CLKTranscription

Below is a post found on another site:

		     Medical Transcription Errors

1.  Bleeding began in the rectal area and continued all the way to Los Angeles.
2.  Since she can't conceive I've sent her to a futility expert.
3.  Surgery will be performed under General Anastasia.
4.  I saw your patient today, who's still under our car for physical therapy.
5.  I've asked him to call and let me know who he's feeling this week.
6.  There was some concern about financial matters, but patient was told she could apply for pubic assistance.
7.  After her last child she had her tubs tied.
8.  Infection resulted after she pimped a few popples.
9.  Rectal exam reveals normal size thyroid.
10. His hands only feel better when he operates his cash register.
11. I instructed her to lie on the floor with her legs in the air, but she said that's how she got pregnant last year.
12. Social history reveals this 1 year old patient does not smoke or drink and is presently unemployed.
13. Patient called and left word that he had expired last week.
14. Patient came in today complaining of severe vaginal affection.
15. When she fainted her eyes rolled around the room.
16. While she was in the emergency room, she was examined, x-rated, and sent home.
17. Prior to surgery she was prepped and raped in the usual fashion.
18. He's rather sedentary and drives a bust all day.
19. There's no weakness in her gluteus meatiest.
20. This chubby youngster needs a slim adult to look up to as a roll model.

Although these are comical to someone who has not had the unfortunate error in their records, it is plain to see that these errors are serious if not caught by a proofreader.

Take into account errors in a pharmacist reading a prescription, and an error in transcription of a dosage into a patient’s record, these errors could be life threatening.  And error not caught in the proofreading of a document such as a medication dosage could lead to a patient or pharmacist calling for verification and the incorrect medication or dosage spoken and delivered.  An error of where pain may be - left or right - or an omission of allergies, etc could lead to death or serious side effects.

In the professional transcripts, when an error occurs, it could mean loss of revenue, incomplete data for research or even  credit for the work or information by another person. For example: if a writer submits dictation of an interview and the names, dates or other data is incorrect, the entire report becomes questionable.  A financial report, seminar, coaching call faces the same scrutiny.

A Transcriptionist is the recorder of facts and “evidence” in a persons professional career, and in medical instances - a person’s health history.

It is imperative that we maintain confidentiality, accuracy and quality in every item we produce.  Not only our professionalism counts on it, but those of our clients as well.

In this day and age, many professionals, specifically doctors, find the importance of having their words transcribed in an accurate and detailed manner one of the toughest parts of their profession.

The insurance companies and even the hospital administrators they may work with are demanding all items be dictated and transcribed, documenting every treatment, decision and prescription.  Having this completed and documented in the patient’s chart in a timely fashion is pertinent to the care and treatment of patients for several reasons:

1.  In dealing with patients who have any type of disorder, having the written document of instructions, treatment plan etc helps the physician know that their patient understands what is going on in their care after they leave the appointment, and offers a way for the patient to read and then ask additional questions that they may not have thought of on the spur of the appointment.

2.  It documents as above and affords the physician the knowledge that he has covered all bases available and given the detailed instructions, assisting in any liability claims he may come across in the future.

3.  It allows all parties involved to document and review care given and projected treatment and assessments of the patient so that other medical professionals do not have to redo testing and treatments that may have already been done.

A great transcriptionist will take the audio of a physician, tape or electronically recorded and develop his reports noting every detail  that has been dictated.  They will review the medications prescribed and if there appears to be a “problem” (dose, frequency etc) will transcribe what is dictated but will flag this for the physician to review.  They will review and proof their work so that the physician and his staff can then review and verify accuracy and completeness, and possibly finding a “hole” in the plan and be able to follow through.

Although we all like to believe a physician is “be all and know all”, a great transcriptionist understands that with every day activities a doctor encounters, allowing him to read his words after they are spoken is an added tool that allows him to care for his patient in the most effective manner.

More and more demands on the physician to document his work and the cost incurred for this and rising costs of a physician’s other responsibilities, is the cause for many to “shop around” and even go off shore to have their transcription done.

A great transcriptionist takes pride in their abilities and negotiates a price for the physician to allow him and his patients to proceed with the best care possible.  Records forwarded off shore for transcription do have and will have errors in the plan of care, social history, and grammar that could potentially affect the care of the patient.

These errors are unavoidable when work is sent off shore due to the inability of understanding our terms, phrases and language dialect, which in the long run adds ore cost to the physician when you add in the value of having that work proofread by office staff or by the doctor himself.

A great US transcriptionist is important to our US physicians, and the ability to negotiate our rates to accommodate  our clients is just part of what a great transcriptionist considers part of their job.

CarolLee Kidd

CLK Transcription, Inc.

HTTP://WWW.CLKTranscritpion.com

Next up…types of errors in reports and the possible  repercussions of same.

Look for posts on the non-medical transcriptionist…coming soon.

Just when most transcriptionist thought they were set with all new updates from Microsoft etc, and upgrades to Vista were downloaded.  As a transcriptionist you try to keep upgraded and up to date on all equipment, which does of course get costly - we find out that 75 percent or more of the clients formats of voice files do not work with Vista.  Many transcriptionist have lost the ability to perform work for various hospitals, and hospitals have found that their systems are not compatible.  Microsoft was invited to view the chat boards and answer questions, so that literally thousands of transcriptionists can keep their income and an enormous amount of personal medical information of US citizens can be kept within our boundaries and HIPAA safe - they have not responded as of yet.

