Reference books and Google
Posted By: typing fool on 2007-07-05
In Reply to: And may I add........... - anon
Google is not always accurate either!!!! In my 7 years as an MT, I find it taking way too much time trying to find the correct spelling of referring physicians or primary care physicians online, especially if you have no clue as to which city they practice in, and when they dictate all these physicians names they want a cc to go to. I also would just like to add that maybe QALady should consider taking the word "Lady" off the end of her name. Obviously no one will ever be as "perfect" as you and I feel for the man you're married to, if you're at all married. If you complain about a few MTs, don't refer to all MTs, do your job, provide feedback, and if those same MTs continue to be sloppy, then the supervisor isn't doing his/her job at all. I'm a firm believer of shame on me once, maybe even a second time, but no more than a second time for the same mistakes. I welcome feedback and print every single report I have had a blank on for future reference. Sloppy may describe some, not all.
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FYI I HAVE reference books, but in case you hadn't noticed, thing change a lot faster than BOOKS
I was simply asking for suggestions of other places on line that I might look for the latest info, especially considering that my work is on the internet, what the hell is wrong with trying to be more productive and efficient?!?! Good Grief!!
Reference books
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.
Reference Books
Good reference books (and abbreviations book!) are a must also. I Google a lot, but I really verify with my BOS and my Stedman's reference books. Agree with other posters. Stedman's Medical Speller a definite must have for me.
Reference books
I have many, many books, but use fewer and fewer of them as I find good internet sites - it is much faster for me to look up something on a website than to pull out the books all the time. I would say that I use my Dorlands and my Webster medical word books more than any others, though.
new reference books
I am in need of reference books and looking at Stedmans Medical and SUrgical equipment book. I see the fifth edition is out, that must be the newest edition?
Also looking at Stedmans Ortho word book, fifth edition but dated 2005. Is this too old to consider purchasing? How do you know when a new edition will be coming out?
Thanks
reference books
When I look up a term in a reference book I use a highlighter pen to highlight the term in the book. Like Lucy said, the act of just doing something like writing it down or highlighting the term helps me remember it.
What are the must have reference books?
I'm wondering what the must have reference books would be to start out with. What are your faves?
Best reference books to get
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!!!! :)
Reference books? GOOOOOOGLE. :)
Opinion on reference books.
I am a newly graduated MT and am beginning the job search. So far so good. I got a 98.2 on the first test I did and it was long! That was a real confidence booster, too bad they are not hiring immediately. I am reallizing that I will need to invest in more books.
Which books should I absolutely get the newest versions of and which would it be okay to get slightly older and cheaper used ones?
Query: How many have reference books and how many?
Wondering if I should expand my library.
I seldom use the reference books...
or the software my company has provided us, and I have some nice reference books. I use Google with good results. I personally won't invest another dime in reference materials if I can help it, just not necessary.
How often do you replace your reference books, or (sm)
do you all strictly use medically acceptable internet sites for research now? I've been using the internet a lot, but I'm thinking of getting a new Surgical Word Book. Wondering if it is worth my $50 to do this. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
I, too, remember lack of reference books. I'd tug on sm
the doctors' sleeves to get answers to my questions, or I'd go to the OR and look at product boxes for proper names. I wouldn't trade a minute of it, would you?
use resources means to use reference books or - sm
look up things on-line to research, like google. A lot of times you can figure terms out by putting in a few of the words you can understand. Being able to reference well is key to being a good transcriptionist, especially when you are doing a new specialty. The company you are testing for should have told you how they wanted blands left, some want just _____, some *, or maybe a highlighted line. I would just go with a ___ if I were you. Type it all up, then go back over it with just your speakers on (no headphones) and sometimes that helps you pick up words you did not hear before, also change the speed, slow them down if they talk real fast, or speed up of real slow, you get the idea. Fool around with it. Tests stink, but when you are a total novice they are really rough. Good luck.
