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It is hard to transcribe radiology notes as compared to usual notes?

Posted By: cassy on 2006-03-19
In Reply to:

Can a new MT without radiology transcription experience be able to do it?




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A few notes below:
1. Be consistent with training.
2. Use the BOS appropriately.
3. Offer all types of dictators, especially blubberers, ESLs, whisperers, hackers, and speed talkers.
4. DO NOT GLOSS OVER the realities of this profession, especially financial gain.
5. Be supportive – but let us know that we are not going to be professionals right at the start. This only comes through training, dedication, a willing to listen to QA comments and implement them, love for the profession, and years of MTing under your belt

Progress Notes

Well I did H&P's along with various specialty progress notes. So would I be considered Multispecialty? I've only done H&P's, consultations, and some discharge plans. No Op Notes. Which is better to pursue? Acute Care or Multispecialty?


Thanks.


Has anyone ever used Notes Link?....sm

Sorry if this is on the wrong board.  I am starting a new job that will be using Notes Link.  I have never used this platform.  I would appreciate any good or bad news about it or even some hints.


Thanks.


Soap notes
I just finished taking another employment test. I think I failed. Does any one else have trouble with soap notes? My school didn't give us much practice with those.
Soap notes:(
I figured it out. Thanks for all of the help.

:(
I love doing psych notes
they do tend to be boring, but are usually in pretty plain English and are pretty long, so you get lots of lines. Easy money.
We are suppose to be using Notes Link. I have never used it before so I am not sure how....sm
friendly it is. 
Hospital work: Op notes, Discharges, Consultations, History and Physicals. nm
s
Just type what you hear. Lots of things are repeated in differnent notes.
s
Basic 4 hospital work - history and physical, discharge summaries, operative notes, and consults. nm
s
My experience compared to yours

Last year I went to work for an MTSO where the transcription was put into documents by VR.  I had to edit all the reports and the ones that were totally messed up had to be deleted and retyped.  I was paid $8/hr although the benefits were outstanding (company paid for continued education without a waiting period so from day #1 you could go to college and they would pay for it, so most of the MTs were people in nursing college).


They had a daily minimum of 1600 lines a day.  After 4 months I only hit it twice and quit to work from home again to make more money.  I'm averaging $20/hr with good benefits.  When I worked as an IC and paid by the page, my hourly average was $40 and I only had to work 6 hours a day.  Those days are gone!


My point here is that you should probably stay where you are a full year and take advantage of the opportunity to learn how to increase your productivity.  You will be much more marketable with 1 year's experience and can get a better line rate.    Many MTSOs do pay based on productivity with benefits so try to work towards doing what you need to do to increase your productivity and overall skill and knowledge.


Good luck.


I would transcribe just as he said it.


How long would it take to transcribe
30 minutes of dictation?  I'm taking on a new IC job, and the supervisor asked how many minutes of dictation I would like.  I'm guessing I should start at 30, but I'm not sure about how long that would take.  I've had about 8 months' acute care experience.  I don't want to take on more than I can handle.  Any ideas?  Thanks.
Please don't transcribe while you drink.
Please...friends don't let friends drink and type!

I see you only transcribe 100 reports with that school ...
not nearly enough. Also, the fact that I have been unable to find anyone who has heard of it means that most companies do not hire graduates of that school. JMHO.
Let's hope it's YOUR medical records she gets to transcribe.
You should be bashed. Lying isn't going to do her any good. If they test her and she fails, or even if they hire her, if she has a crappy (AHP) education she's not going to keep the job anyway.

She's not going to "fool" anyone into thinking she has 3 years experience, especially when she's fresh out of a crappy MT school and doesn't know what she needs to know to work as an MT. Even if they didn't check her references in the beginning, they probably will once she starts working and it's obvious she doesn't know what she's doing.
Got to transcriptiongear.com and then click on Transcribe Equipment. The C-phone is down the list a
s
Radiology
Radiology is certainly easier than working for a hospital, doing all the specialties. Naturally it also pays less. I think it's good experience to have because you can concentrate on anatomical terms. It can help prepare an MT for doing operative reports. But you can get behind in practicing drug names and keeping up with the new drugs.

