Get smart about it

You said you had worked for 2 places but you didn't say how many years of actual hands-on TRANSCRIPTION FOR SERVICE experience you have (that's all they care about so trash the rest of your attributes on your resume).  Five years or more lands you a job pretty easy, within a month or two.  Less than that, not so much. 

There are hundreds of variables here, but let's say you like your job, you have plenty of work, want to stay there, but you just need to make more money.  The first thing you need to realize is this is going to take time - but you need to get started on honing your skills now.  What that means is learning quick references, whether it is google, Dorland's medical dictionary, etc.  What is the fastest way to find the information?  If your company uses a platform where you can pull down the previous report on that patient, that is what you do and see if you can find the answer.  If it is an ESL doctor, just pull down previous reports by that provider, i.e., you may be looking for some he says really fast in the exam, review of systems, whatever.  It should be there.  Give your search a reasonable amount of time - especially if you are having to reference a lot that day, and then ask yourself 2 questions.  Am I going to find this in the next 10 minutes?  You don't think so - it should go to QA.  Don't waste any more time on it.  The second question is, will the Editor instantly know what this is?  Will she have trouble?  If so, the blank you left was valid, don't waste any more time on it.

Know that you will be very lucky to have an editor mentor you at all!!  They don't want to.  It is not their job.  That is work they do not get paid for.  How would you like to do typing you did not get paid for.  Remember this.  You can, however, try to develop friendships with them.  Even if some of them do act like angry school marms, do not arque with them.  You never know, they may be the one doing your next audit.  I have been lucky enough to have 1 editor who told me to e mail her at any time.  Not to chat or gossip - only the report question in a simple one or two sentence question that requires a one or two sentence answer.  Do not abuse this favor.  Make those requests as seldom as possible - if you think you are doing the same thing wrong over and over again.

Lastly.  To begin with, do not worry as much about templates as words, unless of course the template is going to make your life much easier every day.  Think about the words that you use in almost all reports.  The patient- tp in exander.  You may use the same headings over and over.  Expand those.  Expand extremely long words.  Hepatosplenomegaly - hepato.  TRY NOT to use one or two letter expanders, as eventually this WILL catch up to you and you will have to change them and remember them all over again.  Make sure you expand all the words and phrases you can use in each and every report.  This is going to take years - not months.  Expand them at the time you are using them in the report and write them down for reference until you are familiar - don't make this too extensive.  In the next one to two years your line count should increase by 20-25%.  This is called experience.  You build your skills, your references, your contacts, and your Expanders - anything that makes you faster, more productive, and more money.  Hope this helps.

• INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY!! - SPIRIT328
  • 2 MORE TIPS - CC
  • Get smart about it - CC
  • Word Expanders - spirit328
    • for spirit328: How do you remember all - non
      • YOu can use the same principal in your - sm
      • How to remember - Olive
        • Thanks, Olive for the ABCZ......nm - non
    • Thanks! - Caitlin's Mom
  • What word expander do you use? - Caitlin's Mom

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