learn the basic tricks. sm
Posted By: Sm on 2006-01-02
In Reply to: How do you make lines and maintain quality? - Frustrated
learn how to set up templates with field codes (F11 to jump). Learn how to set up your expander. If you don't have a clue look into the ABCZ system. Use Google to search for information on this. If you are stuck using autocorrect instead of a better Expander learn how to enter words quickly w/o a mouse (alt t a to open it. then tab then enter). These will save you a LOT of time entering or editing your entries.
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Don't worry - you'll learn all that basic stuff
in school. They used to teach it in secretarial classes, of course, but if you know you want to be an MT, go to one of the top schools (M-Tec and Andrews), and you will be ready when it's time to test.
basic 4 is
OPS, Discharge, H&P, and Consults (hospital notes)
Basic 4
What does the basic 4 consist of?
Basic 4
Just wanted to be sure what the basic 4 is referring to. I think it means like ER, h&p, radiology or something like that? Thanks. 
Basic 4
History and Physicals
Operative Reports
Discharge Summary
Clinic Notes
are the basic 4
Are these the basic problems with MQ?
Is it that the grumbles with Medquist from MTs that they put in voice recognition software? That technology sucks everywhere. Everyone who does voice recognition has to clean those suckers up, it's awful and very time consuming. Is that along with the fact that supervisors are not as attentive (or in some cases too attentive) the main problems?
I am looking to hire on with a company for the long haul and possibly retire with (or at least reach social security). I don't need a mansion on a hill or a brand new double wide in a park. I just need a basic, dependable MT job that I can count on for being able to earn a regular paycheck.
In some threads, I get the impression there are too many chiefs and not enough indians. In other threads, I get the understanding that there are too many indians altogether, therefore not enough work to go around. Across the board I get the understanding that the "higher ups," for lack of better words, don't communicate well between themselves or with the MTs. Could someone at least tell me if that much is correct?
Thanks.
Basic 4 = HP, Consults, DS, and OPs.
Acute care may contain ER notes if you are lucky, but will usually contain the basic 4 plus more procedure notes like cardiac studies, and a wider mix with wound care clinic notes, possibly rad-onc clinic notes, just depends on the hospital's specialty. Or the terms can be used fairly interchangeably.
The main focus of hospital work is the basic 4, but on some accounts they will say with OP notes and others without OP notes, because (I believe) some MTs will sign up to just do OP notes because they are their favorite. With a smaller hospital you are more likely to have a mix with little departmental procedures, IME, and larger hospitals tend to just have a service do the basic 4, again, IME.
Very basic question about x-rays
Can someone clarify this for me.
When the doc states, "X-ray, AP and lateral" - Does it mean that the x-ray was taken front to back (AP) and in the lateral plane?
For a while I was thinking that AP was one film and lateral was another, but I wonder, because the docs keep saying "shows" (indicating by their grammar that it is one film) instead of "show". I feel kind of dumb not knowing this. I looked in my reference that describes all of the different ways to take an x-ray but still can't clarify it.
Thanks
It's hospital work. The basic four.
because the larger companies can handle the larger hospital accounts. Acute care just means hospital work as opposed to clinic, which would be physician offices, i.e., family practice, cardiology, nephrology, etc.
Acute care is also called basic 4, which is
H&Ps, discharges, Ops, and consults. Clinic can vary from a doctor's office to an in-hospital clinic. The in-hospital clinic might be a little more technical than an office and the format may/may not be similar.
In my experience clinical is not a lot of medical terminology and the drugs tend to be the same ones over and over again. I liked doing clinic work in that I knew what sickness was going around and what the recommended course of treatment was. With clinical dictation you also tend to have the same doctors every time so you get to know them and can make lots of normals, which will have you producing more lines. It can get boring though to have the same person over and over.
The line rate is usually higher for acute care too.
I've mentored AHP newbies, too, and they lack SO much basic
s
let's have a little fun, and learn something
I've always enjoyed word jumble. I think you all know that one ... the letters of a word are all jumbled and you have to figure out the word. Like this: ehrat = heart
I'll pick a word and then mix the letters up. In the subject line, I'll give the specialty (i.e. Cardiology) and you have to figure out the correct word. As soon as the correct word is posted, nobody else can respond. That round has ended.
I'll post one new word every day.
This game is ONLY open to people still in school or those with less than six months of work experience. So, all of you MTSOs with itchy fingers ... go transcribe an ESL who is dictating in the middle of traffic with the convertible roof down.
I'll take a show of hands ... would anyone else like to join in? 
If you could learn it all on the job, why do you need them?
I don't think that school is very serious about providing an education. It would be one of the ones that just is in it for the money. "Charity begins at home" is probably their motto.
You won't learn 1/8 of what you need to
know from that course. Don't waste your time and money. I saw work from a graduate of that program. She wasn't even prepared to do radiology, let alone acute care, poor thing.
