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Yes, I mean making normals. nm :)

Posted By: t on 2007-05-17
In Reply to: do you mean making normals - x

x


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do you mean making normals
for same docs? 
sure i was. i'm making fun of the people who are making a case for background checks, etc
to do medical transcription at home as if they may do something AWFUL with the info they receive. So if you want an invasion of privacy let's REALLY invade it and make sure fat chicks don't transcribe because they are so busy eating they can't get the work done, they mess up the keyboard with food and if they are provided health insurance they will raise the rates for the company sky high because their health risks are higher than others. Then there are the psychological issues overweight people bring to the table. After we eliminate fat people, we can go on to eliminate diabetic people who may have low blood sugar while typing and go into a spell and type the wrong thing. I could go on and on through the process of elimination. How about prescribed medications that may cloud your thinking? So you take Ambien to sleep but you have an Ambien groggy hangover when you are transcribing? Should they transcribe. How about your teens are on your last nerves and you take a Xanax? Should you be allowed to transcribe?
My normals sm.
I had a supervisor accuse me of holding hostage MY normals.  I reminded her that they were documents I had brought to the job as I had done this doctor at another national previously.  Anyway, don't the ding dongs realize they can just d/l a copy of a finished job and, tada!, there is a copy of a doc for that doctor. 
What are normals?
I am new to MT and I keep reading "normals" are these macros?
normals
After creating a normal, ctrl-N to save it. Should be able to retrieve it after.
Normals
We use "normals" too but I change them to fit the dictation. I was always told those are mostly for reference to help us get through the dictations. Not every MD dictates the exact same Normal and even when there's Normals for each particular MD, they don't always dictate it exactly the same. The only time I would leave "as is" is, for instance, a radiologist says "Chest x-ray, #36, end" and I would just pull normal #36 and send off. Of course, if the Normal doesn't fit the title(I.e.#36 is a head CT) I would still pull it but mark for the QA/practice manager to see the error.
Oh and keep the standards/normals for themselves

NO EXPANDERS AND NO NORMALS

You don't believe me?  I really don't care...That's my line count.....and I do it without Expanders or normals. I love my job, I'm the best at what I do and I always strive to do better than the day before.  Maybe you could do the same if you weren't so negative....


Boss asking for normals
Is anybody working for a company where your boss is asking you to share your NORMALS.  Be very careful.  My company is asking us to share your normals and come to find out who they want us to share with, overseas.  Also asking questions like, who are the best dictators, etc. Also experiencing block of work just disappearing.  Several hours just gone.  Anybody else.
I'd say "What normals?" (sm)
I had an OM tell me that he was contemplating not paying for macros. I said, "Oh, I don't have to worry. I don't use macros, I use an expander." That was the end of that. I'm sure he had to run back to his office to try to figure out what an Expander is! LOL
Abby Normals.
z
DocQscribe normals

I will be leaving my company at the end of the week without a job to take its place.  It's taken me several years to accumulate all my normals, and I hate to think I will have to start over creating them.  Does anyone know how to transfer/move all the normals from DocQScribe to Word or to save them on my hard drive.  I hate to think I'll have to start over creating all new normals.  Thanks for your help.


 


The majority of normals are seen
Normals can also be a repetitive statement that the dictator makes, which you then turn into a normal so you do not have to keep typing the same thing over and over again.  Some use shortcut keys or Expander program.  I am not an expert on any of these as I do not use them.  Some who work in MS Word use autocorrect to expand terms or phrases that are said time and time again by a specific dictator.  I use autocorrect in Word and like it.  Hope this helps.  
Has anyone been able to transfer their normals/standards from
nm
No way, Jose. My normals are MINE. Don't let them do this! nm
x
I never give anyone my normals. I have my own accounts and one
but it was a nice account - a surgery center with 200+ surgeons.  I told the surgery center I just couldn't continue doing the account, gave them the names of a couple of other MT companies they might want to contact.  They did contact them, elected to go with one of them, and then while I was finishing up with them while they transitioned to the new MT Company, they asked asked me for MY normals to give to the other MT Company.  Okay, there were SOME normals that the hospital associated with the surgery center had given me to begin with, but I felt that it was the responsibility of the hospital to give those to the new transcription service, not my responsibility.  Besides, I had changed the templates as needed, etc.  But most of the normals I had were ones that I spent a couple of years developing.  Now I wasn't just going to hand those over to a new MT service to make it easy on them.  Those were something I spent a LOT of time on and were, in my opinion, MY property.
Why would you create normals for doctors
and/or accounts you don't even know? That makes less than no sense. Do you just create your own things that you consider normal? Seriously trying to figure it out - I must be missing something.
Are you still cutting and pasting normals? I can't do
nm
What aggravates me are normals and samples
full of obvious typos and stylistic issues that we MTs get dinged for. In fact, I remember having a normal op at one place that had a made-up instrument name in it. It kept coming up on the spell check. Took me months to finally find the proper name.

