Any suggestion for a monitor that

Definitely recommend second monitor [2008-08-19]
You can buy a VGA adapter at Best Buy (plugs in USB) that you can hook a second monitor up to without having to install a new video card. As for good prices on monitors check ebay. I'm getting ready to buy my third one!!!

suggestion [2008-08-18]
If they do business in your state, which they might just by employing you, you can get jurisdiction by filing in your local small claims court. They also may ignore it, but if they aren't too big they may not and at that point pay you. I assume you are no longer doing work for them. Quig

Suggestion.....sm [2008-07-28]
Ask your boss to not put those worktypes in your queue. Much easier that way!!

instant text suggestion. [2008-07-24]
Since you already have the disk, maybe if you call the company for IT they will sell you one. Worth a try. I have found them to be very helpful.

I second this suggestion. Just pick a time zone and let people know. (nm) [2008-05-24]
x

Monitor...... [2008-05-16]
Buy a shield or screen for the monitor that minimizes glare from the lightsource.

Any suggestion for a monitor that [2008-05-15]
does not cause eyestrain. It would be much appreciated.

Size of monitor [2008-04-24]
What size of monitor are you using???I am seriously considering buying a new one and would appreciate input as to what people have, including brand suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Suggestion - sm [2008-04-17]
As the doc what he was paying or what he feels is reasonable and go from there. Per line is better, and gross line is even better yet.

suggestion [2008-04-08]
When doing a new account or a difficult dictator, I've found it is just as fast for me to type the report without struggling over blanks, just type what I can hear and leave blanks. Then, go back and relisten to the entire report. Many times the blank will be dictated later where it is more clear, and your ears will adjust to the dictator more than you realize. This cuts down on my frustration level tremendously ... good luck to you!

Board suggestion: Is there any way the time of the posts can be shown? (sm) [2008-04-04]
Sometimes it ishard (almost impossible) to tell the order of replies of posts, especially with thenesting.Can the time of the post be shown along with the date? The different time zones wouldn't have to be taken into consideration;just choose one.

You might also try turning off the suggestion window SM [2008-01-23]
or whatever it is you have for a while. I use Shorthand, but it's pretty much the same thing. That way you could give yourself a list of often-used abbreviations to memorize and get very comfortable with and/or a rule that tells you what a lot of your abbreviations are going to be. As you get comfortable with those few, you'll end up loving them and wanting MORE, MORE, MORE. With that attitude, you can turn the window back on or give yourself yet another list and another rule or two to get used to. Just think, if you only used abbreciations for the words the patient (tp or ?), hydrochlorothiazide (hycx or ?), and blood pressure (bp or ?) you'd never type those three out again and would be saving that much time with each of them. Start small and unspook yourself.

Very good suggestion! [2008-01-09]
nm

I tried your suggestion with listening carefully [2008-01-08]
I'm not sure what I'm listening for, but I didn't notice any difference. I think the shaded out options must have to do with the company preferences. They've probably deselected the options, which I don't understand. Thanks for trying.

A suggestion -Hang in There! [2007-12-27]
I was very interested in reading your post. I have been an MT for 35 years, working as an MT, MTSO, editor, trainer and finally QA person. I can tell by reading your post that you are going to be an outstanding MT, one of the future leaders of our profession. Do not stoop to the measure of cheating on your reports by bypassing research and diligence. Those alone will help you to pick up your speed. Once you start your own mental spellchecker you won't have to keep stopping and checking, but do so now so that you will produce the same high quality work without having to sacrifice time. As far as getting experience and feedback, my suggestion to you, and indeed all new MTs, is that you need to work inhouse for a while. There you will be surrounded by supportive (usually) peers who do not mind stopping to help you out. You are usually paid an hourly rate so that your research is not free and you can feel more at ease about doing the kind of research you want. This give and take is usually only available inhouse. Do not just look at hospitals, check local clinics, doctor's offices, rehab facilities, any place where doctor's work. I think once you have some inhouse experience you will feel a lot more confident and will be capable of making the kind of money you need to succeed in this career. Also at that point, the question of your experience won't be a factor. To start out, I think all MTs need to have some inhouse experience with input and feedback from their peers, along with an hourly rate of pay so that you can go through the learning curve and not starve to death or drop out. This is a very, very difficult job and all of us have our own horror stories of when we were newbies. It is perseverence and determination that will separate the wheat from the chaff. Just hang in there. You are in the hardest part right now, it can only go up from here. But with your excellent work ethic and diligence, you are bound for great things. E-mail me if you need to talk to someone. I would be glad to talk.