Do MTs bother to use their reference books or the internet? SM
I just wonder because I am so sick of correcting reports where the MT has obviously just guessed at what is being dictated or what she heard rather than taking a minute to crack open a freaking book or at the very least Google it.
QA is a resource not a freaking safety net for MTs who can't or won't do the job they were hired for. Part of the job description for medical transcription is to be both productive AND accurate! Nowhere does it say, if you don't know, just guess or if you don't know, just leave a blank -- don't look it up or use the internet -- just leave a blank.
While I'm at it, let me just say to all the MTs out there who have being "doing this for years" and don't think they could ever possibly make a mistake -- YOU ARE WRONG! To the MTs who use "that's how we were told to do it at my last job" as your battle cry -- THAT IS WHY WE HAVE A STANDARDIZED REFERENCE BOOK CALLED THE AAMT BOS!
I don't care how you did it at your last job. I don't care if that is what you thought you heard. I don't care if your spell check didn't catch it. And I don't care how long you've been an MT. You should have known how to spell it, you should own a reference book, you should own a copy of the BOS, and years of experience in no way replaces a good solid education! Finally, you should take the time to educate yourself, look things up you aren't sure of, and just plain care about the content of your work -- not just how much of it you can get done.
 << Getting off my soapbox now.
Reference Books versus software
I am running a poll here. How many prefer to use reference books over software programs and vice versa. Does using one or the other assist in your production? I am just getting back into at-home transcription and am wondering which, and what, to purchase. TIA
I'd send you my hardcopy books, but here's an online reference.
http://www.grammarbook.com/notgrandmasgrammar.asp
The site states that it's only in recent times that the quotation marks come outside the period, essentially because people are too lazy to follow the "proper" rules. I'm no old lady, but I was taught not to be lazy just because the rest of the world refuses to follow the rules.
Reference books/sites for breast cancer (sm)
I just started with a breast cancer surgeon. I am wondering if anyone can recommend some good reference material for this. Thanks.
I prefer software as opposed to looking it up in reference books...
I like the Stedman's word books software that you download on the computer and when you want to look something up you just click a button versus getting the book out and looking for it. I seems much quicker to me.
Can anyone recommend any good acute care reference books
I am thinking of changing from clinic to acute care transcription. Can anyone recommend any good reference books that I should have? TIA
Rarely use any books anymore. I use Google.
nm
Thank you, could not find it in any of my word books or Google
xx
I have never needed another reference book since discovering GOOGLE. No joke.
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 completely agree with the advice below. Without your books, Google.
Just be sure that the entries you find are from a verifiable source; you can also access Dorland's at the Merck website (google Dorland Merck and then add to favs).
I travel frequently and have found MT an easily-adaptable job for this. You'll want to get very used to setting up and taking down your computer quickly, as well as making sure you have the correct cords, etc. Seems like a "duh" thing, but... :)
If you have money and inclination, you might purchase a couple of your most frequently-used Stedman's on CD-ROM and install before you leave on your trip. I have the equipment words, surgery words, and emergency medicine words on CD-ROM that I use without having to have the physical books handy.
Enjoy your trip!
I prefer books. I'm kinda old school. I like to be able to write new terms in my books. I do
have Stedman's Medical Dictationary on CD and I do use it quite a bit, but that's more because the actual print dictionary is so darn heavy to pick up and look a word up! 
Yep, google has it goin on... I really like the google earth...
Have you tried Google earth? You can type in any address, street, city, state, country, etc. and it will zoom in and show the area and then you can hit the + button and zoom right in and see the exact house, building, etc. that you are looking for.
Mainly Google; I google the known words in the phrase (sm)
That's my most frequent tactic if I don't find the word in my word books. I'll play with leaving certain words out and adding them in, in various combinations, to try to get a hit that has a word which sounds like my blank. If I get a hit, I'll Google WITH that word, and see what hits I get, and what their source is (i.e.,checking the sources out for reliability). When I say 5 sites or searches, I mean I don't often try more than 5 different combinations without a serious hit. If I get a hit, then I will spend a little more time checking that out before I give up.