I've come to expect sloppy and/or poorly written emails from managers and admin staff otherwise.
Normals in Expansion File
Just be aware that your company may have set a size limit for individual expansions to prevent transcriptionists from making "normals" that are not really normal, that is, not always exactly what the doctor says.
EXText Question About Normals
Hi,

 

I've had trouble recently being unable to retrieve normals I've made. 

 

When I make a personal normal and then try to access it during the current work session, it does not show up in the list.  This is true even after having been logged out of the system entirely, such as overnight and then returning to work the next day. 

 

If I try to re-do/re-create the normal using the same "Properties" info., I get a ping and message stating that that normal already exists.  Any info. on this? 

 

Also: 

Could there be a limit to how many normals, personal or shared, can be created on one person's list? 

 

Can personal normals be deleted?

 

I need more help than I've already gotten, so I'm posting here.  (My next step is contacting Dictaphone)
 

Thanks. 

 

Also have errors in normals I am told to use--sm
Does your platform allow you to have Transcriptionist normals? Mine does and i have corrected the normals and saved them in my set of normals. I also complained for over a year and they were not corrected. One of the most notable is an ultrasound abdomen that has the technique for an MRI. The transcriptionist has to remember to make the correction on every report she transcribes.
Expanders and normals...not mormals
just felt the need to correct your mistakes since you are picking apart others.
yes of course I use tons of expanders. At the most 25% normals though.
x
Try putting in the normals by blocking and control Y....
then name it the name you want and then use control R to retrieve it. Works for me.
Will be variable depending on the normals and shortcuts you have and how
s
Hi, I've gone the personal normals-only rte., still no luck. NM
x
Shutting it on and off doesn't restore normals? Are you
s
normals, templates, shorthand programs, etc
I was reading an earlier post that refers to companies making adjustments in our line counts because we are using these word expanders.  I have been wondering about that because even using as many as I possibly can, it seems like it does no good. I do about as many lines as I would normally do just typing the darn things out.  How are they making these adjustments, does anybody know and is it legal? Seems we have no standard anymore as to how lines are counted and companies are doing whatever the heck they want to us.
Re your normals: keep a list handy, name them with short names..sm
then use Control R after you have typed the normal name; i.e.: Dr. Joe Blow has a ROS that he uses all the time - name it JBROS or something like that, then in the document type JBROS and use the control R to bring it automatically in.
I would never voluntarily give them "my" normals, my work product. SM
The nerve of these people. 
Maybe if it is gross lines, lots of headers and footers and normals......sm
Other than that, I really can't imagine it.
You realize by doing that they're making more money & you're making less? You should reconsid

making up.....

I suggest you have your father read my post and explain it to you.  Apparently you have poor comprehension skills.  Talk about ignorance.


My point was NEW immigrants who come here not to become American.  Obviously, this is not apply to all NEW immigrants, because as we know, many of them bust their butts to become American in every way including service in the military.  My point was that so many of the NEW immigrants, meaning those from the last 25-30 years, come with different aspirations than previous groups.  This is documented by social scientists who have been studying this very point for a couple of decades.  Look up some articles in any journal of American sociology or political science and you will find research on this subject.  


 I am perfectly aware of New Spain and New France and even that Russia once owned parts what is now Washington state and Oregon.  Do the people in Northwest US demand to have legal papers printed in Russian because 400 years ago, Russia settled that land?   Are you aware of the language controversy in Quebec, Canada?  We don't need that in this country and having English as our accepted common language has helped prevent some of the fighting and death that results from people coming to blows over language.  Language is the root of "the Troubles" as the Irish call their 100 years of conflict with England.  England passed a law making English the official language and forbad Gaelic in public places, including schools.  Look how that has worked for them.   In the U.S., it has worked because it has been understood as a custom and new immigrants were proud to learn English, because it was a mark of American citizenship.


You need a history lesson - New Spain was SOLD to the U.S. government  and New France was sold to the U.S. government by their respective kings because France and Spain needed money to finance their wars with each other.   So, Spain left voluntarily.


BTW, my brother wrote my parents in English during WWII and his letters were confiscated - is there a group that will protest such actions again Irish-German Americans? 


Wnat to see what ignorace looks like?  Got a mirror?


I am making......
17.00 per hour with a home-based hospital job (you have to be local to the hospita) PLUS a generous incentive with a "quite easy to attain" minimum line count and then 8 cents a line after the minimum is met.  Plus I have all the benefits of being an employee (which I am) including paid vacation and benefits.  I've been the national route and I didn't find any of them to be paying well, plus I was always running out of work.  We are swamped all the time and NEVER run out at the hospital.  If we do run out, which has never happened, we can go into the department and shred paper or something.  I wish more hospitals would go back to having a department.  That's where you'll find your dignity IMHO.
You were making LESS than THIS????

unless u r making $25/hr

not impressed one bit


you can make $12.50 an hour being a secretary and be dumb as


dirt.


you can make $12.50 an hour doing data entry and not know one


word of medicine or the other junk we have to know and be responsible


for and get grief from QA about.


you can make $12.50 an hour doing a lot of things and not have to


put up with the junk MTs are having to put up with now.