I am doing radiology right now, and I like it, but many MTs don't because most of the reports are short. I have observed that many fast typists tend to like longer reports because they seem to rack up their lines faster.

Another drawback to radiology is that many jobs are being lost to technology. Therefore, you need to be so good at it that the MDs can rarely catch an error. If they have to do a lot of editing and corrections, they might as well use VR technology.
radiology
radiology reports are usually shorter than acute care transcription, but it goes deeper into anatomy and physiology. it would be best to start with basic 4 (hp, consult, discharges, ops) to become more familiar. it takes a lot of people about 2-3 years to even be really comfortable with acute care. good luck
Radiology question

I hear that Radiology is very hard, very specialized.  Is this true?  If so, why?  If so, should a Radiology MT get a higher rate of pay?


MEDITECH for Radiology

I've searched the boards and don't see any real recent posts regarding Meditech.  I am starting a new radiology account which uses Meditech.  All I know is that I WILL NOT be using the Meditech program that uses Word.  Does that mean it is DOS-based?  Is that what MAGIC is?  Are they other Meditech programs that use something other than Word or DOS?  What are your average lines per day?  I hear a lot of people copy/paste from Word into the system.. does that work for all Meditech programs?  I would REALLY appreciate some info about this platform and people's average lines on it.  Thanks so much.


Radiology Transcription

Hello Everyone:


Anyone out there doing transcription for Radiology?  can you give me an overview of what the work is like?  Do you think a "newbie" could start in radiology?  Any information you offer will be appreciated.  Thanks,


Is radiology easy?
I would really like to try it, but i dont know whether you will provide the wav file, then only i can say whether it is easy
Radiology experience

I just finished a home study medical transcription course that did not have any radiology reports in the practice dictation, but it did have all acute care.  I am just wondering if this course did not give me enough of everything, or are others like this also?   


I started out doing radiology.
You may want to try the radiology portion since it is less intense and it's a good base, in my opinion.  Others may not feel the same way, but I think you are better off starting with radiology as opposed to multispecialty.  Best wishes... 
Radiology training

I am currently a transcriptionist, cardiology and I am wanting to learn radiology.  How do I go about that.  If someone could help me that would be great.


Thanks


Need a Job! Experience in clinic and radiology

I am a new medical transcriptionist, I have some minimal experience, I have over $500 into books from stedman and also $300 in computer software! I have every single thing needed except the job! Please I need someone willing to work with me, and someone to understand that I am looking for something LONG TERM! I have experience with radiology and clinic specially. But also a dabble of others as well.


Please contact me via email. I will send you my resume. Blessings, Marilyn


RE: Need a Job! Experience in clinic and radiology
Look on the job board for OSi who posted today looking for cardiology transcriptionists.
radiology is one of the easiest specialties...sm
after all, there's only so much they can say. Heart, lungs, ribs, spine - that's a chest x-ray for you. Very repetitive, if you've heard one, you've heard them all, except when you get into some of the really complex scans. If you could get about a month of training, you would pretty much be able to roll on your own. If you need the experience before getting the job, perhaps you can find a mentor that will let you listen in on dictation with the reports already typed? Great job for beginners.That's where I got my start 25 years ago.
I agree, radiology is easy, but
there is a bigger threat of being replaced by VR unless you are so good that the radiologist will fight to keep you if needed. Most of the terminology is anatomical terms. They don't change like drugs do, so there are no excuses for getting anatomy wrong. You have to have a large English vocabulary, have great grammar skills, have a 99.5% accuracy rate, and not mind transcribing lots of short notes as well as some two-pagers. If you prefer getting 20-minute reports all day, you won't like radiology. Most of the dictators speak very quickly and efficiently, which is what I like.
Don't forget radiology offices in your area.
Never know when they might need some part-time help. Or chiropractic offices. You might do other jobs as well, but variety isn't all bad.
You can't give an average. Radiology reports
are typically under 10 lines and you can do 100 a day.  I do Op notes for a hospital and can have reports that are 25 minutes long.  I also have a lot of ESLs and if I have a day where I have the really bad ones or the bad American dictators I don't generate as many reports.  If you are doing clinic work you would probably be able to do more reports than acute care, especially if you have the same doctors, because they you could set up macros for them.    I generally do 40 reports a day, have done as few as 28, as many as 72, but that doesn't really tell anyone anything. 
I do Radiology now, kind of fell into it but love it. nm

Radiology or Multispecialty test for newbie?

