5. Examples of incentive plans (if anyone would like to share that with me that would be great, if not I completely understand).


6. Measuring productivity by minutes of dictation versus typed lines.




1. What would be the minimum minutes required for an 8-hour day?


2. How would one structure an incentive program based on minutes?

I was thinking of presenting the idea that we keep track of productivity using minutes instead of lines since there is such a discrepancy in Meditech.  I also worry that if an incentive plan is put into place and we are still typing blind into Meditech, what's to keep management from shaving off a few lines here and there?

Feel free to email me or post here any responses.  Either is fine.  I really appreciate any input, comments, or just plain old supportive posts would be nice too! 

Does anyone use both.  I'm definitely getting the CD/ROM and am debating about buying both.  I don't see any reason to have both but there could be something I don't know. 

I noticed CD/ROMs are on backorder but they're selling downloadable versions.  I can handle that.

I do both basic 4 and radiology for a small hospital and get paid by the minute of dictation for all. Radiology is a third to half of the dictation I do a day.  I am thinking about going to just radiology.  Many of you have stated a per page or per report rate, but what is the average per line rate for radiology.  Is it different from the basic four dictation rate? 

There are only two radiologists at this hospital, both fairly easy to do except one is slow and one is fast, so fast, if I got paid per report, I would make four times what I make now per minute of dictation.  The slow one is going to retire soon and I will be stuck with the fast one and a new doctor which I probably will not have a problem with unless he is fast too and I would be making less money. 

Hi all,

If you would like some web pages to add to your "favorites," feel free to visit my website at:

http://www.geocities.com/greatest1mt/mypersonalpage.html

Paula

I always use Drugs@FDA.  I have it in my favorites:  http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/

You can look up drug names by using as few as three letters.  I find it's quick and efficient, and it's free, and because it's the FDA it's the latest info on drugs.

I use my pharmaceutical word book most often, then Stedman GI/GU & Stedman Equipment.  I have a used 2004 Pharmaceutical word book (Drake & Drake) if you would like it.

http://www.healthcarehiring.com/cgi-bin/providers.cgi?state=TX

The link is for the State of Texas, but you can change to any state at the bottom.  This includes all docs and NPs, including chiropractors.  Hope this helps!  Have a great day....  

eScription increased my time out value and that fixed it.

Hello all!

I am interested in getting Stedman's but am unfamiliar with the various types so I am looking to you experienced folks for help! What is best, computer-based CD or an actual printed reference book?

Also, are there different Stedman's references available for either acute or clinic? I will be doing clinic work and, as you can tell, am new to the work-from-home scene.

Any advise or help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance, and sorry to be so CLUELESS!

liz

Another terrific site to look up drugs is "drugs.com"  Hardly ever have anything I can't find any more due to their wonderful search engine

I am going to buy some reference books to have.  Can you all help me in getting the ones I need.  I will doing a variety of reports...cardiology, radiology, emergency departments ect....

I appreciate it!!!!  :)

Hi all,

Stumbled on this site on Google search. Lots of useful word lists in there, including some really handy op samples. Check it out.