clinic notes to acute care
Posted By: ML on 2007-09-13
In Reply to:
Has anyone gone from doing clinic notes for different specialities to acute care in a hospital? I have been a Transcriptionist for four years and lost most of my work to India. I went back to medical billing for about 5 months and have been offered a position to work at home for a hospital. I never did hospital work. This will exclude lab and X-ray reports. I am a little scared. Any good sites to brush up on for documents or any words of wisdom?
Thanks!!
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And you'll almost never get just Op notes. Probably get mixed acute care - op notes, discharge su
s
When I applied looking for acute care, Jane told me it's 70% clinic and 30% acute. nm
s
If it was a clinic, it might have been urgent care, but it was NOT acute care. sm
Acute care refers to work in an acute care setting, a hospital, doing at least History and Physicals, Discharge Summaries, Consultations, Surgery notes, Emergency Department notes, and much more, including GI procedures, Cardiology procedures, Neurological procedures, Pulmonary Function Studies. It goes on and on and it means and acute care hospital setting, not a clinic.
i currently get a mix of clinic and acute care; sm
i get all different report types (clinic, acute, and various types), different facilities, just a big mix and yep it hurts on production. i have worked for MTSO before that assigned us set report types like i did consults and discharges. i was way much more productive there than i have ever been.
acute care vs. clinic
A walk-in clinic would still be considered clinic work. When applying at a company that classifies experience as acute care and/or clinic work, acute care is the term used to designate hospital dictation.
Acute care clinic
The reason I called it acute care clinic, is to convey that it was not a specialty clinic. Our patients were there for acute care, and it was a clinic.
But you are right, I am knew to the transcription world outside of what my doctor expected. I have read at least 5 text books on MT, but all emphasize asking your employer which format is preferrable.
I was also wondering, on these online tests, do they want verbatim, even if it is incomplete or run on sentences, or am I to make them complete by using "and" etc.
Do you do acute care or clinic?
nm
i went from clinic to acute care..
with no problem. i work for 4 big hospitals and yes, there are a lot of doctors, but they tend to dictate all at the same time so i will get a bunch of dictations from the same doc in a row. also, sometimes it seems like i get all ortho for a day or all ds for a day or all psych for a day. i think it all depends on who you work for. don't be afraid, jump in. that's the only way to start and with all those acute job openings, i don't think anyone is going to tell you that you don't have the experience.
clinic to acute care?
How do you transition from clinic work to acute care work?  I have done about a year of radiology work, which is what I started out doing. I went to in-house family practice for 3 years. Now I do GI and clinic notes. I have also done a pain management clinic. I have been doing transcription for about 6 years now. I can't test for acute care because I do not have the 2 years required. I tried working at a hospital part-time or PRN actually. The drive and gas plus it was a second job for me, killed me and my budget. It was an hour drive one way.
clinic to acute care
I'll be starting with a new MTSO in a couple of weeks and will be doing acute care ONLY. It's been a great many years since I've transcribed acute care; have only done clinic dictation for quite some time. Can you guys give me some pointers to help me ease in to the transition? 
Need to vent acute care/vs clinic
I just have to vent and get some opinions on this. I have started a job at a hospital. I have done clinic notes for about 4years about 3 different specialities. I type normally 175 lines -200 at the most on a good day. Since I started the hospital one week ago, I cannot get past 550-600 in a 7 hour day. They told me until I get my line count up to 1000, I cannot go home to work, which is what I am suppose to be doing. There are so many specialities, operative reports and procedures that I have never done and so many things to learn, I am losing so much of my speed looking stuff up. Does this take a long time learn? Was I crazy to think I could do acute care vs clinic these past 4 years. I am starting to doubt my intelligence here and thinking I am way out of my ballpark taking this on. Has anyone else gone from clinic to acute care? Help!!
I went from clinic to acute care last year...
And then went back to clinic. I hated the acute care maybe because I think I had one of the worst accounts ever! Terrible dictators. It was such a big change. I didn't like it and I went back to clinic. You can do it and you could adjust in time but to be honest I wasn't making nowhere near enough money to bother with it. If the money was right it would be worth it but for not much money it wasn't worth it for me.
Clinic work to acute care
You are on the right track but it's just that no one has given you the break. Most MTs start with clinic notes and then wait for a break into the Big 4 doing acute care. Don't get discouraged. Yes by all means, test away and you might just get lucky. Take any job you can doing acute care even if the pay and hours are bad just to get experience under your belt.
It's not easy making a go of it these days even with tons of experience. Ya gotta be a little clever and have a game plan. Look at it as a challenge and keep at it. Best of luck to you.
Acute care vs. Clinic reports-
Being new to MT full time and coming from a hospital setting (specialty clinics) for most of my career.....How does acute care transcription differ from "speciality"clinics (i.e. ortho, GI, oncology, etc.) when applying for jobs? Acute care is the same as emergency medicine right?
Aside from the differing terms, doesn't the basics of format apply to all H&Ps, clinic notes, etc. when transcribing notes regardless of specialty? Therefore, even if you have mostly specialty 'experience' wouldn't you still be qualified to do acute care? Just wondering....
