Where did you learn all these tricks?
Posted By: mtathome on 2007-02-01
In Reply to: Yes you can do huge blocks of text... - IT Fan
I have the program and have really not got into it too much yet, but the manual leaves a lot to be desired. It is very highly recommended so I intend to keep on trying. I bought it about a year and a half ago, and admit I finally gave up and put it on the back burner, but I really want to learn how to use it. I will add, though, that I have had a lot of trouble learning the tricks with Word, since I am on my own and having to teach myself.
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old dog...new tricks...lm
Thanks for the walk down memory lane! I once knew a senior MT who originally worked off of WAX CYLINDERS ("by 1902 the brown wax cylinder was eclipsed by the molded black wax cylinder. A typical recording on a black wax cylinder was about 2 minutes.") At the end of her shift, part of her job was to scrape the cylinders clean for the next day's recording! I started out on noncorrecting IBM Selectrics and reel-to-reel tapes...then correcting Selectrics, but we had to make multiple copies with carbon paper and blue, pink, yellow, goldenrod, and white correction fluids...then the 1-line display Olivetti...then the Wang, Raytheon and Xerox behemoths. Also, I still have my original 1973 Sloane's Medical Word Book  Now I use a highspeed internet home-based LAN with VOIP and a KVM switch...guess the only thing that hasn't evolved is the quality of dictation! Kudos to all of you MTs out there from this 30+ year veteran. We've come a long way baby! 
tricks...
Do you do radiology with a lot of canned reports? I do acute care, have been in this business for 30 years, have 4000 entries in my text expander, and a good day for me is 1300 lines. My fingers never leave the keyboard. I see posts from people like on this board and I wonder what planet you are on.
In the old days when we used DOS, I routinely did 2000 to 2200 lines, but with Windows, I have never been able to get beyond about 1400 lines.
old dog tricks sm
I too am an old dog and got very tired of clients, especially hospitals, sending me their very worst, bottom of the barrel dictators, just because I got every word. They always dumped their pail on me as far as sending me the worst of the worst, the same with a service I worked for. Their excuse was "you're the best and you're the only one who can do them, so that's why we need you." Tired of that old line, but not much you can do other then complain in a nice way that you need a "mix" to keep your sanity. I used to get heartburn and headaches just thinking about how they could be so cruel. We also have a breaking point and a little break in between these guys and girls sure would be appreciated. Know how you feel, it's not fair.
old dog - new tricks
Well it is about time for me to come into the digital world. I have ordered my foot pedal and going to try and get my accounts digital -- plus am picking up an overflow account that I need it for. Anyway one major question and bear with this old, old tape user MT. If they send me a voice file either attached or through an FTP and I download it, can I then also forward it onto one of my subs -- in other words is it like my chart notes files where I have the original and only a copy is sent to my subs or when you attach a picture you still have it on your computer. My reasoning/question is because if I need to check over a dictation after they have completed it, I will have a copy on my computer. Or can they go thorugh the FTP site, download the voice file also? Thanks for all your help. Like I said -- old dog new tricks.
Tricks........
The trick is sit down and type. I use ShortHand as an expander. The hospital account that I type for and make 11 cpl requires 1000 lines a day....I do this in about 4 hours, 5 tops. That is roughly 250 lines an hour and in 4 hours I've made 110.00. Then I work on my other account that pays me 10 cpl for about 2 hours which is another 50-60.00. Then I wrap up my day with an hour or so doing clean-up on the account that pays me 9 cpl. There is no magic to it or tricks. I might mention this is all straight typing as none of my accouts have gone to editing, even though one is going to in the next month or so and at that time for the editing part I will receive 4.5 cpl. The money is out there, you just have to work. No one is going to pay you to sit in your seat and surf the net all day. A friend of mine works on the same hospital account that I do and she types 10-12 hours a day and pulls in almost 5000.00 a month. It can be done!
tricks of the trade
I have seen a LOT of posts on here for people asking how to get their lines. Some are having trouble even hitting lower numbers like 1000-1400. I have been working for a long time on a little book of tips, "Maximizing Line Counts: 30 Tips in 30 Days." I started this at the request of my boss who wanted to give it to all existing employees as well as new hires. I am interested to know if there are any transcriptionists who would like to have something like this.
would love to know the tricks!!
