MT Bloopers

There is "humor" in medicine. An MT should possess a lively sense of humor as he or she will hear much to laugh about in a typical day's dictation. The comic relief afforded by the humor in medicine does not mean the MT is insensitive to the importance of the medical reports being transcribed. Laughter helps relieve stress in any profession or occupation and helps us to maintain a sense of balance and perspective. Sometimes the MT can produce some hilarious "funnies" as well, often called "bloopers."

Consider this one: The doctor dictates "senile cataract." The MT mistakenly types: "penile cataract" instead. As she or he was happily typing along it truly sounded like "penile cataract" rather than "senile cataract." Of course, with skillful proofreading the mistake would be corrected, and the blooper would end up as an addition in the funny file. When coffee breaks roll around, this type of blooper provides a good laugh shared with colleagues.

Now consider one such as this: A doctor dictated, "This is the second hospital admission for a 75-year-old white male who was found under the bed in his hotel room and was admitted to the hospital for evaluation of the problem." In an otherwise normal workday, suddenly this type of a sentence sounding through your ear plugs of the transcribing machine can be absolutely hilarious and even funnier if you have other MTs to share it with. Of course, the sentence had to be edited for final copy of the medical record. Most physicians know they are not "perfect" and will appreciate the MT’s medical knowledge, alertness and editing ability.

MTs today can work in a variety of settings. However, working alone is not always as ideal as you might think. If you find yourself in business alone or your facility has moved your medical transcription office inside your home, you can still find ways to share with other colleagues the little bloopers you have encountered during your work schedule. Just remember the confidentiality rules and never discuss specific details or give the names of those patients who had bloopers (you caught and fixed).

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box. © 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved. Excerpts from Connie Limon. Visit http://www.aboutmedicaltranscription.info to learn more about the unique and wonderful profession of Medical Transcription. Sign up for our FREE newsletters about this career choice.

I Can Be A Medical Transcriptionist

Being a medical transcriptionist is not easy. It is not enough for someone to just have good listening skills and computer skills. You must also have a comprehensive knowledge on medical terminologies and language skills to become a transcriptionist. Medical transcriptionists must also develop their typing speed to be able to transcribe medical dictations as fast as possible but still ensuring high quality of work. One must also be hardworking and determined to excel in this profession. Patience is also very important. Aside from that, medical transcriptionists also face a lot of responsibilities. They are also responsible in ensuring that the patients' data and other confidential informations about the patients are kept in private as governed by HIPAA (Health Insurance Accountability and Portability Act).

Before I studied medical transcription, I really didn't have any idea that it would take a lot of patience, hardwork, and determination to become one. When I heard about it on the radio, watched documentaries about it on TV, and read articles regarding medical transcription on newspapers, it seemed like a very easy and simple job. And then, when I decided to study medical transcription, I discovered that I was completely wrong. It is not that easy at all. But I said to myself, "I can do it." I know I can finish this course if I just study hard and do my best.

In reality, becoming a medical transcriptionist is not a thing that could be done overnight. It really takes a lot of effort, patience, hardwork, and determination. I am still a neophyte in this field; I have just started working several months ago. I have yet to further develop my skills and learn a lot of things.

I enjoy my work now. I discover and learn many things everyday. I become more patient, my typing skills improved, and my listening skills are much better than before. I am a more responsible person now. To those of you who are aspiring to be a medical transcriptionist, your good listening skills, typing skills, comprehensive knowledge on medical terms, and language skills together with your patience, hardwork, and sense of responsibility will help you go a long way in this profession. And most of all, love what you do; it definitely helps!

Written by: Pinky Verdon
Nursing Undergrad

Davao City seen as emerging ICT hub amid unrests

A recently concluded XMG Global Offshoring Leadership Study revealed that Davao City in the Mindanao Region of the Philippines will be a viable alternative site 3 years from now. This result is part of an ongoing study conducted between January to March 2008, which focuses on forecasting the global demand for offshoring and outsourcing services and the site optimization of emerging cities.