 


IT is making me
My eyes keep moving up, down, up, down. I'm getting a headache. How long does it take to adjust to this?
No, making way more. nm
x
Making more now
I worked for a hospital for 5 years and then we moved... tried another national who didn't pay much, and then started with OSi and am making more than I ever have (including 25 years of secretarial work)! I've read so many negative posts here about OSi, but I think those who have complaints tend to voice them more than those who don't. I'm very happy with them as far as money, schedule, and flexibility. I know from reading previous posts that many will assume I'm part of management just trying to give them a plug. No, I'm not part of OSi management. Just a very happy transcriptionist.
Men Making More LOL
That is because they choose wisely and don't accept just anything. I am female and quite often make more than most women. Having been in the MT business for only 3-4 yrs I am constantly amazed at the rates offered and accepted, and the lack of understanding at the complexity and enormity of education required to do this job. When someone offers me a low salary I tell them what I think of it and just go on to the next company. I have always known why there aren't a lot of men in MT work - the salary. In places where typing pays decent $$$ there are tons and tons of men.
making the big $$$
I was actually referring to the above posts that state they are making $50 to $60K per year.
Making $100,000/yr?
Is that really possible without having your own service?
ya know, when I'm making

70k a year, I can have the 850 square foot bedroom if I want. In fact, my home is a mere 2200 square foot, on 5 acres in the country, only worth $450,000 but I paid off the mortgage in full in 7 years, by- yep, you guessed it-- working my MTSO.  I have no debts. I own 4 cars. I have money stuffed in my 401k. The point was made in an earlier post by our beloved Patti, who chooses to live in 1000 square feet - and also put 15K in her retirement account and takes home 50K. When Patti mentioned her home was 1000 square feet, some ignorant troll said  (now say this in a high falsetto) "shocked! my bedroom is 850 square feet! How can you possibly live in only 1000 square feet."  Jealous, no. Anyone who wants to own, maintain, clean their 850 square foot bedroom can be my guest. Me - I go for a little smaller but still nice, with more freedom and lifestyle. That's why I put in my 5-10 hours a week running my service while you're working full time. LOL!


What we SHOULD be making, and what most of us ARE making (sm)
are two different things. We SHOULD be getting from 12-18 cents per line. In reality, most of us are somewhere between 7 and 9 cents a line.
I'm making nowhere near that much
I'm either working for the wrong companies or am really slow, my best is 200 lines an hour, which translates to at best 18 bucks an hour, Wish I was faster I guess
What I would like to know..... IF they are indeed making that much then.... sm
how are they doing it? VR? Would love to know the secret. Those of you claiming to make a ton of money, please do share how you do it. Have been doing this for 15+ years and I am seeing a quick decline in pay and seeing these companies getting away with making the lines harder to get with how they calculate them. This profession quickly going downhill.
More than what she is making, I'm sure.
x
If you are making 9.5....

I would ask for at least 11.  If you have been there that long, why not?  I always ask for more than i really want cause you can negotiate.  If you end up with 10.5 that is still a good rate. 


For ESL's I want 11, but I don't get snippy if i have some here and there.  I do one now exclusively and he can be a big pain but i can understand him fine and ESLs are great for making normals because in my experience they repeat A LOT. 


The going rates around here seems to be 8 cpl with many companies...you are doing good at what you have but there is nothing wrong with levering your experience and services for more money.  You have proven yourself already to these people.  If they turn you down you can start looking elsewhere but only do so if you are taking a step up. 


 


I was making 16/hr when i was QA n/m
x
Making changes

Alright folks let's move this off the word help board because it's become a different discussion.  First of all, I personally believe that we should type what doctors say, everything they say and not change a thing.  So if they say Synthroid 100 mg, leave it.  If they say There was changes.  Leave it.  However, our companies and many hospitals don't agree. 


If you were to try to get a job editing books at a publlishing house you would need a degree in English and you'd get paid a whole heck of a lot more than we do.  But we do the same job, fixing the English of doctors, having perfect punctuation, correcting verb tenses.  Not to mention the medical side, knowing all the drug dosages, correct lab values (yeah we get marked off for those too).  I love it when I have to leave something blank like I just did "H&H 13/4/38"  ???


IMHO we don't get paid enough to do all we have to do.  We are not just typists.  My friend is a nurse and when I told her everything we have to know she told me we could all be nurses!  This is because I carried on a conversation with her about cardiac cath, CABG and people who have IV dye allergies and the compliance issues with Mucomyst.  She was shocked.


We get no respect from many doctors.  I actually had a PCP that I went to when I was sick say that because I was an MT I knew too much about medicine in a really condescending voice.  Had another say then what do you suggest when he tried to tell me he'd done all the possible tests.  Corrected another to his face. 


So call me whatever you want but if I hear the doctor say something that is inappropriate in the same manner that Potassium 132 is inappropriate or Synthroid 100 mg is inappropriate, I'm going to leave a blank.  Maybe the doctor is mad or frustrated but the medical record is a legal document that the patient can get access to anytime they want.  So when the doctor calls a patient a land whale or says she's f-ing pregnant again or is a retard or is an SOB (and I don't mean short of breath), IMO I am covering their butt by giving them a chance to rethink what they say before they put it in a legal document.