LOL! I've already had to buy a bigger monitor [2007-12-07]
my problem is that my keyboard shelf only allows space for the keyboard and I love this desk - is a corner desk - now with more constant use of mouse my shoulder aches because it is higher- I have to figure out how to make space for the mouse - any suggestions? Need a man to jigsaw me an extension, I guess.

Monitor... please check out an ad...sm [2007-11-26]
on jobs.mtstars.com... Two inappropriate ads placed. Both came up under search under sears all and Workers' Comp. Thanks for maintaining a great board and your attention on this!

How to measure a computer monitor? [2007-11-23]
Do you measure from 1 side to the other or inside only. Thanks.

suggestion for those who work for a service [2007-11-22]
I had problems earlier this week when I had to reinstall my Java and ended up with a weird word processing program that also attached itself from Sun and also when I STOOPIDLY downloaded a Bittorrent file and of course could not remove either through the usual way and of course, it caused my system to almost have a nervous breakdown and after hours of trying to figure it out myself, I ended up calling a remote techinical service. The name of the service is HiWired and I used them in the past about 3 years ago when I was having problems with my desktop. The initial person that I spoke to told me the charge would be $73 and I told her that would be okay. The tech installed AVG Free on my puter and told me about the horrors of the bit torrent files etc. He also installed another free antispyware program on my machine and in all, spent about 2 to 2 and a half hours the other night working on the machine. When everything was back to normal, I checked my account and sure enough, $73 was all that I was charged -- NOTHING was added to the bill like some places that will give you a rate but the more work that is done, then the bill goes up. Also, the wonderful thing about HiWired is that they are based in MA, they work 24/7 and all their techs are AMERICAN technicans. Sorry for the long post.

Suggestion for those working for a service (sm) [2007-11-21]
Unless you are quite computer savvy, it does not pay to just blindly follow advice you may see from MTs who are alsocomputer gurus as to configuring your computer for efficiency. These so-called efficient programs are not always easily compatible with the platforms services use. Always call your company's IT help department and ask beforemaking a change. For instance, my company uses ExText, and I was not too smart to switch over Mozilla Foxfire. I'm sure it is a great program for independent MTs who can set up whole systems with their eyes closed, but it has caused some headaches for me in my fairly computer ignorant state. Then when my computer got slow I figured it was a virus, so I downloaded this highly recommended software, PC Doctor. Again, I'm sure it's an excellent program, but it disabled all sorts of things on my computer that I need. And it wasn't even a free program. Grr. My IT person told me they use a free program. Wish I'd done that one instead. And to think I do these things to speed my computer up! I'm such an id-iot.

flickering monitor [2007-10-27]
Are your plugs pushed in all the way--since brand new monitor--I'd think loose connection first. Or could be the wrong resolutions settings were chosen.

Suggestion/Abbreviations [2007-10-26]
I'd like to make a suggestion to MTStars. There are so many abbreviations used on this web site and I often am unsure what they refer to. I'd like to suggest that you create a board with the definitions of these abbreviations that we can refer to as we are reading. I've been in this business for 18+ years and still many of the abbreviations are unfamiliar to me. I am sometimes able to figure them out, but sometimes I'm just not sure. I find your newsletter very interesting and helpful and a help tool like this would only add to it. Thanks for taking the time to consider this.

I've only seen that pinky-purple shade when the monitor [2007-10-26]
s

Platform wants to monitor us to increase production [2007-10-23]
according to them. This is VR and there is nothing paywise in for the MTs, nothing else except we are supposed to use certain keys instead of mouse. I hit over 500 the other day for an hour If the VR is good, no straight typing, I can bump up the audio to fast and can make it yo-yo. Anyone else being monitored??