Despite periods of turmoil in the Mindanao Region, outsourcing vendors and captives who participated in the study are very bullish about Davao City primarily due to the area’s larger population of untapped qualified resources compared to Cebu City in the Visayas Region north of Mindanao. The study highlighted that competition in Cebu City is nearing saturation as the talent ramp-up continues.

Among others, the study highlighted the population of Davao City as considerably higher than other Tier-2 offshoring cities globally. In the Philippine context, Davao City’s population is 71% higher than Cebu City, 499% larger than Olongapo-Subic City 333% higher than Angeles-Clark City and 340% larger than Baguio City. The city’s estimated workforce is twice of Cebu, 9 times of Subic and 7 times of Clark and 6 times of Baguio. This has not even taken to account the manpower pool at the nearby cities and provinces of Davao City.

According to the study, Davao City has various educational institutions annually yielding a higher number of IT and BPO qualified graduates than Subic, Clark and Baguio by 689%, 278% and 40% respectively.

Citing previous years 2007 XMG Offshoring Risk and Infrastructure Index Reports, Davao City has been upgraded to a level C2 rating from its previous level D standing as the city emerges as a viable site for captive and outsourcing services. “Compared to other cities in the south, Davao City is very promising and it is seen to be the next generation city that would benefit large captives provided that risk issues are addressed properly”, concludes XMG Researcher Camille Lumbang.

About XMG

Headquartered in Victoria, Canada XMG provides unbiased and highly actionable ICT research, advisory and research-based consulting services to help companies become agile, adaptive and efficient in the use or marketing of information technology and information technology services. XMG’s extensive research and insights help end-users, service providers and captives develop the appropriate strategic response, market penetration strategies and the development of operations excellence.

Completely vendor independent and not aligned with any hardware, software or consulting vendors, XMG ensures an objective fulfillment to solely operate in the best interests of our Customers. Whether Customers are end-user clients, vendors or service providers, the ultimate goal of XMG is to become our Customers long-term trusted ICT Advisor.

Editing With Grace

Transcription requires patience, excellent research and grammar skills, hearing acuity, and above‑average “fund of knowledge in medical subjects.” Editing also requires such qualities, in an amplified level.

Perseverance is also needed. Looking for a term or re-listening to it over and over again just to decipher it seems like a daunting task. A transcriptionist must have that intuitive ability to know that such a term is researchable and this ability is not acquired overnight. Composure is another thing. Sometimes, it is frustrating to do editing especially if the dictating physician has a bad accent, low voice quality, or the voicefile itself is of poor audio quality. No matter how hard you try to listen to it, you just can’t get it. It’s when frustration sometimes comes in and this is when we need to get hold of ourselves or check our egos or else, the transcribed document would be a total mess. We also need to be aware of our responsibility to make editing changes where they will enhance but not change the meaning. A blank is always an honorable thing rather than filling it up with words that might change or endanger the content. It is better and preferable than guessing.

Editing is the process of checking the transcribed file while listening to the dictation. It is when we alter, adapt or refine the transcribed document especially to bring about conformity to a standard or to suit a particular purpose. We check for errors in spelling, grammar, medical and English terms, punctuation, inconsistencies, redundancies, slang forms and contractions.

The transcribed report is a completely different document from the dictation. The “um’s” and “ah’s,” the awkward pauses, the rattling of pages and x-ray films, the ICU beeps and hospital pages, the screaming child, the dictator’s chewing are already gone, etc. The abbreviations expanded. The grammatical errors rectified. The inconsistencies resolved. The physician is the author of a document; we are the editors. We have reworked the dictation, we have corrected, we have honed, we have sharpened, we have clarified, but we have not changed content. As conscientious editors, we have preserved the integrity of the physician’s/author’s style. -- Journal of AAMT (Barbara Ellis, CMT)