======== Medical Transcription Monthly News ========

In this month's issue we have:

1. This month's ramblings - be prepared, I did ramble this
    month!
2. Transcription Talk
3. Home Study Courses
4. Line Count and Invoice Program
5. This month's free gifts for you
6. Transcription Practice Tapes/WAV Files
7. Quote of the Month
8. Joke of the Month and Bloopers
9.  Recommended Sites

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MY RAMBLINGS

I've had tons of fun writing this month's newsletter! If
you get to the end of this newsletter and you're not
splitting your sides laughing, I don't know what to say!

I've included some great bloopers, not just by
transcriptionists, but by doctors too.

Next...a bit of news! Just stuff really, - what's been
happening in my life. I'll try to keep it brief, but to be
honest, I'm in a chatty mood. Feel free to skip ahead. :)

My computer was about to go to PC heaven so I had to get a
new one. I really like the new one. The old one gave me
such a headache! It was like sitting in an office with a
washing machine and dryer going at the same time. I don't
know how I put up with it for so many years.

I did have it repaired twice, and new fans fitted, to no
avail. I finally gave up and just thought it was my deal in
life to listen to it. It was like a motor that whirred and
whirred, louder and louder.

Even wearing a headset, I could still hear the darn thing.
Some people that called me even asked what the
noise in the background was... it wasn't good. I know
I never turned the poor thing off, so it didn't get much
of a rest, but occasionally at night, from the other end of
the house, I had to come in and shut it down because it kept
me awake. Then I started getting the "hardware errors", and
that really scared me, even though I have two back up hard
drives. Anyway, I gave the back up drive to my computer
guy, and he gave me back this lovely SILENT machine.

I still can't believe it! This is how the other half have been
living all this time! I just didn't know it!  :)

Anyway, I haven't bought a new printer yet as my trusty old
HP laser 2100 from the "old ages" is still living and
breathing, although you can tell it's aging because it
prints every other sheet of paper, which is getting a bit
annoying. I'm not a cheap person by any means, but buying a
PC or a printer is a bit like having to get a new washing
machine, or even worse, an ironing board,  it just doesn't excite me.
Mind you, the new SILENT machine feels like I just got a whole new wardrobe or something! I love it that much.

I took a quick look around Staples today and couldn't
believe I could get a nice colored laser for about $250.00.
Amazing. I think the toner for this old printer costs about
half of that. I might have to think about sending this
printer out to pasture soon.

The most exciting part of my week was my daughter Lois and
her boyfriend moved back from NYC to the next town to us,
Port St. Lucie, and they are here to stay! It's been a
hectic few days, but they are moved in now and Lois is going
back to college again to pursue the nursing program. She
got her 2 year degree last December, but with her traveling
and experiencing NYC she's a bit further behind than
she'd like, but you only live once, so I say experience what
you can while you can. I got to travel a lot in my younger
years with my parents, as my grandparents were Hungarian, so
we'd go from England to Hungary every year. (I grew up in
the UK and was born there), so we'd make the "car trip"
every year... what a horrible long car ride that was! No
wonder kids always ask... "are we there yet?"... hellloooo!
Why the heck didn't we fly? I have no idea, perhaps it was too
expensive. Then when I was 21 I moved to Barcelona, Spain and
stayed for six years.  Great times!

So what else? Oh yes!

I'm also super happy with the medical transcription training
site. We opened on May 16th, 2009. Not being a technical
person, I was concerned about technical glitches, but I
think everything has gone smoothly so far. The only issue
I'm having is with emails. It's not just with the training
site. I noticed today that a LOT of people that signed up
for my newsletter in the last eight weeks have not received
it, because the logs in my account show that over 400 email
addresses bounced, meaning my newsletters didn't get through
to people that had signed up for them. All I can think is
that the Internet Service Providers are cracking down due to
spammers. I get TONS of spam everyday, and I can understand
that, but why oh why don't they let the people that have
signed up and confirmed their email subscriptions receive
what they asked for? It's so darn annoying!

Anyway, let's get on with the newsletter!