Oh what an excellent suggestion! ... [2007-10-06]
Thanks for sharing this. This might be a short-term solution for me until I can find another job outside of this particular industry. Thanks again.

Yes, you are right... [2008-08-19]
You are right on the RAM issue. Go to www.crucial.com. There you will be able to enter your brand, model, etc. of your computer. It will give you the type, maximum installable RAM, and number of slots for RAM. If I were you, I would pop the side off of the computer and take a quick look yourself to make sure there is an available slot(s). At the point where it gives you all of the specifics, you will also see the option to by the RAM from Crucial. They have a good price on RAM, so if you could order it right from them if you wanted. As far as the multiple windows, I would absolutely recommend a second monitor. It is as easy as plugging in another video card to the computer (maybe popping in a driver disk when asked) and plugging the second monitor in. Check out http://www.surpluscomputers.com/store/main.aspx?p=ItemDetailitem=MON10018 for an awsome deal on cheap LCD's. Maybe not too pretty, but definitely affordable. Anyway, that's what I would do.

Oops... [2008-08-19]
Okay, yes I know it is buy and not by. Also, I should have said plug the video card into the motherboard, not the computer. Also, make sure that you get the correct video card that corresponds with your monitor (either VGA-analogue or DVI-digital).

Definitely recommend second monitor [2008-08-19]
You can buy a VGA adapter at Best Buy (plugs in USB) that you can hook a second monitor up to without having to install a new video card. As for good prices on monitors check ebay. I'm getting ready to buy my third one!!!

$7600????? [2008-08-16]
Is there a local community college nearby? You can get all the training you need without that price tag. Or see if a local hospital is offering training. Night ward clerks at hospitals tend to make better pay, if that is an option for you. My daughter had a friend who was only 19 at the time who worked night shift at a local hospital by monitoring CCU patients. If a monitor went off, she notified someone. Boring job but it helped pay her way through college. Got paid really well.

Just a sulking sister [2008-08-11]
Yes, thank you. I have been applying. I will take your suggestion and go back and look at more companies to apply at.

relax, and 1st of all, [2008-08-08]
remember that your liaison is there to help you!! TALK to him/her when you are having a problem. Most always when you go back into the same WT, the same report WILL come back to you. Even if it does not, ignore the demographics and go to the text box, and hit Alt-R. it will, like previous poster said, restore it all. If you don't have the right sound file, x out of it, and from your text box, hit alt-H to restore correct sound file. keep a copy of window commands and hot key commands close at hand. my suggestion also, is that when making bold/expanders, use an identifier for the bold, ie bsubjective or bsub or subjb. then later when you are maybe doing a secondary account that does not use the bold headers, you won't have to re-do your Expanders for that account. i too came from DQS and after this stuff became second hand, now i love bayscribe. feel free to e/m me too.

bankruptcy [2008-07-23]
any suggestion what to do then?

Keyboard Tray [2008-07-22]
Hi, I wanted to get some opinions on a keyboard tray. I am using an ergonomic split keyboard that rests on my desktop. I use wrist braces, and some days my wrists still ache. I wanted the opinion of anyone who had used a keyboard tray versus not and if there was a difference. Is there such a tray that you don't have do drill into your desk to attach it? Any benefits that justify the cost of the tray? I have my monitor on a monitor stand to help prevent neck strain. That seems to help. Just looking for any ideas to help save my wrists. Thanks in advance!

Too much [2008-07-16]
Since I only receive 2 faxes a month and send none, I can in no way justify $5 per fax. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I ran into this system when I had a sleep study [2008-07-16]
Last winter outside of Orlando Florida. I waited to be set up for the initial sleep consultation, and the technician who takes vitals went into the template and asked me questions and filled it in. I told her what I did for a living. She smiled and said so does she, now... except it took under 3 minutes to do my whole history and physical etc. with better accuracy because she had drop down menus for just about every possible suggestion I had etc. She gets paid hourly as a tech and did not get a raise when this system came in. But she does it for the job security. I asked the doc and he said it is not only cost effective, but safer not to send work outside of the office or even out of the exam room because of HIPPA reasons. I can understand this. Knowing all of this, for some reason, I did not feel in the least intimidated or put out. I say the serenity prayer. If and when these systems are the norm rather than an oddity, another door will open for we transcriptionists which is better than what we have now. We have to believe as things evolve better for the medical record-keeping, indeed so will the jobs evolve better for us, even into a new career. To not believe that would be fatalistic. Somewhere in fate, IMHO we have to be willing to accept the times moving with or without us, and what our part will be in a positive way, rather than think it will be a negative thing.

