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My expansions on MQ's server

Posted By: MQer on 2005-08-27
In Reply to:

Conditions at my local MQ ofc have deteriorated to the point where I am ready to throw in the towel and look elsewhere.  My question:  I am using my own computer.  Is it possible to retrieve/print out my Expanders and shortcuts that I made up myself before I leave.  I've only worked for MQ, and imagine I've accumulated over 2000 of these shortcuts.   I know they are on my hard drive, but I have no program that will enable me to access them.  Does anyone know of any such animal?  Secondarily, has anyone ever left one MQ ofc for another, or just plain asked to be switched to other accounts.  TIA


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Hardly get to use my expansions any more
Most of the doctors whose jobs I used to not lift my foot for the pedal for from start to finish, are now on ASR and I cannot say that about them anymore. Those definitely take longer because not only do you have to change, delete and add here and there, you have to scrutinize every letter or mistakes the listening device may have made. Obvious what is saved to expansion was checked to perfection already.
Unless, of course, the MTs use only expansions

expansions
Put in a lot of the common things most physicians say for every report like:  the patient, increased pain, complains of, tells me that, MRI results, x-ray of the, come back in, return to see me in, was seen in the emergency room, I told her to, I told him to, see me back as needed == things like that.  If you analyze a report, you'll see that most of it is plain English and those things are said over and over.  Once I switched from concentrating the majority of my entries from medical words to plain English, my speed really picked up.  I still add in the medical things, of course, but with my glossary I can work on many accounts with a lot more ease and productivity.  It's taken quite a time but well worth it.   
expansions
I don't worry about whether I already tried an expansion, because if it's there and I don't hit it right away, it isn't easy enough, so I try again. Usually I stick to a few standard forms, but that can vary from first letters of a phrase plus x on the end to e on then end, to some 2-word phrases that I use the first 3 letters of each word together. I might delete one that is rarely used if I want to reuse the abbreviation for a more useful phrase. I've deleted a lot of the first ones I tried, because they really weren't very helpful. I like to keep the phrases short, rather than try for long ones, maybe 3-5 words, because doctors tend not to be entirely consistent in how they say things, and I have verbatim accounts...less need to reword things that way.

I think that about 40% of what I type is an expansion of some sort on my normal doctors. If I'm doing someone new or someone who isn't consistent in what they say it may be quite a lot less, but that isn't really counting the individual word expansions, just the phrases. Many of the words over 3-4 letters I get with 1, 2, or 3 Keystrokes at most. You just have to keep your eyes on the expander, and sometimes even slow down enough to see words not at the top of the list. I use Smartype, so they come up in order of most used, which I can change at any point if needed.
According to their web site they pay for expansions (sm)
I personally think we aren't paid for blanks and headers and that makes a difference. I have been working on DQS for a couple of weeks now and have gotten up to a whopping 200 plus per hour so I feel like I am making headway.
I have a question about DQS expansions.

I have 6000 phrases in my PRD which I am about to transfer to the DQS expansion program (I won't start for a couple of weeks).  The tech says anything more than a few hundred might cause expansions to be sluggish while I'm transcribing :(.  Has anyone been having this problem?


Also, is it better to use my own Window-based glossary program instead of the one DQS provides?  The tech says he can't advise me on that and the techs won't provide assistance on it. 


 


Watch those expansions for BM
She had a large, foul-smelling black male overnight with massive bleeding.
Need HELP to transfer expansions

I want to transfer my shortcuts (expansions) from DocQScribe to Microsoft office word.  Is it possible to do this?  Can anyone tell me where to go for instructions/guidelines on doing this?  Please help!


drug expansions
How you set up your expansions for drugs?
I use the first three letters and the last letter. For example, for Plavix, I would set it up as plax. Also, for drugs that I type frequently, I sometimes shorten it more - Lasix is lx.
I want to add dosages also, but I'm undecided how I want to do it. I would love to hear how others do it. Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas and suggestions.
Did they ever say they wouldn't pay for expansions? More likely,
s
Adding Expansions

I was wondering how you build your expansion list, meaning, about how many words do you put in day?  A few, 20, 50?  And do you review them daily so you know what you have?  I tend to create them and then forget I have them and then do not use them.  What are you tips?  Thanks in advance!


