Get a copy of your BOS II guide for style, work with an expander, use your resources to the max. nm

• Please help! Looking for career advice. - Judy B
  • Also single mom... - SDGal
  • Thank you! - Judy B
  • But I think your outlook will be - JMO
  • i'd guess - sm
  • Get a copy of your BOS II guide for style, work with an expander, use your resources to the max. nm - Use updated drug references, too. nm

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I've never had to give someone a COPY of it. I would show the card but not give a copy. Here is what  SS Admin says:

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When am I legally required to provide my Social Security number?   Question   Must I provide a Social Security number (SSN) to any business or government agency that asks?   Answer   The Social Security number (SSN) was originally devised to keep an accurate record of each individual’s earnings, and to subsequently monitor benefits paid under the Social Security program. However, use of the SSN as a general identifier has grown to the point where it is the most commonly used and convenient identifier for all types of record-keeping systems in the United States. Specific laws require a person to provide his/her SSN for certain purposes. While we cannot give you a comprehensive list of all situations where an SSN might be required or requested, an SSN is required/requested by: Internal Revenue Service for tax returns and federal loans Employers for wage and tax reporting purposes States for the school lunch program Banks for monetary transactions Veterans Administration as a hospital admission number Department of Labor for workers’ compensation Department of Education for Student Loans States to administer any tax, general public assistance, motor vehicle or drivers license law within its jurisdiction States for child support enforcement States for commercial driver’s licenses States for Food Stamps States for Medicaid States for Unemployment Compensation States for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families U.S. Treasury for U.S. Savings Bonds The Privacy Act regulates the use of SSNs by government agencies. When a Federal, State, or local government agency asks an individual to disclose his or her Social Security number, the Privacy Act requires the agency to inform the person of the following: the statutory or other authority for requesting the information; whether disclosure is mandatory or voluntary; what uses will be made of the information; and the consequences, if any, of failure to provide the information. If a business or other enterprise asks you for your SSN, you can refuse to give it. However, that may mean doing without the purchase or service for which your number was requested. For example, utility companies and other services ask for a Social Security number, but do not need it; they can do a credit check or identify the person in their records by alternative means. Giving your number is voluntary, even when you are asked for the number directly. If requested, you should ask why your number is needed, how your number will be used, what law requires you to give your number and what the consequences are if you refuse. The answers to these questions can help you decide if you want to give your Social Security number. The decision is yours.

Does anyone have a word Expander software or resources that will make productivity quicker that would not mind giving me if. I would appreciate so much because I have no money to purchase anything and I need so help. Thank you so much.

Hello! I'm a new grad and have been on the job hunt for nearly a  month. Are there any resource that I could purchase to help find a place willing to hire a new grad?

Thanks

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issue you can use auto correct in Word, provided you will be working in Word.  Start building you r Expander now.   There are lists with suggestions if you don't know where to start.   This will probably save you the most time.   Don't get on the net and check e-mail or check the boards while working.  This is a major time killer.  You might have the best of intentions to get on and look up a word, but if you aren't careful you've wasted 30 minutes.

If you know what type of work you will be doing, clinic, radiology, acute care, etc. do some searching now for some good reference sites, especially if you don't have any reference material already. 

If you are going to be doing clinic a lot of times doctors will have their canned sayings for ROS and PE, so you could possibly create an expansion for the entire thing and that will really speed you along.  Of course you must be careful that you don't put in the canned text without reviewing the dictation to make sure they aren't changing anything. 

Try not to get up from your chair but every 2 hours.  Before your shift starts have your beverage of choice, go potty, have materials needed already at hand.  Don't answer the phone unless it is an emergency, don't get up to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer or unload the dishwasher.  You might want to get a cheap egg timer so you aren't constantly looking at the clock.  I think they only go for 60 minutes, but you can set it again.  After every 2 hours get up, stretch, walk around, switch the clothes over, etc.  If you are constantly getting up to do things it will take you 12 hours to do 8 hours of week - BTDT. 