Yeah, working nights would be great if [2008-07-15]
the rest of the world was on that shift!! I just switched back to days after 5 or more years of graveyard. I loved it except for what you mentioned. My only suggestion to the OP would be try to stay up the entire night before you start working, sleep that day, and then work your shift. That way, you will start getting you internal clock used to those hours. It's not easy, so be patient. It will take about a week, maybe a little longer to get used to it. You'll probably feel a little fatigued and sluggish, but just try to hang in there. And don't be scared. I remember when I first started working graveyard, I had this feeling like I should NOT be awake right now. I felt physically okay, but emotinoally I felt like I was not doing something right... don't really know how to explain it... Anyhow, good luck!!

For some reason mine won't let me leave the box [2008-07-04]
for the spell check, another browsing window or not. It's just locked up! I've even tried the alt and tab, locks up, goes BEEP BEEP all that fun stuff. Sooooooo frustrating, but thank you for your suggestion.

Personally speaking... sm [2008-06-29]
and don't hit ME over the head, but I love it when the ER docs talk fast. Once you're used to their dictation, which you have to remember they have repeated over and over again a bizillion times, you will wish they would hurry up because you already know what they're going to say before they say it. I have done ER work for many years and I will make a suggestion, if I may. If you have this option, ask for samples of every ER doc and their usual ROS and PE sections. Once you have this and can follow them along and figure out the holes, the holes will become less and you will say ahAA to what their mumbojumbo. Then after you're used to them, you'll actually find yourself speeding them up to mickey mouse speed. I find that the faster they talk, the faster I can get through the dictation and make money. For me, it's better than them sitting there, eating their dinner, reading the newspaper, while trying to find the patient's vitals or something. That's just my personal opinion, of course. Take it or leave it. But I think there is hope and you may grow to love them after while.

Great idea...sm [2008-06-26]
I could use some motivation myself!! We can't actually put on new boards, but I will pass the suggestion on to Admin and MT Stars Support.

jammed dot matrix printer [2008-06-20]
I was wondering if anybody else uses a dot matrix printer. I have been doing this account for 10 years. We are constantly having the labels jam all the time. We use labels that the doctor's office provides. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Here's what I have done [2008-06-19]
Report them to your state's Attorney General's office, the Federal Trade Commission, then call your and their local sheriff's departments and ask if you may have a fraud situation - make sure you get the company name in there when asking (make sure you get names if speaking over the phone). When finished with this, send the company a certified letter letting them know who you have reported to, including names of individuals you spoke to, departments, etc. and give them a time limit to pay before you continue with further legal action. You will get a letter from the FTC stating that unless your complaint is widespread and includes a lot of people, they cannot take action but will keep your report and monitor for other complaints. Hello permanent record. The Attorney General's office will check them out with the state to see if there are other complaints and send you a letter. They may also send them a letter. Hello permanent record. The sheriff's department may tell you they do or do not think you have a fraud situation, but regardless will keep the company name and check them out for suspicious other complaints. Hello permanent record. This may all seem futile and time consuming, but trust that when you involve the big guns (which is why you need names), you will be paid posthaste. All of this will be a permanent record tied to their business name. Bad news for them, your owed finances for you. Most of them think we poor little independents have no resources - just not true. Sorry so lengthy - could go into more actually, but won't bore you. Oh - DO report to the BBB. Future clients WILL look there.

