using a text expander helped me drastically.

• Advice I need it bad! - ProudNewbie
  • using a text expander helped me drastically. - rmb
  • patience - bcole
    • It's sort of........ - ProudNewbie
  • I've been there and know how you feel...sm - slh

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

Does anyone know where I can get a free word Expander and a word/line counter?  I was using FastFox and TextTally, but I didn't realize it was only free trials.  I may have to go ahead and buy them though.  I just don't have a lot of money to spend on them right now, and I can't keep entering in my information over and over again.  Thanks for all the help

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 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 !