I have tested with a couple of companies that give the option of testing for Radiology or Multispecialty. I'm just wondering, as a new graduate, which test I should choose?


No, the woman who owns this company can't transcribe herself, much less run a company.
kk
You are trying to do it the hard way.
Contact one of the best schools, work at your own pace with all the tools and help you'll need to learn this craft efficiently. Your way is trying to build a house using toothpicks and cotton balls just because you have part of the framing up. ;oD

Really hard to say - sm
Graduated from MTEC 11 years ago and working at home as an MT ever since.  Very burned out right now and actually considering coding, but MTEC does not do coding training.  From what I understand anyway, most coders work in house.  You need to research both career fields extensively and decide what might suit you best. 
Hard Decision

I am trying to decide between Andrews and M-Tec for my MT education. I realize this is beating a dead horse, but I would like to share some of the things I've noticed about the two and hope someone might have some insight for me.


Andrews: Has had an excellent reputation for a long time. You can take as long as you need to finish the program. Students have same instructors, i.e. everyone gets to experience REDPEN. 


M-TEC: Very good reputation also. New website is very professional. Long list of well-known CMTs and AAMT members on staff. You are assigned an individual instructor. You need to finish in 18 months.


I've been weighing these things in my mind trying to decide. I had a bad experience with MT training before. I was completely dependent on one person for feedback, etc. This was great while it worked, but all of a sudden this person stopped responding to my messages, phone calls, etc. I never want to get in that situation again. I am attracted to M-TEC because I know I could track down some of the people on staff there in other contexts if need be. I realize this is probably paranoia on my part because neither program is likely to disappear like mine did, but... The no time limit that Andrews has might be good if an illness or emergency arose. On the other hand, a deadline could be good because I tend to be perfectionistic and overwork things before handing them in. I'm a little nervous about being assigned one instructor at M-TEC because this puts me in somewhat of the same position I was in before of being dependent on one person. However, I would be able to contact Susan Francis or Kathy Kropko if there was a problem I suppose. Still, I kind of like what seems to be more of a traditional classroom experience with a lot of students under one instructor at Andrews.


Thanks for any comments or suggestions.


 


Hard decision
First of all, let me say that you will get a good solid education with either school. That said, here are some further points to consider:

Redpen is no longer teaching trancription; she teaches coding now.

Andrews has been around longer, their teachers are more experienced, both in teaching methods and transcription. For instance, a recently hired teacher for M-Tec has only been a Transcriptionist for less than 5 years.

M-TEC only requires you to have an 86% score on your final exam to graduate; Andrews hold you until you get a score in the high 90s. Of course, you could compensate for this by just not allowing YOURSELF to graduate until you can achieve a high score.

HTH.
It's hard to find...

someone to even give me a chance. I've been really lucky so far.


Thanks for the advice though.


It is hard enough now for newbies to get a job, but if she

is going to take a program like this she will have a tougher time to find a job with a reputable company.   There are 3 good schools M-TEC, Andrews, and Career-Step and there are companies willing to hire newbies provided they have graduated in good standing from one of these schools.  Another option would be a local community college who might help with job placement.  I worked for a company that used to let the MT student some into the office and do a short rotation to get real hands-on experience.  


Some people are just determined they are going to do something and you can't do much about that, but I feel she is throwing away money if she goes this route.  I don't have any personal experience with any of the above schools, but they all come highly recommended. 