I've been at this for about 6 mos and have finally gotten to a pretty normal 1100-1200 a day linecount... But would love to increase that and the $$!!
Google Tricks
First of all, if you go into advanced search in Google, it gives you tons of "criteria" you can work with.
The asterisk "*" is the wildcard. If you were looking for a medication that was 20 mg, you could put * 20 mg into Google and it would start listing all meds that were 20 mg. If you put: No wheezes, rales, or *, Google would give suggestions on what would fit here.
If you are looking for an either or, the OR (capitalized) searches for both. Like "side effects, aspirin OR tylenol" This entry would bring up both.
If you type in "define: words" (two spaces after define) it will list all dictionaries the word is in. Google also has a calculator, does conversions, all kinds of things, just have to look on the Google site.
Hope this helps answer some questions--
 Rebekah
tricks of the trade...
ok...so create autocorrect forced entries for words that often trip you up; if 'does' vs. 'dose' is a common error, create "doz" for dose and "duz" for does (or something that works for you). one of my common errors is 'doe shave' for 'does have'; so I created autocorrect 'doe shave' to be autoreplaced with 'does have'; i also created autocorrect 'dzhv' and retrain myself to use it. make sense? another proofing trick i use is to change the VIEW of a document during proofing; it's *amazing* how formatting and text errors "pop" when i switch from 'normal' to 'print' or 'outline' view...i catch things i would have missed had i not changed the screenshot. you can also use search&replace for common format/text errors; you just have to develop the habit of SAVE, SPELLCHECK, SAVE, CHANGE VIEW, PROOF, SEARCH/REPLACE, SAVE, COUNT, CREATE AUTOTEXT NORMAL (IF DESIRED), SAVE, EXIT, ADD COMMENTS, SIGNOFF...i think you'll see your QA improve =)
My tricks - sorry long post
 I'm not an expert but this has worked for me.
Since I am the primary breadwinner of the household, I made the whole family a part of the budget process. We have two kids left at home (2 grown and gone) and I still manage to pay them their allowance (10.00 per week each).
How about we start there. I have a Chore Chart on a dry erase board on the fridge (so they see it every single time they hit the fridge) with the name of the chore written in permanent marker so they can't erase it, then put the initial of the one responsible for that chore that day. If, at the end of the day, those chores are NOT done? They get a black X in the box next to the chore. Only their initials are written in dry erase so I can change that around from time to time.
If they miss doing their chores 2 days out of the week, they get NO allowance. If they argue or procrastinate, that gets 1 check. If they get 2 checks by the chore, then that is the same as not doing the chore and they don't get the credit for it. Even if they eventually get it done, they still don't get credit that day because they procrastinated OR argued about it. Pay day is Friday.
Time is money people and I don't have the time to clean as I should, they are old enough, and they want money too. I don't give money for movies, candy, or trips to the dollar store. They now have their own and are learning to budget.
Sometimes I give them bonuses too for doing an inventory of the freezer, pantry, organizing the cupboards, etc... Helps us keep track of the things we have for the next step.
MENUS ~ If you get Woman's Day Magazine or First, or anything like them that have the monthly menu calendars in them? PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THEM. They can save you BIG $$ on your food bills.
My kids are horribly picky eaters and meal planning has saved me a lot of money. I now have them sit down with me, look over these meal planning calendars and see if it is something they would like. If they put it on OUR calendar, they initial it, and we make our grocery list. If the time comes for a particular meal and they turn their nose up at it, I send them to the calendar to see if they initialed that day. If they did.... Eat it! PERIOD. (by the way, I never put anything on the calendar that they don't agree with so, after a few months of doing this, there is never any more turning the nose up at dinner time - HA fixed their wagon!)
We also do a mass cook and freeze fest now and then. The kids get into it too. Very easy for them. THey are 12 and 13 so I have the meal calendar taped to the inside door of the pantry. When I'm working, they can go look and see what's on the calendar for that day, pull it out of the freezer, and put it in the oven. I have written the temp and time for each one next to the item on the calendar. Works out fine.