If it's a drug name, I use RxList, or more frequently the Drugs.com website. Since they redid RxList, I haven't found one that has quite as good a wildcard search, but Drugs.com works okay most of the time.
If it's a place name (like when they give names of outlying outreach clinics and etc.) I'll use Mapquest and look up the city my hospital is in, then "pan out" and look at the outlying towns.
Hope that's what you're looking for. I do have bookmarks, but I find that even the ones I think I'll visit again, I waste more time doing that than with an intelligent google search. An example is the time I was looking for "banana bag." The only place I managed to find it with a degree of reliability was on a nurses' message board. I've found quite a bit sometimes on the various specialty message boards out there, but I think the quickest way to locate that is through a search engine rather than bookmarking each individual site and trying to figure out which ones to search for a particular term.
Thank you, Google God. My google icon is
x
In reference to rad pay below...
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.
Thanks for the reference SM
Interesting site! Unfortunately, it states that "today the period always goes within the quotes" so I can't use it as a reference, only as a "the way it used to be."
thanks for the reference nm
x
THIS is the best reference (sm)
Forget all those books -- they're out of date a year before they're published.
This site automatically indexes biomedical acronyms from Medline.
Try it and tell me whether you aren't ready to throw away all your outdated, useless references!
Reference
I'm a rad MT and have been for about 6 years. The ONLY book I have on my desk is Stedman's Radiology Words. I use it all the time.
I have a reference for you...
Check out About.com and go to the Frugal Living site. There are the vinegar pages that detail all the varied uses. One newsletter talked about a family re-occupying and cleaning up after Katrina and how vinegar saved their home and made it habitable again.
HTH.
--Anita
Both! I can't do without some of my reference (sm)
that only come in book form and use those religiously, but if I could only buy one form, definitely CD!! Keep in mind, I don't use Stedman's Medical Dictionary CD much but do like their others. I use Dorlands CD that I got cheap and prefer it over the Stedman's CD. Love, love, love the Quick Look Drug Reference CD.
reference
I like drugs.com. You can look by the first letter of the drug.
I use Way in reference.
nm
this is in reference to below...
extremely interesting reading...
from the link: http://www.medrecinst.com/News/News.php?article=1
While documents (transcribed and otherwise) will continue to be predominant in healthcare for some time to come, there is the beginning of a move away from story telling (sentences, paragraphs, reports), which results in documentation that requires searching for and pulling essential data, toward documenting the data directly, and then when documents are needed, using the data to populate consensus-designed templates. Though not initiated in response to this shift from a “documents then data” to a “data then documents” approach, the collaborative work being done by AHDI, AHIMA, and MTIA with HL7 to standardize the most common clinical documents12 will be especially helpful in facilitating the transformation of recorded data into standard formats for H&Ps, consultations, operative reports, etc
FUTURE REFERENCE
try www.fda.gov in the future, great help for all FDA approved meds
need some reference web pages?
 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
drug reference
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.
The reference I handle THE MOST - sm
is my Medical Phrase Index - I happen to use the 4th edition and I mean I use it often. It really comes in handy for mush-mouthed docs and ESL docs.
Prescribing Reference nm
.
Reference book
We use Radiology Imaging Words & Phrases by Health Professions Institute as one of our references - this is a great book and covers all modalities.
reference material
Hello,
I was wondering what reference materials would be the best to use while working out of my house. I have some, but I am getting a new job and I need more. Thanks so much for your time. Julie
What a great reference!!!!
xx
I would and have out of respect and to use as a reference, but...
I'm sure there are exceptions. I don't know your situation. Put yourself on the side of the MTSO and it sure would be nice to have two weeks to replace you.
NP Address Reference
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.... 
For future reference
eScription increased my time out value and that fixed it.
Question about reference?
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
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