MT Blab

My New Medical Transcription Office

2008-05-15T07:56:00.005-04:00

As promised, I am posting pictures of my new office redo, the place where I will be doing my new medical transcription job. To start with, here's a before picture of the mess I had let my office get in...

My husband was happy to help me redo the paint and cover up some dings (many of them!!) in the office walls. Then started the fun part -- decorating! I am most definitely on a budget, so I did a lot of thrift store shopping and spray painting.

The office color scheme I chose was from some curtains that I made for the windows about a year ago from a thrifted duvet cover. I love the 1920s green, the robin's egg blue and the pink and red. Very vintage. The office theme evolved into birds and roses.

I added many little touches to the office, including an old painted tool box to hold some Our State magazines for my breaks.

Some special things that I brought in for the office were the following:

A poster called Windows of Burano by Catherine Archuleta. I wanted something officey but not too officey. I wanted something pretty to look at, but not something distracting! I think it's perfect. One of the things that is so great about the frame is its standard size, so I can change out the poster and change the look of that wall whenever I'm tired of what's there now.

Another little touch was this heavy cast bird that I found at Tuesday Morning for just under 5 dollars! The bird watches over the mail tray, as if he just flew in with it!

I found a couple of rose chintz plates at the thrift store for just a song. The rose pattern fits in nicely and the colors are perfect! You'll notice the robin sitting up high at the top of the painted brick column that makes the corner of the office. Again, the plates can be changed out to different places should I desire a change of decor.

Finally, here are some pictures of the finished product. I have all my computer equipment set up and I am ready to go!

Two very inexpensive desks, exactly alike, were purchased from Staples and put side by side to make a work station across the entire back wall of the office. This houses two complete computers. My work computer and my personal computer.

For memos, I picked up a memo board from the thrift store -- in totally the wrong fabric -- and recovered it and put some ribbon strips on it with my hot glue gun. The lamp shade is also a cheap department store shade to which I added beaded trim with the hot glue gun. The candlestick lamp was 5 dollars.

A wicker chair has a new cushion added to match the office colors. The farm house table below was a good buy and fit in perfectly as a place for the laptop that the kids use. The drawer in the farm house table houses my stationery and is the place where I sit down to write in my journal.
I love the little area above. You probably cannot see -- maybe you can -- that I put pink tags in the slots in front of each file cabinet drawer. I'm serious about this color scheme!! With a closer shot you can see the birds there...

I have a few silk rose buds in a vase, but often I move them to make room for fresh flowers from the garden. I love to step out into my garden on my breaks when it's sunny out. Here's the view from the window this May. This has been my best year ever for roses.

I really am excited about my new job and I did everything I could to make my office a place that is comfortable and that I will want to transcribe in! I'll be in here 8 hours a day, after all.

Happy Transcribing,

Lynn

Coming Back to Medical Transcription

2008-04-17T10:41:00.002-04:00

I left the medical transcription industry with so much sadness and disappointment. Honestly, I was very fed up with the way some of the big companies are treating MTs. At-home MTs are being made to do some really garbage transcription, they are being yanked from account to account -- never getting one account long enough to get good and make decent money, and they are given WAY too many jobs done by dictators with a foreign accent or who just don't care and -- again -- they cannot make any money that way.

Medical transcriptionists are skilled. Mostly, they will produce only as good a product as is spoken to them into the microphone to start with. Doctors, are you hearing that????

Anyway, I am returning to the industry, but only after (thank you so much) being offered a job that, so far, seems wonderful. The pay is generous. The hours are good. I am responsible and I know that I have to be at my desk transcribing, but there is also the flexibility that should go with an at-home job. I am being treated like the professional that I am! So, I'm back and I hope I can stay in the industry. My office is getting a big RE-DO and I will post before and after pictures very soon.

Just wanted to say HELLO AGAIN, HELLO!

Lynn

Saying Goodbye to MT

2007-01-21T12:54:00.000-05:00

I have decided that I can no longer do medical transciption. My last day in this industry was 12/31/2006, and I think I can NEVER go back. I just cannot continue in the direction of such stress and change in the industry--little good change that I can see. So, I head out into a new direction, very happy.

MTBlab

Can I keep doing medical transcription?