Power bills... Yikes - LIGHTS OUT. When I go to bed, every light in the house is OFF except the porch light, the little light above the stove, and the nightlight in the hall across from the kids rooms.
GAS- Holy Smokes. Up to 2.79/gal here now. No extra drives to here and there for anything. If you just want a cold pop to drink cuz it's hot? Make iced tea instead. Not worth that kinda money for a wasted trip to the mini mart. Just plan better the next time. The kids want to go to the pool or their friend's house... pump up the bike tire kids and grab the walkies. I make my kids take walkie talkies (Cobra brand 5-mile radius at WalMart for 80.00 and WELL worth it.)
One last little tidbit.... SAVE your receipts for EVERYTHING for at least 2 months then compare them after the end of that 2 months when you have learned to tighten up the wallet a bit and see the difference for yourself. Makes it really worth your while.
I have cut enough fat out of excess spending in the past year to put away 400.00 or more every month into a savings account that I can use for emergencies, vacations, whatever.
By the way... Would be a good idea to have a forum JUST for Budgeting and Money Saving ideas here wouldn't it. Administrators???? How about it?
I can share some Shorthand tricks if you like!
Gladly
Re: tricks of the trade from longtime mt
Awhile back longtime MT offered to share tips to anyone who e-mailed him/her. Has anyone heard from him/her on this as I have not. I've tried a couple times to contact him/her but have not received an answer or the tips, so I was curious if I was the only one who had not. I really was interested.
it sounds like your doc is sharp and on to some of the tricks -
My hat is off to you for taking such quick action. You are obviously a very concerned parent. She will thank you for it one day, I am sure of it! Best wishes to you. :-)
Tips/tricks for getting FASTER
Hi all.... wondering if anyone would like to share some "trade secrets" for have better line counts, etc. I have been a Transcriptionist for 12 years now and know there are ways of being more efficient and being quicker at this that hopefully I could take advantage of. Thanks! 
Has anyone ever heard from Longtime MT about the tips and tricks.
I haven't heard anything. Again I'm wondering if this person was just fishing for responses to see how many she'd get as she's never conacted me from the start nor have I seen any tips and tricks for boosting production. Has anyone else?
Potty Training tricks that worked for me....
I did this will all of my children. I would go to Wal-Mart or the Dollar Store and buy a lot of little cheap toys and trinkets and put them in a pillowcase. Everytime he or she went to the bathroom they could reach in and pick out a prize. They went every time and after less than a week were potty-trained and when the bag was empty that was it. This last year when I trained another one the lady at the check out asked my why I had so many toys and I told her what I was doing and she said "that is an expensive way to do it", but really $15 for a bunch of toys is the same price as a week of diapers and after that week I don't need the diapers anymore. Anyhow, I know it is bribing, but it works and you can't beat that!
FINALLY got it - Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks! THANKS!!
What tricks do I have to perform to get a transcription job at home?
I have applied for so many at home jobs and have done endless testing (some very lengthy) and have not yet received any feedback from any of these companies and then they have more ads out for transcriptionists. I have 30 years' experience and have taught med term and medical transcription at the local college for 20+ years. What gives?
Any tricks on making work more pleasant??
Hey guys:
Does anyone have any ideas or tricks to make work more pleasant?? Been doing this a long (too long) time, and the isolation is getting to me. Any ideas?
Thanks all.
I agree! A "Tips & Tricks" would also be helpful...N.M.
x
Anyone willing to share Emdat Inscribe tips/tricks?
I recently started working on the Emdate Inscribe platform. It is a little more cumbersome to maneuver than what I am used to, and I was wondering if any of you seasoned Emdat MTs might share any tips or tricks you've found to speed yourself up using this system? I've had a couple "glitches" with the function to look up/paste doctor names, for example, and not being able to close out the "prior transcriptions" box because there's no X! Not too much help from the MT company so thought I'd try here - any tips will be greatly appreciated, or if you know of any websites or other resources. You can respond here or to my email and thank you in advance!
check out Productivity Talk. Lots of tricks in their SH forum.
x
MS Word 2007 -- I have to switch over to this. Any hints, tips & tricks would be great. Thanks!