The more comfortable you become with the dictators, the more comfortable you become with the terminology you'll be knocking out the lines pretty quick. 

Please someone tell me which one is best word Expander which works with MS Word.

Thanks in advance!

I was in your shoes as a newbie with more than 100 doctors and 32 specialties.  Thought I would drown and knew I had to find a way to speed things up.  I was not taught about Expanders in school so it took me a while to catch on.  But then it occurred to me that a great deal of what I was transcribing was the same thing no matter what doc or specialty -- things like:

last visit, next visit, the last time, the patient, the patient presents today with, I will, she will, he will, returns for, referred by, return in 2 weeks, the abdomen, the chest, the right upper extremity, the left lower extremity, heart is regular rate and rhythm, with his, with her, feels good, feeling good, hurts when, is able to, is unable to, numbness and tingling, aches and pains, pins and needles, light touch, was palpated, performed by, no guarding, no rebound tenderness, MRI results, CAT scan, CT scan, abdomen and pelvis, wounds are well healed, no erythema, no drainage, no ecchymosis, no sign of infection, no pain, no tenderness, range of motion is, blood pressure is, on the left, on the right, left hand dominant, right hand dominant, due to, due to the fact that...    you get the drift. 

When I started entering THESE kinds of things that were said repeatedly, then my lines went up.  The other things -- medical diagnoses (except for the most common ones) and odd medical terms -- I didn't concentrate on making expansions for them as much as I did the common phrases because I did not hear them in every report like I did the other things.  We type a lot of common words and the same phrases over and over no matter what specialty or doc.  I enter these especially, and then add the other things as they present themselves and if I have time.     

I also enter drugs with and without their most common dosages as they are dictated.  Saves a ton of time next time around.   

Some days I make a game out of it -- Today I will enter all phrases that have to do with coming and going:  The patient presents with, the patient came to see me today, the patient presented with, the patient returns complaining of, etc.  AND she will return in 2 weeks, I will call her with the results, she will be seen on a p.r.n. basis, she will be seen as needed, she will call for the results...

Other days I put in phrases that begin with a period of time:  Over the weekend, over the last few days, over the last week, over the past few months, over 2 weeks ago, over the last 10 years, in the near future, in the next 2 weeks, next week, next month, next year, yesterday, last night, in the morning, in the evening...

Another day I will concentrate on phrases that begin with "on" like:  On the left side, on the right side, on the right side of the, on the left side of the, on the hand, on the foot, on the arm, on the leg....

Then I do the same with the word "in" like:  In the fingers, in the foot, in the hand, in the abdomen, in the lungs, in view of, in view of the fact that...

Yes, it takes times to make these shortcuts, but you only have to do it once and it's in there.  It's a delicate balance between time spent doing this and time spent in production, and yet once they are entered, you've got yourself a short form that you can use from then on out.  Time lost today will pay off tomorrow.  You just have to balance it and in the beginning it's tough because you are starting from scratch but believe me -- the day will come when you use mostly short forms and start to fly.  And you'll find that the time spent entering the short forms will decrease the more you do it, too.  It will become a habit to enter them on the run as you type.  You should expect to go slowly with this at first because it's new to you and you have to figure out a system that works for you.  It will seem overwhelming but after a couple of months you will begin to notice a difference if not sooner. 

My best timesaver yet:  the letter w for "with"  either alone or with another word or phrase:  with, with ecchymosis, with tenderness, with pain, with rotation, with edema, with drainage, with symptoms of...  Do the same thing for "without."

If you have the time, try to put in at least one short form from each report you type, then two, then three, etc. as your pace picks up.  That way your production doesn't drop too much while you do this. 

I recommend using an Expander program that is NOT tied into your place of employment, one that is YOURS and you can take it with you if you leave there.  You never want to have to do this all over again!  Make one or two backup copies nightly or at least every few days depending on how much you enter.  Put them on CDs or something external so that you will never lose it in a crash.  Then get away from it all or you'll fry your brain! 