2006-12-18T07:21:00.000-05:00

I think the answer, sadly, is no. At least not full time right now. There's a part of me that still loves what I do. I love words. I love making a document really perfect, but the intense stress of being an MT is just becoming too much. One may wonder how something so "easy" (yeah right) can be so stressful.

It's a number of things:

~It's being paid by production. If you happen to get a string of dictationists who don't speak clearly, or who whisper, or who eat while they are dictating, etc., you can't make a full day's pay, even though you may work more than eight hours. (Stress!)
~It's working your fingers to the bone only to be fussed at by the main office that you need to do more or that your account is behind and CAN you do more. (Stress!)
~It's not getting paid for the time that your internet service is down, or for the time you are down because for some odd reason you cannot log in to work, or for the time you are sitting in a doctor's office with a sick child, and yet when you finally get things straightened out you are expected to "make up your lines," no matter what that might mean, i.e., no weekend, no day off, no sleep...
~It's the minimum pay per line dropping down to a ridiculous amount, even for people like me who have nearly 20 years' experience because there are those in other countries who will do the work for nearly nothing (called "off shoring"), so pay has not gone up to meet the cost of living, but, rather, DOWN!

It's other things as well. Perhaps burn-out is an issue. My job is so important. A person's medical record is extremely important. Perhaps it's time for me to move on and let a new, excited person do this job.

For now, I will just do this part time. At least I can be thankful that I have that option.

Maybe I can get my zeal back, unless, of course, the pay jumps down another notch.

Going into Medical Transcription

2006-12-01T09:02:00.000-05:00

Just a little something you need to know. Life at home as a medical transcriptionist can get very stressful. Recently my husband has had four allergic reactions. Not anaphylactic, but they could become so. He gets covered in hives so big and so diffuse that he looks like he has been beat up. We have made ER trips, trips to a local MD and had a referral to an allergist, only to end up in the ER again. We think that they have found the culprit (shellfish), but my husband's skin and immune system are in "alert" mode now. He is having rebound hives from all the steroids and his skin just seems to be in "hive" mode. Right now it feels like this will go on forever.

Guess who had to make his appointments, drive him to his appointments and help him get his meds? Me, of course. Did I miss work time? YES. Could he have done it all himself? Well, I guess, but it's hard to look up phone numbers and drive when your eyes are nearly swollen shut and it's hard to be really alert and make calls and appointments when you are taking Benadryl around the clock.

Do my supervisors understand? Well, I'm not sure. I'm really not. They are fussing at me and sending me letters in the mail about my line count. My position with them is "being evaluated."

I am operating under such stress right now, I am afraid I am going to have a nervous breakdown or end up with a heart attack. Our medical insurance comes from MY job. And I only get it if I produce full-time lines. So you do the math.

An ER visit only costs about 1500 dollars--what's up with the medical system in the US is another whole post--so I can't really afford to let my insurance lapse.

Sigh. I am just hoping that a door of relief will open for me soon. Even just a little window would be appreciated.

One word of advice. You might want to rethink getting your medical insurance based on being able to produce full-time lines. You never know what will happen. Buying your own insurance policy independently or making sure your spouse can get medical insurance may be the best way to go. That way, your medical coverage does not hinge on your being able to be at your desk and/or your supervisor having sympathy for you.

MTBlab

Believe it or not...

2006-11-25T20:19:00.000-05:00

it helps me to come here and listen to myself blab about the art of medical transcription.

I sometimes get into a very slow groove by checking over every single thing too many times, but when I do that my line count slows WAAAAAY down. Then I remember, I am getting paid to be a professional producer of medical documents, NOT a typist. There is a big difference.

I cannot spend 5 minutes trying to figure out if the doctor did indeed mean that the white count AND the hemoglobin were both 14.7. No, I just type in what he says and move on.

I cannot spend 30 mintes on a 1 minute report because the doctor mumbles and talks way too fast. It is HE who has little regard for the completed document. He also is making WAY more than I am. I figure it will help everyone in the long run for me to, of course, do my best, but then to leave a blank where a blank is truly due. Maybe he will get the picture.

MTBlab

HYPO VS. HYPER

2006-11-19T12:34:00.000-05:00

Doctors, come ON!!!, PLEASE!!!