I've heard some people are not very happy with it. Any suggestions on how to get started, and any good tips would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help and expertise!
learn something new every day - thanks
See - learn something new every day. Thanks. I just knew about some laws passed locally last year on a city/county basis.
Did you learn
on the job, or were you taught by a friend, or self-taught?
Most of those tests nowadays are geared toward grads of official MT programs.
Learn something new every day don't
you. A consult is similar in format to an H&P, but 2 different things - for example, an elderly patient with diabetes breaks a hip and needs surgery. Most likely they are admitted to ortho, but need an endocrine of internal medicine consult to determine if diabetes is stable enough for surgery and no other medical problems that might be a contraindication to surgery, or need treatment prior to surgery.
You will never learn to do them...
unless you tackle them head on. You do what you can with the report, and you do what you can with the next report. You cannot avoid difficult dictations. If you don't learn to do them, you will never make any money and will probably get into trouble for abandoning too many reports.
Why would anyone want to learn it???
nm
Learn something new every day...sm
Outlook and outlook express are two different things I guess. I never knew this, but that's what I am being told. Outlook has a calendar option but outlook express does not. Very interesting indeed. Let me know if you all hear anything different from this.
Thanks for all your help. I have decided to try the yahoo calendar for free and see how that works. So far, it's perfect! Thanks for the info everyone!
thats it! You have to learn the sm
hard way to understand. For my own personal experience, I have gone through a horrible illness and I know more than ever the importance of medical records that are perfect. I have seen some really bad stuff out there in medical records, my own included that not only is a disgrace but downright dangerous! I have always done my job with the idea that there is a patient behind all of this and they deserve the best we can give them. With all the ruckus about the state of our health care system these days, why would any MT not understand that this is not about us and lines typed and cpl etc. ITS ABOUT THE PATIENTS!!!!!!!!! you are right, the money comes later. Its a career long learning experience, one that I hope never ends on the learning part. Sounds to me like you have also been through enough life to understand all of this. The younger ones won't get it until they have been at this for many years. The only problem is, with some of the attitudes of "I won't do this and I won't do that" they won't be in the business years from now!
Learn from history
and think very carefully about this person and his sob story. Boo hoo!
His child is cruel toward animals, chances are this child is being mistreated in some way by someone. This is a red flag that something in not right in this child's life regarding the adults. Children are NOT naturally violent--it is learned behavior.
Be friendly, but takes things very, very slow and think of the safety of yourself, your children, and your pet (s). Better safe than sorry.
newbie trying to learn
I have recently finished an online medical transcription course. I have been reading the posting on this website and I'm very intrigued by some of the information. Not to sound stupid, but what are word expanders, auto correct, and shorthand? I have macros on my computer, but I never used them. I am trying to find my first medical transcription job, but it is very difficult as a newbie. I would love to be a productive, accurate medical transcriptionist, but it seems that no one wants to give the newbies a chance. Any thoughts of how to get started? thanks!
It is your job to learn the ESLs and if you can't/won't then you need to
find a new job because you are in the wrong one.
However, once you learn it, it's great!
I averaged $21-23 an hour doing radiology, about $15-17 doing acute care. If I were to go back into transcription, it would be doing radiology.
Thanks, i'd be interested to learn more
welcome; love IT and sure you will too when you learn it. nm
;
It depends on what you need to learn. Sm
Right now I have a gal starting Sep. 1 who has absolutely no med. training whatsoever so we are starting from scratch. She is paying for textbooks, cd's, materials, etc. I am having her pay as she goes along. I am not making any profit on any materials, but when she gets to the transcription part, I will have to start charging minimally for my time. Not sure yet how to go about that.
The second gal has some formal training and needs dictation practice and I am actually in the process of working with a company getting copies of microcasette tapes with approximately 800 minutes of dictation on them and will give those to my students.
I have a few accts. myself so when my students show that they are ready to tackle digital dictation, I may consider "hiring" them in the future. Right now, our goal is to get them trained and ready with my help, and to be able to pass a co. test.