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TRANSCRIPTION TALK

LAB TERMS

Lab terms can be confusing, so invest in a good
book when it comes to these. I recommend anything
by Stedman’s. It doesn’t have to be the most
up to date, so check out the online auctions, such
as EBay.

gram-negative
gram-positive
Gram’s stain

(Notice the upper and lower case usage. Get a book
so you don’t slip up and make a mistake.)


MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION STYLES

Everybody has their own transcription style, as I
have mentioned before. However, certain things should
not be messed with. Here’s a few for today.

If a decimal quantity is less than one, use a decimal
and a zero to avoid confusion or it being read as a
whole number.

Example:

Premarin 0.625 mg, not .625 mg
0.5 mg not .5 mg
6 cc not 8.0 cc

HEADINGS

Use all capitals for major headings. Underlining and
bold face is optional. You will probably follow the
format of the previous notes/samples you get from your
doctor.

SUBHEADINGS

Subheadings in a report can be listed vertically or
horizontally. For example:

Head: Normocephalic.
Eyes: PERRLA. EOMs full.
Neck: Supple.

Head: Normocephalic. Eyes: PERRLA. EOMs full.
Neck: Supple.

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CERTIFIED MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION OR REGISTERED
MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTIONIST?

One thing I wanted to talk about today is the difference
between a Certified Medical Transcriptionist and a
Registered Medical Transcriptionist.

The AAMT formerly the American Association for Medical
Transcription is now known as AHDI. Being from the old
school, I tend to catch myself still referring to it as the
AAMT.

Anyway, a lot of people want to know once they finish a
training course if they will be certified; I've had this
question asked hundreds of times over the years. I have
clarified this before, but I wanted to add something else to
this subject.

When you complete a Medical Transcription Training Course,
you receive a Certificate of Completion. After you get this
you should be ready to become a Registered Medical
Transcriptionist with AHDI if you want to.

Completing a training course, does not mean you are now a
Certified Medical Transcriptionist, and that you can put CMT
after your name. In fact, AHDI will not let you become a
CMT until you have had at least two years' experience.
Don't let this bother you. I have been transcribing for 15
years, along with my friends I attended community college with
all those years ago, and we all became home based MTs with our own businesses, and not one of us ever found the time to become a CMT.

If you want to become an RMT, (Registered Medical
Transcriptionist) you can do so after your training. You
can learn more about it here:

http://www.ahdionline.org/ScriptContent/rhub.cfm


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MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION HOME STUDY COURSES

A big thank you to the students that have signed up for my
course!

We have been open now just over a month. I can't believe
how quickly the time goes by.

If anyone is interested in home study training, you can
learn more about it here:

http://www.medical-transcription-at-home.net

If you have any questions about it, feel free to call me:

(772) 466-3435 EST.

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LINE COUNT AND INVOICE PROGRAM FOR MEDICAL
TRANSCRIPTIONISTS

Counts your lines and produces an invoice - so you don't
have to! The latest version is compatible with Word 2007
and Vista.

http://www.count-lines.com

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Freebies Just for You - Lots of stuff this month!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Just click on the link below to go to the Goodie Page and
download whatever you like:

Ebook Freebies For You


================================================

********** TRANSCRIPTION PRACTICE ************

GREAT FOR THE BEGINNER OR EXPERIENCED
TRANSCRIPTIONIST!

I've kept the costs VERY low, so that you can invest in your
future without hurting your wallet. I've not raised the
price of these in three years, so that you can afford them.

I hope you'll be thrilled with them. They are 75% less
expensive from my site than most places on the Net!

You get four transcription practice tapes with an answer key
on CD ROM or 5 CDs if you want digital dictation.

http://www.medical-transcription-practice-tapes.com

These are great for the student, or even if you are a
beginner that would like to try out medical transcription
and see if it's for you, or even for somebody that has been
out of the transcription industry for a while and wants to
brush up on skills. These digital files/tapes will also increase the
skills of an experienced transcriptionist that just wants
more practice.

These are all real-life dictations and the answer key has
left each physicians' format preferences intact so you can
see how various physicians like their work set up. You do
not have to keep to the format when typing the reports, it's
entirely up to you!