Do you realize how hard it is to distinguish between "hypo" and "hyper" when you are mumbling??

Sheesh.

Shortcuts Lead to Errors...

2006-11-19T12:28:00.000-05:00

A couple of things are on my mind. First is what I call the expander program "malapop." You are typing along, doing great, when you put in a shortcut to a long word or phrase and, the next thing you know, you have sent in a job with a glaring error in it.

We HAVE to be careful with autokeys, expanders, shortcuts--whatever you want to call them.

For example, the letters "caen" can stand for

~cardiac enzymes
~carotid endarterectomy
~cardiac enlargement

as well as a couple of other things that won't come to mind right now. Be careful to watch what "pops" out of your expander, or you may end up with a malapop.

A Note To All Doctors

2006-10-20T08:26:00.000-04:00

REPEAT: This is a note to all doctors. How can I say this so that doctors can find this on line and read it and maybe help themselves, and patients, and others. Perhaps if I put a phrase like, "how to help patients," or "how to dictate good notes," or "how to be a good doctor," some of the search engines will lead you here. How about this: "getting into medical school." I'll say there should be a class on speaking clearly!!

First of all, dear doctor, you are highly respected and I come to you when I cannot help myself. So, I appreciate you.

Second of all, an important part of your job is record-keeping. Most of the time, you dictate a note and someone like me will transcribe it.

By the way, do you know about me? I am an average, American, stay-at-home, work-at-home, medical transcriptionist mom who believes it is best for me to BE at home with my children. I am not lazy, however, and I am willing to work to be here, so here I am--transcribing YOUR medical notes.

That said, I only get paid for what I do. I do not get paid for listening to silence or solving mysteries.

Case in point:

I did a note recently where the nice lady was saying that the patient was on "OSS-EH KAL." Okay, maybe she means Os-Cal, right? Good guess, but after pulling out my drug books, looking on line and checking the dosages for various Os-Cal formulations, it cannot be. She was prescribing 400 mg and Os-Cal is usually 250 or 500 mg. So I start thinking. What in the world could be pronounced like that and be 400 mg. Can you guess, doctor?

After digging through the database and reading old patient notes (none of which I got paid for), I figured out that she was saying Asacol.

I have been doing this for 17 years. I have been a patient. My husband has been a patient. I CARE!!! I took the time--my time--to get it right. But I did not get paid for my detective work. Also, had I been lazy and just put Os-Cal, I could have caused you and the patient some grief.

The bottom line???

The completed, typed note you receive is ONLY AS GOOD AS how you speak and how clear you are and how much you care if you are saying it right. Also, the clearer you are, the better homelife my children and I have, and the better patient care your patient will have, and the less time YOU will spend making corrections!

Getting off my soapbox now, and
THANK YOU!!!!

gaiter region or gator region

2006-10-05T08:51:00.002-04:00

Sounds like "gator" region, but what's a gator doing on one's leg??

17 years of transcribing, and this is the first I have heard of the gator/gaiter region. Orthopedics, of course, and the doctor was referring to the leg/foot below the knee, down low.

There's a first for everything. What do you think it is: gator or gaiter?

Lynn

I Think The Most Difficult Thing

2006-09-17T10:40:00.000-04:00

about working at home is staying at the desk. I can find so many other things to do (I'm at home, after all), that many days it would be convenient to skip work altogether. But one does not make ANY money when one does not work. One does not earn one's benefits when one does not work!

It is also easy to lose track of the days, until suddenly the end of the pay period is upon you and you are not anywhere NEAR where you need to be. It can be emotionally and physically draining to try and play "catch up." Employers don't look too kindly on this either!

I really want to be a good medical transcriptionist, which means being an employee my company can count on.

I have found that making a schedule at the beginning of each pay period is a tremendous help. I carry a purse planner by Day Runner all the time, so I put my schedule right into that. That way, I have my plan of action with me at all times! When I am working, my planner is laying open on a table next to my desk.

Plan of Action for Each Pay Period:

I first map out my line count on calendar pages that contain all the days in the pay period. How many lines do I need to achieve on each work day? That goes on the calendar.

The second thing I do is write in all appointments for the pay period. Doctor visits, school meetings, etc.