I don't know where that box is to place my email address is and I don't want to post it in this spot. I will try to get my email available for anyone seriously considering getting into the field and being trained with an experienced MT who is willing to mentor them along the way to meeting their career goals.
It was very frustrating to learn but
after 3 months, I have grown to like it.... well maybe I have grown not to dislike it so much. I would still rather work in MS Word. It is NOT the best platform out there to be certain. The spell check is awful and I copy everything into a Word document to double check. You cannot copy back into Emdat though. If there are any changes to make you must type them. For some reason if you copy from Word, although it looks okay to you, on the physician's end it is wrong.
It is nice not to have to worry about the line count. It is VERY nice not to have to save each patient separately. It is nice to have the patients name available (although that is not always the case). Overall, I give it a C.
Hope this helped.
I had to learn the same program sm
Whether it is worth it - is only a question you can answer.
Personally, the platform is so easy; however, I do not get the high line counts I am used to even with their expander. I am so used to working in a Word-based platform with over 5000 auto-correct entries. For me, the transition was not worth it. I could only average 240 lines per hour compared to my usual 350 - 400 lph.
You have to realize, every one is different with different needs and wants.
The packet of policies you mention really is no big deal. Just print them out and read them over and within a week you won't even look at them again. Starting any job is overwhelming at first, but then it becomes routine.
I would suggest you give it a shot. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
As for the ESL account, I have no idea which one that would be - mine is a good mix of all.
Thank you! Learn something new everyday!
.
I like it. Once you learn it, it is easy.
x
Is this so you dont have to LEARN which is which?
If so, no, theres no way.
If you need a shortcut, just put the nongenerics in your Expander as capped. Put your others in like ddiphenhydramine and it will catch on spellcheck and you will know it is generic.
Yes. Use MT while you learn something else. It's never too late. nm
x
Was very difficult to learn and there are
still some things I cannot get the hang of. But, it is the only Expander I am permitted to use so had to bite the bullet after resisting for a few months. Takes about three months go use it effectively. Try using it for a few hours every day. When you get frustrated, close it and type everything out. On short-fuse days, skip it altogether. Over a few months, with this method, you will begin to develop speed and each new problem will be solved one by one so your line count will not get suffer greatly. Using IT requires doing a massive amount of reading initially. But, I have to say, I love it now (and am still learning how to use it six months into using it).
That rate is better than most. You do learn
the ESLs. You just have to "train" your ears. I remember my first day on my current account. I had all ESLs and I had so many blanks and was so stressed, but now I would rather do these ESLs than some of my American docs. I still have times when I will have a blank with these docs but it is rare. When you get corrections back print them and keep a file for future reference and if you can relisten to the report once you get corrections and see if you can hear what they are saying this time.
Took me about a week to learn it. I sm
forced myself to do it the IT way (using their marker keys), and started out using it 1 hour a day. I purchased mine at fitaly.com for full price. I have seen it used on ebay & here on the equipment board.
because in med school they learn to be even
cockier and they also learn how to dictate even faster. They also learn to pretend that everyone's physical exam is exactly the same no matter what their problem really is and, by the way, the Transcriptionist should know what that physical exam entails from the very first report. So, they all decided to save their money and just be a P.A. instead of an M.D.
yep, for some it's a big deal so learn it *LOL*
The patient will be seen for followup in a week.
Followup one week.
The patient came in for follow up of her acne. (I believe this can be hyphenated to follow-up.)
The patient will be seen for followup care in a month. (This, too, some MTs hyphenate to follow-up but I do not.)
The BOS has this very issue - Book of Style by the AAMT 2nd edition - discussed in it.
Is it easy to learn?
Thanks
It will help you learn MD names and
I think help you get a realistic idea of your nursing career. I don't have kids though. I hope you have a good support system.
Good luck to you.
LIve and learn...
her name? Isn't that a little unprofessional and childish on your part. Too bad you got a bad deal, but you chose her. Maybe she's making more money doing something else or had a family emergency. Did you have her sign a contract because if you didn't then you really have no leg to stand on. I just personally think it is poor taste on your part to try to smear her name. I wish you would produce your full name so that I don't work for you in case I want to quit - you won't smear my name. Grow up and quit  ! Just find someone else!
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