Dictation volume
Posted By: Stefanie on 2005-10-11
In Reply to:
Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone else was having problems with the level of dictation available to transcribe. I work for Eagle's Landing and I'm finding that the dictation is very sporadic. When I first started it wasn't that way but ever since Hurricane Katrina the dictation has been low. Right after Hurricane Katrina there would be days with no dictation because the docs were gone to New Orleans to help out. Now the doctors are back but there is still the same problem. I am actually going to be set up on a second account so that should help me but I'm not sure when they are going to do that for me. I've heard that we are getting several new clients soon so maybe that will help. What I've started doing basically is actually keeping up with the amount of work per hour (low, medium, high volume, comp issues, etc)on an excel spreadsheet for each day of the week, I'm going to continue doing that for each week of the month, so eventually I will have several months I can look over and see if this is a chronic problem or an acute problem. I'm really hoping that this is just a temporary slow period of time. I think my frustration has also been compounded by the fact that I've had computer problems myself, the system at Eagle's Landing goes down sometimes for maintanence, and just being a new MT.
I really do plan to stick it out but I don't believe that the service would be honest with me if this is a problem that is going to be ongoing so I feel I need to keep my own records. Right now I'm living at home with my mom but eventually, in a year or so, I want to be able to move out and support myself so I need to see if this job has some stability. I understand there will be less stability than other jobs because that is how this industry is but I need enough stability to know that I can support myself atleast. As I said before in one of my earlier posts, I only started 3 months ago,(back in July) so I definitely know that the early frustrations just take time and experience to work through so I do plan on sticking it out. I guess my concern with lack of dictation is that it is something I cannot control, my speed is something I can control, I can work really hard and get better at that, but this is something I cannot. The problems with the sporadic dictation I would say have been going on since the middle of August, it does not seem like very long but it seems like forever when I'm trying to build up my speed and when I'm new at this. Anyway, I would appreciate some feedback on this from new MTs and more experienced MTs. Oh, also another thing I've noticed just from reading this message board and others is that a lot of MTs keep up with their line counts on a spread sheet. What I tend to do is watch my production based on the number of minutes I type. Should I be looking more at line count than minutes and also keeping track of that more closely? I have noticed that I do not follow my life count as diligently as others. And finally I want to thank everyone for the input I've already gotten from this board, it has been very helpful to me, and I have definitely taken the advice to heart and used it.
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flat hourly wage, hourly + volume, and stricly volume based pay ?
I have heard there are companies that pay flat hourly, some that pay hourly plus volume pay, and then strictly per production. Anyone have any experience with these different pay structures? Know which companies do which (and will take new grads)?
Thanks : )
When I asked them questions about volume,
they told me to forget it. Seriously, if I remember correctly the exact words were "don't quit your current job." I find it very rude that they would act this way all for asking about the workload (this was just before interviewing with them). They were offering 3 cpl and I asked them if the workload was enough to compensate.
Do you work nights and produce very high volume for your 12 cpl? Are these your own accounts?
s
transcriptiongear.com has phones with a volume control on the cord. Love 'em! Really helps. nm
s
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Approximately how many hours of transcription would it take if you have one hour of dictation and can type about 80 wpm. Thanks.
dictation help
What if the MD is dictating, you are a 1/4 of the way through, he is interrupted by a colleague, then comes back starting with the beginning again (prepped & draped, etc)then seems to go in a totally different direction and subject then where he left off? Do you continue to type what he is saying, even though it makes no sense to the first part of the report? Do you make a note of it for the editor? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks, VERY NEW MT...
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Hello,
I'm stumped on a sentence in a discharge summary I am working on. As part of the Laboratory Data section, the doctor says:
Chest x-ray showed no TECUTE PROCESSED. Well, at least it sounds like tecute processed but that obviously doesn't make sense! Any ideas?
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Where can someone get dictation tapes for practicing? I am already set up at home and would like to keep practicing until I get a job. I would not like to invest alot of money into these tapes.
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Difficult dictation.....
I was hoping that someone could give me some advise for difficult doctors that dictate with a very strong acient!! I need help!! Any advise would be great! 
Thank you!
Try speeding up the dictation just a bit. sm.
Seriously, speeding it up just a little sometimes smooths it out. I got this tip from an MT with over 20 years experience. I wouldn't do it the first time through, but when you're listening again, try it.
You don't record the dictation (see msg)
with the c-phone you dial in, and plug a foot pedal and headset into the phone itself and transcribe that way rather than hearing through your computer speakers. (I assume voicewriter is similar)
Practice Dictation
I'm looking for free practice dictation in oncology/hematology. I'm coming up with nothing on Google. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I've got a job lined up, but I need more practice before I start. TIA for help!
Practice Dictation
I am starting the practice dictation portion of my training. The first examples were someone from the school that I chose doing the dictation and then I moved on to actual doctor reports.
My question: How common is it for doctors to talk like they have a mouthful of marbles? The first one was awful and there was no way I could decipher what he was saying. I had my husband listen to it and he looked at me like WTH?
The practice is on CD ... does that make any difference? Are the files that are received better in clarity?
This is really disheartening. I feel lost and am beginning to wonder if I can even do this.
I loaded the first 20 practice files and about half are understandable. The rest is a just a garbled mess.
Any input is sincerely appreciated.