The third thing I do is plan my menus (and hence my shopping list), all from a collection of crockpot recipe books. I run two crockpots every day in order to have supper cooked. This truly is a life saver. Just 15 minutes each morning can save you two hours each evening! I keep the shopping list in my planner as well.

The fourth thing I add to my schedule of the pay period are the special-event types of things. Is there a special on HGTV you really want to see? Then put it on your schedule and make a note on that day and the day before to remind yourself to have your lines done so you will be free from work. Write planned shopping trips on the calendar as well.

The last thing, and probably the hardest, is to be in a frame of mind to daily check your schedule, renew your commitment to it, and stay on track!

It can be done!!!

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG NOTE

2006-09-07T21:28:00.000-04:00

Did you ever do a note sooooooooo looooooooooooong, that by the time you were at the PHYSICAL EXAM you had forgotten who the patient even was and what was wrong with them, and by the time you got to the IMPRESSION you had forgotten even what day it was, and by the time you finally signed off, you were asking WHO AM I???

Good grief, help this man bring this to a close!!!!! We have every lab value and every sneeze all the way back to birth!!!!

The only good thing is all those lines, but honestly that doctor kept saying, "um, um" like he was afraid to hang up. Well, he COULDN'T hang up. He just added some more.

WOULD SOMEONE SHAKE ME, PLEASE?

2006-09-07T21:13:00.000-04:00

I am lagging way, way, way behind in my line count this pay period. Evil of evils, the full-time MT knows what this means!! It means there will be NO breathing time for the next week. Why did I do this to myself????

There is no logical reason for this!

LOL. Oh well, it's just part of the way it is sometimes.

Learning New Accounts

2006-09-06T06:34:00.000-04:00

Blech!! Actually, my supervisor is really good about keeping an MT on their one PRIMARY account, but lately the work has run low and I have been in my secondary account some, which always slows me down. I am just not used to it, and I have to second guess myself on everything.

Makes it feel like a Monday to be transcribing in a new account!!

Anyone else at home working today?

2006-09-04T09:22:00.000-04:00

Happy Labor Day! I am working today. Sigh. Wish I had the day to play. I know if I was on site somewhere, I would likely be off today. HOWEVER, that would mean that I would be up early in the morning and dressing to go to the job, when, in reality, I will be getting up and staying home again tomorrow. YAAAAAAAAAAY.

Also, I don't know about you, but I will be getting incentive pay today.

Is medical transcription a dying field?

2006-08-28T15:03:00.000-04:00

I keep hearing that it is, but it looks to me like the industry continues to grow. I was happy to see that another community college has added "medical transcriptionist" to its list of certificates/degrees. Must mean something!

http://nashville.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2006/08/21/daily12.html?jst=b_ln_hl

When the doctor says "thank you"

2006-08-28T14:58:00.000-04:00

it just makes my day. It really does. It's something so small, but after transcribing a medical document, which is not always a piece of cake, for the dictiationist to say, "Thank you, transcriptionist, for transcribing this report," it means a lot!

First Day Of School and Working At Home

2006-08-24T15:53:00.000-04:00

I love being able to work at home. So what if a doctor here or there does not speak clearly!!! Well, yes, I get mad, too. But the point is, I am able to work at home!

Today was the first day of school. I was able to take my children to school and then pick them up at the end of the day. How wonderful is that?

Oophorectomy???

2006-08-24T15:46:00.000-04:00

in a male patient??? As a treatment for prostate cancer???

I don't think so. Do you? Am I the one confused? Tell me, please!

Up and at 'em!!!

2006-08-22T08:37:00.000-04:00

Yep. You must do it again today! LOL.

Try this today:

Before you sit down to transcribe today, get in a quiet place and sit down where you are comfortable. Breathe deeply and just be aware of your breathing and your thoughts. Embrace the goal of not letting anything disturb your personal calm today.

Think on these things:

~You have the privilege of working from home, in your own little haven.
~Your job as a transcriptionist is paying bills and maybe even providing benefits for your family.
~Be excited about what you might learn today, seeing the new in the old, caring about each and every note and every patient.
~Let today be a time of relaxation. Even though you must sit at your desk and transcribe and concentrate on what you are doing, take care of YOU. Make sure you get up and stretch at least four times throughout the day. Make sure you drink your water today. If you take vitamins, don't forget to take them today. Be good to YOU.
~Enjoy what you are doing in the HERE AND NOW. Life is constantly changing. It will not always be this for you, so enjoy where you are right NOW.