I had a hard time
I had a hard time getting through this course too,  I found that I was marked off for things that were not wrong on the previous chapters.  So I would argue every grade I got and although most of the time they fixed what they counted wrong they still never gave me a higher grade.  I finally got finished with the course and the only job I got was one that has a severe history of not paying their employees.  I trusted the school to provide me the jobs for life like I paid for and being new at this I didn't know any better, so I took that job and never got my money and when I contacted the school they said that they had looked up and researched that employer and was very sorry for all my troubles.  I have not gotten another job yet and it has been since September.   They do not provide doctors to work for like they say, they provide assessment tests and I have tested with  hundreds and still had to take a part time job that has nothing to do with transcription work.  I strongly urge you to research any job you get from them.  I think the grade all depends on the mood of the grader that day,  I did great the first half, above the expected grade and then about chapter 10 they were confusing on the grading and it took sometimes 2-3 weeks before they posted a grade and by then I was ready to submit my next test and was again waiting,  Very rarely did anyone return my calls and so I e-mailed everyone that I had an e-mail address for with my questions, I figured somebody would answer. haha.  It worked.  Well good luck to you, but one thing I did find when I was working is that you learn so much more on the job than the school ever teaches you, Good luck to you.
maybe your reports are too hard
I am new too, but I know the answer as well. And I just type office notes right now at my first job going on 4 months. Hmmm.
Hard to fiind MT job for newbies

Why is it so hard for newbies to get employed? You go to school and pay all this money and don't know one want to hire a newby. If someone knows please let me know why.


Its hard to even ask a simple question here...
Roxie, I have to respond to you. I feel as though you are being attacked here and it is just wrong. I look at this board and I have been transcribing about two years. I feel that many transcriptionists here are just rude. I know what you were asking and I can say that I worked with an internship program for three months and that got my foot in the door to work for another national company. The pay was terrible but that was okay. I just wanted to work and learn about the real world of transcription outside of the schooling environment. I am sorry you felt attacked. I hardly ever post because I see how new MT professionals get treated here. It is just a disgrace to our profession. Seasoned Transcriptionist must not remember what it was like to just start out. Give her a break. Please.
Hi Emtee! Yes, it is a very hard test (IMO)sm

I'm the kind of person who usually passes tests with flying colors, yet I just barely passed that test by the skin of my teeth.


They go by the BOS II book...so, if you have the book, make sure everything conforms to the rules in that book.  I don't own the book (yet) and just checked the style board to learn of differences between the two books.  Off the top of my head, q.4 h. (note the space between 4 and h), cancer classifications (some differences), using Arabic numbers for 1 through 9 instead of spelling them out, etc.


Don't give up!  If you are able, buy that book.  If not, use all the internet resources (reliable ones) that you can think of.


Good luck to you!


Regards,


Chickadee


HARD GETTING FIRST JOB, NO WONDER INDIA IS AHEAD OF US!!!!!
I finally got my first job for 6 cents a line.  I found the job myself.  Keep looking around and do not give up.  I encountered a lot of road blocks.  Everyone basically cares out themselves.  Sad to say, but the majority of Americans do not care about teamwork, and helping others.  That is why India and other countries are ahead of us MTs and many other professions.  TEAMWORK
Hard work and determination will
to find you a job or help you every minute.  No one is promised anything in life.  In my day of beginning MT'ing, there were no computers, and there were no boards.  So before jumping to conclusions and screaming about India, you need to look at yourself and what tools you have used to become an MT.  No one is handed anything in life no matter what profession you are in, but I personally like hearing your input and wish you the best of luck!
Newbie finding it hard to get first job.
I recently finished an online course in medical transcripts. Now, I am finishing an internship. I am finding it very difficult to find an at home job. Most companies require at least one year of full time experience. If anyone has any suggestions, I would really be appreciative.
Newbie finding it hard to get first job.
 Yes. I should be done the first week in April. Will this count on my resume for experience? Maybe I am just impatient. I have tried some online tests, but I do find them very difficult, although I am doing quite well with the internship. Thanks for your advice.
Newbie finding it hard to get first job.
Thanks for telling me that. I think I will stick with the internship and take as many tests as possible. I am getting better at them. I do believe persistence will pay off eventually.