IMO, it will. I, too, used the same expansions for many years...sm
and found IT to be a pain in the tush. I did, however, find ShortHand or ShortCut to be much better choices. Not sure if they are still around as I use ESP and AutoCorrect (you can use both if you allow it in the preferences). I learned the expansions one way and found too many choices to be a hindrance. Good luck with your search!
How many expansions have you put into your autocorrect over...sm
the last 14 years. I started with a blank autocorrect 10 years ago and now have many thousand expansions from individual words, to phrases, paragraphs, and even full reports. I still add new ones almost every day. The way I have it set up I save more than 50% of my keystrokes.
Word expansions ... that is the MAIN
help for me. I do have good accounts but they have ESLs and some non-ESLs who are even worse. I have to slow down for them but then try to make up my speed with the next good dictation.

I put EVERYTHING into word expanders...words, phrases, etc. EVERYTHING. I couldn't do half my line counts probably if I didn't use my expanders so well.

Don't answer the phone. Don't check email or forums until I take a break. Don't eat or drink while working.
How does one temporarily disable expansions
x
How do I transfer DQS expansions to MS Word
I already know how to access and copy the user.aco files from DQS, but I can't figure out how to copy them into another copy of MS Word Auto Correct to use for another platform.
Not sure what you mean by "work together." Do you mean can your list of expansions for one be

imported for use in the other or do you mean can both programs be running simultaneously?


yes, need to disable your expansions in Word and...

you also need to open ShortCut BEFORE you open your platform (Word or whatever you are using).


Good luck.


How do I copy a list of my expansions?
nm
Expansions for numbers/lab values

Do you all use Expanders for numbers and lab values?  - Ex.: 0-10 red cells, 10-20 white cells ... things of that nature.  I have a few, but it seems there are so many different combinations of number items that I can't come up with a good system.


Any ideas appreciated. 


 


Instant Text expansions
can be 16,000 characters long.
Did you use IT with Meditech? You may have experienced the limitations of Meditech not being able to handle more than a paragraph at once.
My trick for stopping expansions from expanding....SM
This might not work for you but I find it quicker to add it in my shortcuts. I simply add the last letter on it again when I don't want it to expand. For example, BP = blood pressure but BPP = blood pressure. COPD = chronic.... but COPDD = COPD. That's a lot faster for me than to do all those other steps. Just thought I would throw that out there in case it might work for someone else too.
Need expansions for both mitral valve repair
nm
Agree---and work on those expansions..it stinks at first
but it WILL pay off in the long run. Especially once you're familiar with the doctors and you can *almost* type what they're going to say before they say it. When you're that familiar, it makes for a fabulous line count:-)
Is selecting expansions from a list a hassle?
With Instant Text how do you choose the expansion you want from the list at the bottom of the screen? Do you use the mouse to click on it? Do you use the arrow keys on the keyboard?


How do I add expansions/abbreviations in Word 2007?

FTP Server

Can anyone tell me what FTP Server is, and how I can find out what type I have.


 


Thanks


FTP Server
Does anyone know who might rent space on an FTP server?
FTP server
I have been using an FTP server since 2001. There was absolutely no cost (as I said above I found the software on a free site as it was new). The FTP server software is located on my computer so a webpage is not needed. They upload to that computer from their office by plugging the recorder in. Once plugged in, it automatically connects to my server and uploads. Not difficult at all.
You are most likely on their server.

Do you use expansions for common English words and phrases too? sm
I have read that something like 80% of sentences can be formed using the same 200 most commonly used words of the English language.

Think of common English phrases that you can add to your expansion software that you use quite often in MT reports such as "he has no significant" or "there are no significant" or "there was no significant," etc. :)

*This link leads to a listing of the 500 most commonly used words in the English language:
http://www.world-english.org/english500.htm

*And here is a listing of the top 100 English verbs:
http://www.world-english.org/100verbs.htm



No, but with an expander you can just set your expansions to the approved versions for that account.
nm
Wow, there's an easier way. I think the OP is calling text expansions "macros."
Instant Text and ShortHand can import autocorrect, but you have to know which file they are stored in.

If you're just moving your autocorrect and true macros to another computer, all you have to do is find your .acl file and normal.dot. All your true macros and shortcuts to run your macros are in the normal.dot. All your formatted autocorrects (those with spaces or bold) are in the normal.dot. The rest of your autocorrects are in the .acl file. You don't have to mess with installing Microsoft's macro to move anything. The autocorrect utility in macros9.dot is for Word 2000. Word 2002 and 2003 is called support.dot. There's no macro included in 2007 for this.

either your ISP is not working or MQ server is down.
Call tech support.  They may need to reset your ID.  Right now I'm on DQS.
server issues
I work for a large national and we have servers down, programs down, instand messager down pretty often.  And, no we get paid nothing for downtime even when it's the company's fault.  Really sucks! 
Server problems
We have the same issue on our hospital lines using Citrix.  Too many people on and it gets really slow, locks up, and kicks us off.  Every time they work on Cerner or Citrix I have problems. 
Silly me. It is the server. Still would like
asdf
I don't believe this is a secure server.