What was she dictating??

2006-08-21T20:27:00.000-04:00

I had a note where the person dictating (trained medical personnel) was saying "millimeters of hemoglobin" for mmHg. Yikes. I'm hoping that is just a tired mind talking and not an indication of how little she knows about what she is saying!!

Ergocises

2006-08-18T07:55:00.000-04:00

Here is another website that has exercises (called Ergocises) to help you prevent back and neck strain from computer work.

http://www.ergocise.com/shoulders.html

Happy Transcribing!

Computer-related neck strain

2006-08-18T07:47:00.000-04:00

Sometimes my neck really hurts after transcribing all day. I realize, all too often, that my neck has been in a hyperextended position. Ouch! I found a good article on line about proper posture and also about eye strain and computer glasses. Just wanted to share.

http://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/ergonomics.htm

Happy Transcribing!

It's a beautiful day to be working from home!!!

2006-08-17T13:23:00.000-04:00

I am amazed at how fall-like it looks outside today. The wind has really picked up and there's an occasional leaf knocked from the trees by this gusty wind. I'm making myself stay at my desk, LOL, but I have taken several breaks to walk around the yard, pull a few weeds and just soak up this day.

Isn't is wonderful to work at home??

I am reminded of my job on-site at the hospital, down in a basement, with no window in sight. I would have had NO CLUE that the weather looked like this. Would I have ever even seen a hummingbird, a butterfly, a wasp, or tree branches swaying in the wind? No.

I am so happy to be home!

How To Be A Medical Transcriptionist

2006-08-16T06:54:00.000-04:00

As promised, here are some tips to help you get your lines done:

1. Attitude. The biggest thing is probably attitude. Your outlook towards something can make or break it. I have my share of very difficult, mumbling dictators, but let's just pretent that that dictator is standing in for the nosybody that you would be working with if you went to an office to work. There's a pain in the neck at EVERY job. This is your pain in the neck. Just try your best to smile and work around him or her.

2. Learn to let go. Yes, each note should be perfect. That's true. The patient's care depends on it. However, at some point, you must let go of that impossible note and turn it over to QA. Your job is to move on and get your line count done.

3. Do a perfect job the first time around. Don't sit there half asleep, wishing you were somewhere else, and then have to go back and re-read everything you've typed. Make it a challenge to see if you can make every note perfect the first time around. Give a once-over, spellcheck, and move on. Do NOT leave errors as you transcribe, thinking you will go back and get them later. There's a good chance you'll forget about them.

4. Be excited and enthusiastic. Put your heart into the job, but not into one bad note or one bad dictator or one bad day. What you are doing is important! How would you feel if your job was taken away from you? I know I am glad to be home right now!

5. Invest in (or find a good, free) expander program. If you can type "tpttpw" and have it expand to "the patient tolerated the procedure well," you have just saved yourself about 34 keystrokes. Just think if you can get 1200 lines done by actually typing only 1/6 of it!

6. Transcribe in comfort. As much as possible, equip your office area with the best. I purchased a very nice chair from the word go. After all, I'll be in it for 8+ hours a day.

7. Keyboard is key. You may find, as many have, that a light touch keyboard is a must. Also, an ergonomic keyboard is a must for many, including myself. Before my new keyboard, my wrists were burning every night at the end of my shift. No longer!

8. During the hours you are to be working, really work!!! Don't get sidetracked with things that can wait until later. Take breaks, but do it professionally. Don't up and leave your desk and be gone for two hours!

9. If you've ever heard of FlyLady, you can appreciate this. I love her 11 commandments. The 8th one is: "Work as fast as you can to get a job done. This will give you more time to play later." (www.flylady.com).

10. Remember, there's a patient behind each note. When I start a job, I pay attention to the patient's name, age, etc. I think of them as a person through the entire note. It helps to prevent mistakes and makes the job more interesting. We are professionals! Once done, my lips are sealed. Confidentiality is part of the job.

11. Last, but not least: Money. The more you do, the more you make. Isn't that exciting? You don't get that in most offices! Actually, in most offices, the more you do, the more you're given to do, and all for the same pay!