Acute Care or Clinic????? Which is easier? Where can I make more
I have been transcribing clinic reports for the past 3-1/2 years (not for the same clinic). My company does have some acute care accounts and occasionally asks for someone to switch. I was just curious if anyone had any opinions on which is easier. I mean where can I be faster and a better lph.. clinic or acute care? TIA
Clinic work or acute care question....sm
If you were offered a job by two different companies, the benefits were the same, line rate was the same, everything was the same except one was exclusively acute care and the other was clinic, which would you choose and why? I have two offers and everything is even except for the type of work. I would think clinic work you could get more lines, but then it is not as marketable later if I have to switch companies as staying acute care would be. Any input?
I have 3 jobs, 1 FT doing acute care, and 2 PT doing clinic work. sm
It can be a challenge juggling things, and I really do not have much of a social life, but for now it works. It not only keeps the wolf away from the door but allows me to build up a little nest egg and save for a mega vacation I have planned in November to celebrate turning 50. Having goals definitely helps me get through it all. 
Acute care position with clinic experience???
Can anyone help or advise me? I have 3 years of clinic experience, but I would like to break in to acute care. It seems like I run into the same brick wall that I ran into with no experience. Does anyone have any leads or advice as to acquiring acute care employment with clinic experience only? What do I need to do? Thanks.
I started on Acute care, then went to clinic work, - sm
and then back again. I found clinic work to be more challenging, plus it often included radiology. I think it's more a matter of just getting familiar with each institution's way of doing things, along with new doctors, and getting familiar with a few new terms (which don't we all do every single day, anyway?) than it is one being easier or harder than the other.
Difference in Acute Care vs. Clinic reports
Being new to MT full time and coming from a hospital setting (specialty clinics) for most of my career.....How does acute care transcription differ from "speciality"clinics (i.e. ortho, GI, oncology, etc.) when applying for jobs? Acute care is the same as emergency medicine right?
Aside from the differing terms, doesn't the basics of format apply to all H&Ps, clinic notes, etc. when transcribing notes regardless of specialty? Therefore, even if you have mostly specialty 'experience' wouldn't you still be qualified to do acute care? Just wondering....
difference in Acute Care vs Clinic Reports
I thought so. Thanks!
ER is the epitomy of acute care. How is this bait & switch? Were you hired for op notes only? nm
nm
Is it harder to reach your daily line count on acute care or clinic?
nm
I've never seen mixed acute care & clinic at the same time. That's a production killer for sur
s
clinic is not walk-in or ER notes; it is clinic
could be a small clinic with just famiy practice, internal medicine, maybe physical therapy, or it could be like mine, large, every speciality, cardio, nephro, neuro, ortho, endo, surgery, ENT, podiatry, ophtho, derm...
I think clinic/ ER notes sm
would be a good place to start, either working as an IC/employee for a national or getting your own accounts.
Good luck!
Do you get more LPH with clinic notes or Ops? nm
x
only clinic notes can have
an actual name in a report. hospital reports should never have an actual name but instead just have * the patient *. hipaa rules.
Yes, it is clinic notes...sm
I also have an extensive list of Expanders that I wouldn't doubt was well over 20,000. I've been building it for the last 11 years working at home. I don't even type out the word with (wi).
I appreciate your response and the boost.
Clinic notes
Mostly clinic notes from my experience:
S - subjective
O - objective
A - assessment
P - plan
Clinic notes
I have always done acute care. If you get a good line rate, could you make good money doing cardiology clinic notes. I was not sure since you have letters too.
I do clinic notes...sm
Clinic notes are a lot easier to do. The letters are very easy. If you have good rate of pay then you should make as much money. I do general surgery clinic notes and letters. The only problem I have with clinic notes is you will run out of work. It is according to if it just that one clinic or not you work on. But they can only see so many patients in a day. And if they do surgeries to then they aren't always in the office to see patients all day. So I don't always have enough work. But to remedy that I have another job too. So if I run out on one I work on the other. But if you have plenty of work there is no reason to me you couldn't make good money. My problem is just having enough work.
I do clinic notes also
I love them. They are very easy and I have a lot of normals that I use. I don't have any problems keeping busy with work. The doctor's I work for sometimes see 50 patients a day total. And I don't worry about having no work because I'm an employee and if there's no work I still get paid.
Clinic and acute are very different.
I think acute care is much easier personally, but I've done mostly clinical stuff for 8 years now. I've only done acute care for a few months but I think it is much easier. Of course, my old clinic had every type of doctor known to man lol.
Acute vs. Clinic
I cut my teeth on acute care - real baptism by fire - and by comparison clinic would have been an easier start for me working from home, but I'm glad for the experience. Acute is so much more technical that, if you're willing to do it on production, you should be prepared for the income hit that can come with the learning curve. If you can go in-house to get the experience, I'd suggest that. However, if you want to continue from home, keep knocking - with your years of clinic experience, I'm sure someone will give you an opportunity.