VR tips [2008-06-18]
I work on Edit Script and the average pay for most companies seems tobe .04 cpl. Iget .0425. Your production really depends on the account you have, the dicator and you learining the shortcut keys. I still have a hard time not using the mouse! But on the other hand, I am not a stong typist, so I prefer VR over typing. If I had to do straight typing I probably would not make it in this business, so VR is the way for me. I had to switch companies because my first one had difficult dictators and I was not making much money. Things are better now, but still a work in progress. One suggestion I will make is that you use the Escription forum for productivity tips and also there is a link that will tell you of your progress if you log into it. The system can read your skills as you use it and give you a report on your progress. It will tell you if you are using the mouse too much, etc. It really is a great system with a lot of great tools for MTs. Hang in there---Sue

You need to get a KVM switch. [2008-06-08]
This allow you to hook up two towers to one monitor. All you do is hit the scroll lock twice and it switches between computers. Hope that helps.

Headers [2008-05-26]
I have only been doing this for 11 months, so I do not know what it used to be like. I would have a suggestion regarding the headers. Use templates. If your company does not supply them, then you could make them up yourself, and you could also use an Expander for the headings. The other day I saw a job opening that stated you could do all reports in one document, but so far that has been the only one I have seen. I agree with lousy audio quality. I do not understand how come the MTSOs put up with the lousy quality and submit their MTs to it. I believe there needs to be much more done about the quality of the dictations, whether it is a fast dictator with loud background noise or just poor audio quality. So much more could be achieved by the American MT workforce if the quality of the dictations was better.

EMDAT/InScribe foot pedal issues [2008-05-22]
I have an Infinity foot pedal that I am using with EMDAT/InScribe. The pedal works, just not very well. There is a 2-3 second delay and sometimes it will not stop the audio. I cannot play the audio file at all if I am not in the InScribe program window. Sometimes I will lose the audio all together if I am on the web researching things. It is very frustrating! I have tried every suggestion on the support page. I have updated everything on my computer and ran every scan possible. I do not want to buy a new pedal as this one works. I hope there is some kind of fix for this. Any suggestions would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!! I am running Windows XP professional with Service Pack 3, DSL, Trend antivirus, and the latest versions of Windows Media Player, IE, InScribe, etc. Thank you Thank You THANK YOU in advance!

Monitor...... [2008-05-16]
Buy a shield or screen for the monitor that minimizes glare from the lightsource.

Is there a reasonably priced digital recorder with a memory card/stick out there [2008-05-16]
that works well for transcription? I've been trying to research them and find Olympus has some, but pricey. The Sony's are less expensive, but they have proprietary software where you have to convert all your files to a format you can use, and I'm not sue I'd know how to do that. I just need a decent digital recorder for one doc to use and I'd like a memory card/stick so I can just stop in and swap out the cards to get the dictation. Does anyone know of one that doesn't cost hundreds? Or have a better suggestion for how to do just one doctor's dictation digitally? I don't need one with all the mailboxes/authors, etc., since it's only one doctor. Thank you!

Size of monitor [2008-04-24]
What size of monitor are you using???I am seriously considering buying a new one and would appreciate input as to what people have, including brand suggestions. Thanks in advance.

insomnia [2008-04-22]
That is exactly what I tried last night, but should have done it sooner, it was great, but I waited until 5 a.m., which helped. Tonight I put it in warm milk, maybe I won't get up at all until the morning. Thanks for that suggestion.

Instructions on creating a field. [2008-04-20]
Using Word 2002, you would do this by creating a field in the report. First, you must enable Field Codes by going to Tools, Options, View, under Show check Field Codes and Shading Always. Then hit OK. Next, in your template or blank document in Word, go to Insert, Field, select Go To Button. The Go To Button will be grayed out on your screen. However, you will be able to see the Go To Button field on your monitor screen if you enabled the field correctly as described above. To use the Go To Button field in your report, to land in this field when transcribing, use F11. This will place your cursor right in the Go To Field box in your report. As soon as you starting typing, the Go To Field box will be replaced with the text. This field is very useful when you only need to fill in text in a paragraph. I use it all the time in my templates to save time. And we all know time is money in this business. Of course, these instructions could be slightly different in other versions of Word. I use Word 2002. But this is the basic concept of setting up a field in a document. I hope this is of some help to you.javascript:editor_insertHTML('text',''); javascript:editor_insertHTML('text','');