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Word expansions ... that is the MAIN

Posted By: Busy MT'ing on 2005-08-04
In Reply to: How in the WORLD is this possible? - Is this a joke?

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.


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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.
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 add expansions/abbreviations in Word 2007?

Post word questions on the Word board NOT the Main board.
/
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.
My expansions on MQ's server
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
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.
How does one temporarily disable expansions
x
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?


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?


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.

There's a tutorial in the program and yes you do create expansions while you work. Love it! nm
s
At least you know. You are the main one doing it. DUH
X
See the Main page...
for a brief history of MTStars, see the main page.

http://www.mtstars.com

Sheri Steadman runs her own little company, USAType, Inc.
(Scroll this page to bottom to read last two lines).

Forget the affiliation with MQ or anyother company involved in offshoring "MTStars is staunchly against the offshoring of American Private Health Information".

Many companies like MQ, Cymed, Spheris etc etc. are banned on MTStars to post any jobs as well for advertising and sponsorships.

I love to visit these boards because I know I am on 100% US MTs site.

http://forum.mtstars.com/company/v/1/2147.html


it's the same main page, but when I go to look
up something and get results, it is the results page that is really different.
this should be on the main board, because
nm
It's the MAIN BOARD
I thought we could gather as MTs at the main board and discuss pets, TV, etc. if we wanted to. This was more a comment on the show rather than an attempt to open up a discussion about sex change anyway.

FWIW, I thought the show was funny last night. I did feel a little squeamish when Zachary was on, though. He seemed to come away with the impression that he was being discriminated against because of his look, or the way he? is, and didn't seem to understand that he can't sing. What's new, though. I think my favorite so far, though, has been the "I shot the sheriff" guy.
What is the main board for?

A week or so ago, I responded to a post from someone who was asking about Files To Go. My message was wiped from the board after a very short time. This morning in my email box was a digest from MT Stars by a person asking where her post went...she was asking about keyboard trays. I can't find either one of her messages on the board.


Why are our messages being deleted from the system?


Main Board

I'd like to thank the administrator for helping me with my question about the main board. Being new here, I looked around for "instructions" but must have overlooked them. It's nice to see the administrative message at the top of the main board explaining how to use it -- I took the word "main" litearlly, as others new to this board possibly have.


I do have a question. When I signed up at Yahoo-Groups , I signed up to receive daily digests, which are digests of the main board. Is there a way to receive digests of the boards listed on the left?


Main Board

Does the active topics selection at the top of the page show all active topics for each category at left or just certain ones?  Thanks.l


Yes, after all this is the main reason
Staying at home is not just to take care of kids, but to maybe take care of an elderly parent or for that matter a disabled family member, which could include a spouse.  When I chose this profession, I was on-site and spent 17 years there putting my children in daycare.  You really do not know anything about me and are entitled to feel how you want.  I just don't think everyone should be so negative about someone wanting to stay home, supplement their husband's income, while being with their children.  Different strokes for different folks.  I wanted to simply say that the time you spend with your children can never be replaced.  This is after all a job that can be done at home.  Transcriptionists are not the only ones with at-home businesses. 
Go to the IT main forum sm
it states there is a work around until the next revision comes out, right there under announcements.
http://textware.com/board/itmainforum/index.html
Yes I did but I am missing the main
xx
I keep a main glossary
for english phrases like "There was no" and phrases that would be used in any medical report like "The patient was". I keep a separate glossary for each medical specialty. I put each docs phrases into their specialty glossary rather than giving each doc their own glossary. So all ortho docs phrases go into my ortho glossary, etc. Then I just include my main glossary and my drug glossary with the specialty glossary. I do one doctor who repeats the same sentences in each report, so I do have a glossary just for him, but he is an exception. I can usually do a 40 line report for him and never had to type a complete sentence. He is awesome!
I think the main point...

we need to understand as transcriptionists is that EMR does not necessarily mean the end of traditional transcription.  We need to make a serious effort to educate ourselves about the changes that are happening and try to find a way for MT to grow with expanding technology.


why are you posting on the main board ??
x
DirecWay and Starband are the 2 main

dealers.  Depending on your ISP you may be able to get it through your ISP.  I use Earthlink and they offer satellite through DirecWay.  I used to have DW satellite and equipment was about $800.00 and monthly service $69.


Satellite can be as slow as dial-up depending on how good your dish is sighted, if the weather is clear, no wind blowing to either blow the dish or blow tree limbs into the field, etc.  Download is faster than upload, although upload files tend to be much smaller that it isn't much of an issue.


Lots of companies will not allow satellite as it isn't secure.


You can Google DirecWay and Starband and find their websites that should tell you dealers in your area.  If you have DirectTv they can change out the dish so that you can use the internet dish as the TV dish too.  The internet dish is much larger than the TV dish and probably cannot be mounted on the house. 


 


of the Main Board here??? huh? hmmm....nm
xx
Satellite isn't secure I think is the main

reason companies don't allow it and another is because the download speed is not consistent.  It can be as slow as dial-up at times.  There are also a lot of factors that can knock out your service, at least temporarily.   I had satellite for a year and overall it was okay, but if it snowed or rain hard I either had decreased signal or no signal, if the wind blew hard I might get tree limbs in the way of the signal or the signal was so sporadic that I couldn't download.  


 


Wonderful low-fat main dish

Here is one that I have used for years and it is wonderful.  It does not sound too great, but in the end, it is melt in your mouth good.


2 lb.  pork tenderloin roast


1/4 tsp. of each of these spices:  marjoram, tyme, garlic salt, onion powder.


1/2 tsp.  rubbed sage


1 tbs. worcesteshire sauce


2 tbs. soy sauce.


Mix all spices and sauces together.  Pierce roast in several places and put in bowl with marinade.  Put in fridge for at least 2 hours, turning roast to keep covered.


Place roast in oven safe dish with marinade and bake at 325 degrees until done.  Check with meat thermometer.  This is a great low-cal, low-fat dish. 


Again, the Main board is for anything that would not be a topic that should

be posted on any of the boards in the left column.  If your post is about equipment questions, then that should be posted on either the Equipment or Technical boards.  If a new MT has questions, posts should be made on the New MT board.  Questions about a particular company?  Post is on the Company board. 


We receive well over 5 million hits to this site per month.  If everything was posted on the Main board we would have a major problem on our hands.  That is why posts are deleted. 


Please repost that question on Main. (NM)
Goldbird