Good luck!  It CAN be done with time and perseverance.  Just be patient and keep at it. 

auto-correct, though your space is limited with auto-correct.  It may take you a year or more, but you will eventually reach your limit.  I really haven't used auto-correct that much but I don't know if there are character limitations so that you could only enter a sentence, where with an Expander you could enter entire physical exams.   Also with an expander you can automate some of your functions such as automatically spellchecking, copying and pasting, etc. 

I don't know if you can transfer auto-correct entries either, so when you get an expander you may have to start from scratch and rebuild your expansions, though I don't know for sure about that. 

I'm not a fan of ShortHand, but lots of companies use it and it is compatible with most platforms.  You can do to their website and download a 30-day free trial to see what it is like. 

I currently use IT text Expander from my course at MT at home.  Is there a better text expander that I should be using?

I am a newbie and have only been employed for a little less than two weeks.  I do about 300-500 lines an hour depending on which platform I am on. That really isn't all that bad, considering the fact that I have to research a lot of words. That said, I want to explore ways to increase my productivity without hurting my acuracy.

Thanks.

I am getting close to birthday time as well as graduation and want to ask for a word Expander program as a b-day present from my husband  Is there a decent priced one out there that still is easy to use and works well. I have heard of Smarttype but that is pretty expensive (though I hear well worth it) Are there any others

Can anyone tell me if the word Expander program of ShortHand works well with Editscript?  If not or if there is another program that will work well, would you please comment and let me know?  I am ready to make this purchase and I work on the Editscript platform.  What I'd like to know is what you like and dislike about the program and how difficult it is to install, learn and use. 

Before anyone posts to tell me to do a search, please know that I have searched and have not been able to find this kind of information.  I just don't have much money and don't want to waste money on a program that may not suit my needs.  So, your honest comments on how well this program works for you as an MT, particularly on that platform, would be very helpful and appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

Which one is best and where do I get it?

Thanks !

can this be done or am I getting in over my head. FT in-house, not MT and PT MT at home.

Anyone else doing this?

Hi,

 I would suggest NOT going to companies.....try docs you know personally or that have their own practice.  That is how i started, just walked in, gave them a business card and flyer and made a deal, that if they gave me a chance, i would reduce the cost for the first 30 days.  i got my first doc that way five years ago and he has referred me to many and i am still with him in addition to two others he referred to me!  It is wonderful.....set your own hours, no rush on anything.  good luck!

Cindi

I have been working for about 1-1/2 years now in med trans, almost a year for this one company. Still pretty new at the lingo and how the business side of things run.  But lately, there has not been enough work with the company and I am sitting around for hours getting only a few dictations downloading.  Your are assigned an account and also a backup but I was just wondering if this slow time thing is normal? This has been going on now for 3 weeks, also kind of has been occurring every now and then since this summer.   I am just wondering how long what the usual is and how long should I wait until starting to look for another job?

Thanks

Hello,

Im a new MT graduate looking for work. Please if anyone knows of any companies that will hire new MT graduates, please let me know. Or if you are company willing to give a chance let me know.

Thanks,

Sonnett

Here it is Tuesday morning 10:00 and no work yet.  Yesterday it was about 2:00 before anything arrived.  Does every company have this problem?

Hi!

I am a 53 year old nurse with over 25 years nursing experience.  In 2005 I moved to a Caribbean island with my husband who was itching to retire. 

I have done some writing since moving here, but I miss my medical career.  Unfortunately, the island I live on does not want to give me a nursing license, so I am looking for replacement career!  I am not ready for retirement.

Although I could certainly do the course work,  I wonder if being located "off shore"  would decrease my employment possibilities.  I do, however, maintain a U.S. address for business purposes. I would like the imput from MT's out there.

I heard from a company called TRS Institute who says they hire off shore workers after completing their course.  Anyone know about them?

Thanks,

Jen