You can learn a lot
by going to the websites of the 2 best schools out there. Both are on line. They are in the neighborhood of $4000, which is comparable to the cost of a community college degree, but these 2 schools will give you an education very specific to learning MT without all the stuff you wouldn't actually need. But of course you need to be sure that's what you really want to do. If you read everything these sites have to offer you should have a pretty good idea.
http://www.andrewsschool.com/
http://www.mtecinc.com/
Basic 4 hospital work - history and physical, discharge summaries, operative notes, and consults. nm
s
**sigh** when will they learn?
nm
That is excellent! I am sure you will learn a lot from her
:-)
Test everywhere you can, you learn a lot that way - sm
also make cold calls. This is how I landed my first job. I had tested with a company and passed and was hired, but was waiting to actually start (took 2 months for that to actually happen). In the meantime I started calling local companies, I got hired over the phone by one willing to take a chance on me. I was on probation for 3 months, doing about $200 a month (she only had little bit of extra work), after I a month or so I knew I was "hired" for good and eventually got a little more work as the MTSO wanted to do less herself. I applied at another place (while working the 2 jobs) and picked up a 3rd. All were PT but different types of work, etc. so I packed in a lot of experience that way. Just keep plugging away, took me 2 months to land the 1st then 2 weeks later got #2, and 3 months later got #3. Just takes a little time, patience, and lots of persistence.
I don't think that is helpful. She needs to learn
to do it "right." Being a newbie is tough, but a strict QA is more beneficial at this point in her career. It does't do her any good to have "slack" QA and then she moves to another job later and they are tough and she has to struggle then.
I've been doing this for years and I still make mistakes. I've spelled calculus for gallbladder stones for years and no one corrected me until recently, so all these years I've been spelling it incorrectly. Learn to do it "right" the first time and it will serve you well in the future.
People Just Don't Learn
Why is CS still getting praise??? Affordable or not, you may be an experienced *unemployed* MT because many companies are discovering that CS just doesn't give the education needed regardless of the few praisers who got lucky.
M-TEC or Andrews has a "refresher" course for MTs who have done 1 specialty or haven't worked for a while.
want to learn MT course for free?
you can use this blog site if you want to learn medical transcription for free
http://learn-free-medical-transcription.blogspot.com/
thank you
Also was a nurse, still am. You NEED an MT program to learn about this job, not
s
Did you not have anything left to learn when you finished
school and actually started working in the real world? It is a learning process, day in and day out, just as nursing is. You can go to the best school in the world, have the most highly trained instructors, finish with flying colors, take the RMT, CMT or whatever, and still not be a good transcriptionist. Same thing goes with nursing. You can go to school and then pass state boards and still be a lousy nurse. A lot of what we all do is in the practical application day to day. I don't recall ever saying she shouldn't go to school. I just said it was possible to go from nursing to MT without formal training. 
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I'd like to learn/do Veterinary Transcription
I tested for a local vet recently. No call back yet, but he was an @$$ (I can see why he went into Veterinary medicine rather than human). Expected the MT to transcribe while being the front desk in a hard-floored, echoing foyer area with dogs and cats and people and birds around, and be the receptionist too.
But, I think it would be very interesting and a good resume skill to add.
Anyone know of a company that will hire an MT to do VT? Or is there a VT module I could do to add to my training?
No matter what you learn in school, each
company has their own way of doing things. Some go by BOSS, some the account dictates how to do things and you do whatever they want, even if it is against what BOSS or JCAHO say. Even a different account within the same company will do things differently than the previous one. You have to adapt. With the rare exception QA is very helpful and don't nitpick.
Newbies, ya gotta learn one thing here...sm
you must be accurate in all typed correspondence. I had a newbie that asked about doing an internship I offered. Here is her actual response:
Yes I am definetly interested.
Thanks you.
Now how am I supposed to hire somebody like that?
NOW versus KNOW - Learn the difference as you will need to KNOW it at some point.
Trust me, you don't scare us. As experienced professionals, we know what happens to MTs with delusions of grandeur; they are in for a very rude awakening, to say the very least.
you overcome it by doing it..you'll never learn if you quit.
bn
ShortHand is very good and not complicated to learn. nm
s
Allied doesn't care if you learn anything OR if you get a job. They just want their $$. nm
x
Definitely sounds like a scam. You can't learn much in an 8-week course. NM
x
Career Step only give you a year, so at M-TEC you have 18 months and will learn a LOT more.
Your post made it sound like you would rather take more time to do the course, but there's a reason M-Tec requires it done in 18 months.
You can't really learn if you drag it out longer than 18 months. You have to keep doing it, working at it, familiarizing yourself with it, in order to learn it. That is why they push you to not drag your feet, either do it or don't do it!
Good luck to you.
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