The USA Transcriptionist goes through a rigorous training, spend thousands of dollars annually to maintain equipment and programs, only to watch their jobs and your personal information get sent overseas.  Now with the inability to process the work, are more companies going to look overseas for their transcription?  Maybe we should have Microsoft send new products overseas only for the first three years and when all of the bugs are worked out offer it to the US population.  Maybe we can all keep our jobs and out personal information will be just that much more safer.  I wonder if Microsoft even cares?

I know the US transcriptionist does.

We are Transcriptionists or MLS.  We are faces unseen, but hearts that beat.  We are NOT a piece of machinery, but if you choose to think of us such, then I suggest you think of your machines as following:  In order for you to have your reports, you need us.  We perform best when well treated.  We don’t require much care, but the care we do require must be gentle.  Like any well-oiled machinery, we need gentle hands and warm touches.  It gets lonely, very lonely being a machine by itself.  Most of the time, the only contacts we get from you are your emails or IMs to us.  The wording of those emails is critical to the functioning of our machines.  A quick, thoughtless brash email lends our machinery to slow down and run boggy.  (Many a personal relationship has been broken by email and IM communication.  It’s not a good way to run a business.)  Just like any piece of equipment, maintenance is important.  That maintenance comes in the form of our pay, and we only ask that it be on time and correct.  We produce for you.  We need our maintenance.  Sure, some of us may require a little more maintenance than others, but you end up benefiting from the results.  A little thank you now and then would be nice.  And, certainly at the holidays, we don’t expect you all to be able to give us a complete overhaul, but certainly a card, a pen, a special little pad of paper, a calendar, or coffee cup would be much appreciated.  When feeding us input (or QA as you like to call it), we learn much better and produce more when it is given with tenderness and teaching.  Some machines learn best with a variety of teaching methods.  (Even speech recognition needs not only the voice, but the typist’s words as well.)  We Transcriptionist machines may need some visual, as well as verbal teaching; and if we only get one, it may take us longer to learn.  It doesn’t mean we are faulty; we just each have different methods of learning.  We will give you many years of service and perhaps a lifetime guarantee, if only you would follow the manufacturer’s instructions.  Thank you.

A Transcription Machine

CLK transcription provides quality transcription to the average person, medical professional, research professional, student - anyone who has a voice and a desire to have that voice read and heard.

I have recently acquired the ability to extract voice files from all forms of media - DVD, CD, cassettes, etc - and transcribe these into a professional, quality document.

I receive audio files downloaded from digital recorders, PDAs, etc - via FTP, e-mail. And yes I accept cassettes, and hard copy files (handwritten, etc.) for transcription purposes.

I train transcriptionists for professional offices, as well as for Independent Contractor status.

I feel the transcription industry is a necessary tool for all professionals.

Seminars, meeting, and phone conversations transcribed, for reference or teaching tools for individuals in corporate settings who may not have been able to attend.

Medical records to document every aspect of a patient’s treatment and care.

Resumes updated annually to improve an individual’s professional presence and accurately define duties and responsibilities in a position.

Reports for the already stressed student or professor, transcribed and edited to produce the documentation they require, and meet deadlines for submission.

Articles for web pages, magazines, books, etc - to ensure the best possible product for submission.

I enjoy working with people, allowing them to express themselves in word form, and allowing others to benefit from their product.

I truly believe that quality of transcription is the most important feature I can offer, capturing audio and accurately transcribing the information - with grammar and spell check done, and if desired - editing for proper speech and terminology, without affecting the ideas and information needing to be expressed and documented. And yes English-Second Language is accepted, and in many cases translation is offered to English as well.

Yes, we can offer conversion of PDF to Word document as well.

With the ability to transcribe for any individual, anywhere in the US, contact me for information on how I may assist you with your needs today. www.clktranscription.com

I look forward to assisting you.

After being the employee, independent contractor, etc - It is nice that I am now an owner. I love what I do and learn so much doing it. I think that is a big part of why anyone does anything. They have to enjoy it, and learn from it.

I take pride in the knowledge that my clients are getting the quality they want, and I am able to stay competitive with the overseas agencies as well. I firmly believe US work should stay in the US.

I am not sure I would ever want my medical information being seen by those in another country that I have no legal guard over. 78 percent of our country’s “stolen identities” are stolen by overseas persons. To think many of our health care providers are comfortable with sending information overseas because of cost is a problem. I am determined to do my part to be competitive in any way possible.

I also want to be able to assist those interested in this wonderful profession obtain the best possible training and experience in real-life transcription.  Many of the “newbies” pay a ton for training to be turned away from other companies due to lack of experience.  Also, the proper tools and equipment and training on the programs used are not necessarily taught.

I provide that experience and pay them while they learn, offering many of the programs a transcriptionist will need and the training on those programs as well.

Other companies offer a mentoring program with no pay and strict demands.  I offer compensation while working with the schedules of those who have other responsibilities as well.  All the while allowing them to understand that they are an Independent Contractor - a business themselves - and that what they earn is dependent not only on their skills but their availability, showing them that no one can demand “top dollar” for services if an availability or skill set is not offered in return.