Unfamiliar and foreign dictation (sm)
I'm sorry you had that experience! It's frustrating, but it's part and parcel of MT.
Everything "new" you encounter in MT will sound ghastly until you've gotten over the initial shock of it. Whether it's a new dictator, a new specialty, or a new accent, it will sound impossible. The trick to dealing with it lies in controlling your anxiety and frustration long enough that you can become used to it. This sounds easier than it is.
If it's a specialty you haven't done before, you need to get some training materials and work on them. That will give you the fundamentals you need, so that you can make some headway.
Learning to understand different accents is much like learning different languages. What sounds thick as mud to you at first will become clear as you learn the pronunciations typical of those speakers.
If you're encountering work that is "new" to you because it's an unfamiliar specialty AND a new and unfamiliar dictator with a different accent, you have a double or triple problem.
If you can't do a variety of clinical specialties and accents, you will have trouble until you build up your skills. You might consider doing the SUM program materials. They have a variety of specialties and include different accents.
Another thing you can do with the accents is to get samples of that dictator's reports from the service. They say the same things all the time, as you know. By comparing what you hear with the samples, you can figure out what they're saying and how they say it.
C-Phone/Dial-in Dictation?
Can someone explain to me how a C-phone works. Currently, I am working for a company that uses the WinScribe dictation platform via the internet. Prior to this, I had only transcribed via microcassette tapes. I look forward to an answer as I am clueless about this. Phyllis
10,000+ dictation minutes in 6 months.
I went to Career Step so that is all I can compare it to. According to the eSmartMed site, Career Step has 1320 dictated minutes to transcribe (not sure if that is accurate as it has been so long since I went through the program, but it is probably close). It took me 7 months to get through Career Step doing those 1320 minutes, so I don't see how it is possible for a student to do 10,000+ in 6 months. If I had had to 10,000+, it would have taken me years to complete the course, not months.
Format/Dictation Issues
Hey there, everybody! I'm currently training to be an MT through an online school and I'm having some trouble in specific areas.
First, Everything I'm studying and learning keeps telling me to type verbatim what I hear so I do that and then receive points off of my submitted assignments for not "editing for grammar." However, when I do decide to edit for grammar, I get points off for not typing what I hear verbatim. Are there any tips I can get on doing this? When do I know to edit for grammar?
Second, formats! I have a ton of reference books but I'm still having a little trouble knowing which formats to use. My current assignment I'm working on is a discharge summary but it doesn't really match the examples I have. How do I know which one to use so I meet the standards of my school and pass the assignments?
Third, I'm having some trouble with dictation quality. What would be suggested for the really fuzzy dictations that sometimes mumble words?
Thanks :)
Does anyone know how much actual dictation Gatlin offers? (sm)
It appears to be only a very small amount.
Anyone know for sure?
To clarify, the dictation is likely recorded at a hospital...
and all the C-phone or Lanier does is access that system. Any hospital that uses a Dictaphone system can be accessed by a c-phone. Seems to me there are some electronic units on the market that can be either Lanier-compatible or C-phone compatible though you would have to ask around about that. Yes, their only purpose is to access dictation that is stored somewhere else...though you could use the C-phone as a regular phone, if you wanted :>) So there are two types of data format nowadays, .wav files (or .dss files) which the file can be transferred via internet and dictaphone/Lanier format which the file has to go through a phone line. And perhaps a few microcasettes are still kicking around. Any other old-timers have anything to add?
I have been paid by the dictation minute, I prefer it ...
for the reasons you mentioned. On a couple of occasions, the recording "continued" for about 15 to 20 minutes after the dictation was done, and because I had to continue to listen, I got PAID for those minutes!
A specialty usually refers to the type of dictation
For example, cardiology, neurology, GI, hem/onc..... I have seen where some MTs just transcribe ER or just OPs, so I guess that application you filled out is strictly acute care and are looking for actually your preference amongst those particular choices.
Method of sending/receiving dictation: DEP
What does DEP stand for?
Thanks
But that 1 hour of dictation could take you 3-8 hrs to do depending on clarity, the setup, etc. nm
s
Mostly inpatient hospital dictation - H&P, DS, Consults, Ops, some include ER
and progress notes. Acute care is usually inpatient dictation from hospitals.
Hope this helps.
Like someone else said, if you're trained only on "Ben Stein" dictation
you are in for a rude awakening when you get in the real MT world. Yes, you do have to be able to do a reasonably good job transcribing crap. What world do you live in, where all the dictators are slow, clear, precise, dictating in quiet places with no background noise, no accents, etc?
expect a 1 to 4 ratio of dictation minutes to transcription time
do you really expect low level QA when someone's life may hang in the balance? I could go on but.....
you have to call the hospital/clinic line to connect with the dictation machine on their end
so you get a dial tone, that means it is working. Next you dial the number of the dictation system, and it says something like "welcome to bla-bla hospital. Please enter your user ID followed by the pound sign." Then you enter your ID and it starts giving you work in your queue or asks for job type or whatever.
That simple, easy, clear dictation practice is what the crappy schools use.
Then the person graduates, thinks they know what they're doing, and are totally shocked when they start trying to do REAL MT work. One of many reasons these cheap, crappy, found-out-about-it-on-a-matchbook-cover schools AREN'T recommended.
Hearing actual dictation files versus professionally read ones was a major plus
s
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