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Quote of the Month:

"Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress."

~Thomas Alva Edison~

================================================
JOKE OF THE MONTH

As a little boy climbed onto Santa's lap, Santa
asked the usual, "And what would you like for
Christmas?"

The child stared at him open mouthed and horrified
for a minute, then gasped, "Didn't you get my E-mail?"

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Medical Transcription Bloopers

=============================

I love these ones! We've all made bloopers in our time,
especially when we first started out. I will never forget
mine.

If anybody has more to contribute, please email them to me,
and I will include them in next month's newsletter. I would
love to give recognition to the contributors of these, or
any others that I have, but I have no idea where they came from.

Transcriptionist Typed:

Patient is a prime rib.

Actual transcription should have been:

Patient is a PRIMIP.

--------------------------

Transcriptionist Typed:

Perineum firm, ice cold.

Actual transcription should have been:

Perineum firm, os closed.

---------------------

Transcriptionist Typed:

Periods of vaginal spotting with crabs.

Actual transcription should have been:

Periods of vaginal spotting with cramps.

----------------------

DOCTOR BLOOPERS - I think they make more mistakes than we
do!

1. In reference to a letter Dr. A sent to Dr. B, about a
lady who was having trouble conceiving, Dr. A dictated
in his letter to Dr.B, "between you and I, I'm sure we
can get this lady pregnant".

LOL!!! Oh that one cracks me up.

2. The other foot has the missing toes.

3. I will remove the tonsils, and while under anesthesia I
will inspect the adenoids as well.

4. The patient states that diarrhea tends to run in his
family.

5. She has problems urinating on the Cipro.

6. She had difficulty completing simple calculations. For
example, when I asked her what 3 times 3 plus 1 equals,
she said 'ten'.

7. I discussed the physiology of Viagra with the patient at
length.

8. BREASTS: Regular rhythm.

9. Oh, transcriptionist, could you sneak into that last
patient's rectum and add a scant amount of guaiac-
negative stool? Thanks.

10. She is able to raise her shoulders above her head
without difficulty.

11. Her breasts look beautiful. I will follow her for one
month.

The next two cracked me up!

12. Genitourinary exam: Normal penis. No acute pathology.
No hernia. Full range of motion

13. She is careful when talking about her husband and her
gag reflex is normal.

14. Her mother looked at her ears today and brings them in
today to be checked.

15. Assessment: Right 4th toe contusion, possible fracture.
Plan: Buddy tape the right 4th toe to the left 3rd toe.

16. This is a well-developed gentleman who is obviously
pregnant.

17. This is a well-developed elderly female. She is
oriented to the year, and unsure of where she is. She
is unsure of the president, but mentions Hulk Hogan as a
possibility.

18. The patient was evaluated by a psychiatrist. In a
nutshell...

19. Wound care instructions were reviewed with the wart.

20. I've authorized two more trips to the chiropractor to
help finish him off.



I hope they made you smile as much as they did me!

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RECOMMENDED HOME BUSINESSES AND OTHER NEAT
SITES

A SECRETARIAL BUSINESS

It's amazing how many people combine home businesses. You
can combine your medical transcription career with medical
billing or just as easily with a secretarial service. It
all works really well together.

My friend Leva combines her secretarial business with her
web design business. It's good to be open to options. You
can learn more about starting your own secretarial service
here:

http://www.medical-transcription-at-home.com/sec.html

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Here is a neat site for parents that want to work from home:

http://www.wahm.com

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ADVANCE MAGAZINE FOR HEALTH INFORMATION
PROFESSIONALS

Don’t forget to subscribe to this magazine. It doesn’t cost
anything, but you have to tell them you are an Independent
Medical Transcriptionist to be able to receive it.

http://www.advanceforhim.com/

They do post lots of jobs as well as worthy news items.

===============================================
 

http://www.medical-transcription-at-home.com

If you haven't done so already, grab a copy of my ebook and
get started with your own home transcription business!


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Wishing you a safe, successful, and fun-filled month!

Michele

 

 

 

 

Copyright 2009