Having said that, if you encrypt any files BEFORE uploading to their server, you should be OK. There is a webpage where you can ask specific questions--the link is below.


Call in server
We are looking for a call in system for a couple of doctors. Does anyone know of a place that will rent space on one? or any suggestions?
There's a tutorial in the program and yes you do create expansions while you work. Love it! nm
s
No coffee yet this morning. You said it was on the server.
On the one hand, if it's on the server and not on your computer, perhaps your supervisor only has it installed to make sure nobody is hacking the system.  Maybe your supervisor doesn't even know it's there, but I doubt that.  I'd want to be sure it didn't get on my computer, but you sound savvy since you're already running anti-spyware software.  How would I feel knowing my supervisor was spying on me?  Well, I have nothing to hide.  I would never do anything I shouldn't be doing on her server.  Then again, I'm not some infant hacker that needs to be monitored.  (I'm not a hacker at all, for that matter!  LOL  Oy....Where's the java?)  Most of my former employers used to monitor what we did with our computers with regard to email and the Internet.  I have nothing to hide, but if they can't trust me, they can bite me.
Curious about a server as our office is getting one

Is the main reason to get a server to monitor employees on the internet? I know there are bound to be other reasons, but our boss is getting a server for our office and says that is the reason. He's a real jerk, by the way. He didn't even want any of us to have email. He really doesn't want us working in the 21st Century mode and he is a computerophobic! I'm curious as to all the advantages of a company having their own server. He tried to take the internet off my computer because "you are the only one doing transcription (PHI) on the computer" which was bull in itself, but he's afraid of "someone getting into our info" even though we have protection.


 


Do you think it's more from the Meditech software or the server? (sm)
Thanks for the information! I went to the Meditech website, and of course they act like it's the quickest thing since greased lightening.

By archiac functions, do you mean it doesn't use a mouse? May I ask what company you are using it with? I'd be happy using ShortHand, but I would also want to load other programs unless it is already loaded up with everything. I may return to acute care, and if I do I'll want speed and tools, so I don't want to jump aboard the wrong ship.

They are stored on both the local server you..
work from as well as on the hard drive in your PC.  You "should" be able to access it when you sign in with your ExText UserID on another PC...however, I have seen it happen to people before..either in the process of switching PCs and/or even just a glitch in the local server that causes a loss on their end of the file, it is always best to save a copy of your entire .esp file to a disc.  If you use it regularly it probably has a ton of entries and you would be very sorry to lose them all, takes forever and a day it seems to re-enter everything.  (Been there, done that)
Deleting files from FTP server

The company I work for uses an FTP server.  I am supposed to delete the files I pull after I upload them so another MT wont do them.  No matter what I try I cannot get the files to delete. When I right click on them, there is no option to delete in the drop-down.  I have also tried highlighting the file(s) and pressing delete on my computer.  Neither one of these works.  These are the 2 ways my QA said to do it, but it just wont work.  Any suggestions?


Thanks :)


There is a difference between SOFTWARE and SERVER.

Software is the computer program which interfaces between your computer and the off-site computer that "holds" the voice files and documents. The off-site is called a server and secure space is not usually free--you will have to pay some sort of usage fee for uploads/downloads, usually based on the either the space or bandwidth used.


There are other free sites like www.xdrive.com or www.box.net but they do not require the use of FTP software to upload/download. Box allows 1GB but does not appear to be secure; Xdrive allows 5GB and claims to use 128-bit encryption.


Hope you find this helpful.


P.S. If you've never connected to this server before sm
there is a lot of info you will need...your MTSO will have to supply that.
It may just be the server...I have been running slow
for the past week or so and it is the server located at the hospital. I try to work when the traffic is not as heavy with dictators and transcribers.....Lots faster then.

Do I need both a client and a server for this to work?
I am a little confused. I get how FTP works, but not sure what I need to do to make it work...if that makes any sense.
they can set how fast/slow the server is s/m

I talked to someone in tech support one night and told him that the server had to be clogged or something and asked if they could reset the server or something.  I was only making 70 lph.  He said well I can turn your speed up.  I was like ?what?  He said we turn everyone's down so they dont clog up the server to keep everyone running smoothly.  I had to call every night for them to change it and I eventually just quit. 


I thought that was just wrong.  I never could get past my expected production.


Server issue question
Do those of you who work for MTSOs have much trouble with connection loss or other technical issues?  Just wondering how common it is.