I think clinic notes are boring, you have the same
number of doctors usually and for the most part there isn't a lot of medical terminology and they have lots of normals, which is good because they you can have lots of macros/expanders to help, but I like learning from my dictation. With clinic notes I did know when viruses/illnesses were going around and what the standard treatment was, so I could try some of the same treatments if we got sick without a doctor visit, just after a while they were just boring. I much prefer acute care. I have lots of dictators so I don't get sick of hearing one doctor all day, although occasionally I do get a slew of the same dictator, the terminology is constantly changing, new drugs, new equipment, new procedures, etc.
Some have said clinic, some op notes, some ER, depends on what you
s
Clinic notes questions
I see lots of jobs looking for clinic notes. I have only done acute care. What exactly are clinic notes? Are they office visits by specialty? Also is the pay for clinics typically higher, lower, the same for acute care?
Thanks.
Depends on clinic notes, sm
I really think it depends on the type of clinic notes you transribed. I went from transcribing very detailed and lengthy multispecialtiy outpatient clinic notes for a major teaching hospital to transcribing acute care, mainly op notes, for another hospital, and it seemed to make the transition, although I felt very confident after about 3 months. But if you were transcribing clinic notes for just a regular outpatient clinic or clinics (well child checkups, lots of cold and flu, etc) you may have a longer transition period. It really just depends on whether it's a teaching hospital, the number of dictators, etc? You CAN do it though--it is all a matter of mindset. If it IS a teaching hospital or they have an ophthalmology department, I would definitely recommend getting the Stedman's Ophthalmology book. That made my transition SO much easier, that book, and the Stedman's Equipment Words. Good luck. Just give yourself 3-6 months to get acclimated to the op notes, number of doctors/residents, etc., don't pressure yourself to get it right away, and make copies of each report for every dictator--it will save you in the long run because they usually say the same things. Good Luck!!
I do much better $ wise with clinic notes
I have local office accounts and also work part-time for a national. The repetitive nature of doing the same dictator day in and day out increases my production at least 30-50%; more expanders, more normals, familiar terminology, etc.
Right now I am averaging $25.00+ an hour on my local notes, and less than $12.00 with my national acute care. I do have more taxes and such with my locals as it is 1099 income but I still come out much better on clinic notes.
good luck!
LOVE clinic notes
I do clinic work and I LOVE it. I transcribe for 3 docs. There are 4 girls on the acct. And we ALWAYS have work. When I am bored on Saturdays or Sundays, I sit down and type for a few hours. Rarely is the server empty by Monday morning. I have never been at a loss for work. It is so repetitive and easy. Each doctor has his own way of talking and I have tons of shortcuts for each doc in my autocorrect in Word. So easy, so fast, so fun!
Clinic notes are less detailed normally
than acute care/hospital reports. They are limited to that 1 speciality with only sparse mentioned normally of other medical conditions not pertaining to the clinic visit. However, in acute care, you have to be aware of drugs, generic versus brand, correct dosages, all types of medical conditions, problems, side effects, lab values (a working knowledge of correct and invalid values dictated in case the doctor is in error), and "all" specialities. That is just a few of the things required for acute care transcription.
Many MTSOs looking for acute care MTs will not consider someone who has only been in a "clinic" per se because the MT has only been possibly working in 1 speciality. You need a broad overall knowledge to work in acute care as you never know from 1 report to the other what is going to be thrown at you. In the clinic setting, the MT can be isolated from anything new that has cropped up, especially if in a clinic for a number of years.
try for a company with both clinic/acute
if you can get on a clinic account with a company, down the road you may be able to train for an acute account with that company.
clinic to acute work
I so understand where you are coming from. I did clinic work for 16+ years and could never break into the acute care but just recently someone gave me the chance. I thought I would have a hard time but I have had no problem and made my line count within a week. I am soooo grateful someone finally gave me the chance. Keep trying!
16 years, 1 radiology, 7 clinic, 8 acute
.
10+ years of clinic and acute experience.
Multiple specialties. No training needed. I haven't been able to find a job in six months. The last place I worked lost the account when the clinic outsourced to a different company with VR. So I've been babysitting to put food on the table. They're shutting off my water and heat next week. Walmart won't even hire me.
10+ years of clinic and acute experience.
Multiple specialties. No training needed. I haven't been able to find a job in six months. The last place I worked lost the account when the clinic outsourced to a different company with VR. So I've been babysitting to put food on the table. They're shutting off my water and heat next week. Walmart won't even hire me.
I was getting $3 a page 12 years ago. But $2 might not be bad for VERY short clinic notes.
Whew! I just left clinic notes after 4 years..sm.
and got back into acute care. My momentum is back and I feel like I'm part of the medical process again. I guess I just like acute care better. I can never go back to clinic notes. I can't deal with those 20-second charts. Took me longer to get in the chart than to type it. The company I WAS with had such a screwed up demo screen if you made 1 mistake you got put on probation. Just toooooo much for me.
IMO, that is.
Wow, 600 lines from 30 minutes of clinic/chart notes - sm
The most I would squeeze out of that would be 350 probably. You must have one fast talking doctor. You are also very fast if you can do 600 lines in one hour, or else you have it macroed/expanded to death and there is very little actual typing so that is why you can do so much in such a small amount of time.
Only 7 or 8 cpl for clinic and acute unless they've changed recently. nm
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