A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

I find it funny residents don't know errors in a - report when they see them.

Posted: May 26, 2012

I just did an ortho res who referred to a physiodesis with an A-plate. This was clearly being said and I knew there wasn't such a thing, so I looked back at previously reports. There were over 5 throughout the past few years with this A-plate. Finally, I get to a report with an eight-Plate, which is what it should have been. This just goes to show you how an error by an MT can be carried through multiple reports for years as many docs just read off them for their history taking. Imaging all the damage the ILPs are doing. (I'm an MME and have seen their work. Not impressed at all).

No "damage" is being done. - sm

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Can you explain how that will affect patient care? You cannot because it will never affect patient care.

No damage is being done because of this. Residents just read what they see and there should be no expectation on your part that they ought to recognize typos. They have other, more important issues to deal with.

AHDI overinflated the importance of typed documents. It is nice to get it all right, but nobody is going to make medical decisions on the basis of tiny details in what you type. A plate, eight plate, or hay plate, nothing will result from it.

This is why hospitals are unconcerned about errors made by VR and this is why they outsource their transcription. It just is not that important to them.

The mistaken idea that their work is crucially important is unfortunate beause it is one of the main things keeping MTs from seeing where MT is headed and being proactive about retraining for a different field.

You can be shocked and argue to the contrary, but I am not mistaken about this.

I kind of agree. I have not felt like what I typed - has made a difference

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in years. Used to type pathology and felt that was fairly important and life-altering and had to be exactly right. Then typed X-rays and also felt that was needed information. Now --- not so much. I wouldn't trust a history or a medication list off a typed report for nothing. Just a waste mostly. Whether the patient knows what they are taking or have had done (or tells the truth for that matter), whether the doctor can understand the patient and vice versa (or is smart enough as noted above), and lastly whether we can understand the doctor and catch the VR errors for minimum wage --- too many places for errors. On another note, anybody notice when you are spending your "inactive time" trying to find Dr. Widget in Podunk, USA how few doctors are AMA certified these days? There will be 3 names of AMA doctors and then 100+ of non-AMA doctors.

MT future - MT

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Interesting post. Will you say more about where MT is headed. Will it disappear altogether? Will there always be some jobs available for those who supplement another income and don't mind min wage? How long do you think it will stay as it is now?

I have heard that it will disappear with point-click and VR but as I type I wonder how a patient's history could be complete without the narrative. There is just so much individual information that could not be covered with point and click, and I can't see busy doctors doing clerical. Transcription seems like the best way to me.

WOW, I have to admit your post was kind of a wake up call for me - anon

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It's really one thing to feel that what you do is completely useless and of no use to anyone but to have it all put out there in black and white was kind of a reality check for me. I guess it would explain the entire "outsourcing" issue and answers the question "Why does it seem like nobody cares about the quality of these documents?" with, "It doesn't SEEM like nobody cares ... they genuinely don't".

disagree - MT

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I disagree that no one cares. Maybe the above example of A plate or 8 plate doesn't matter that much, but overall I do think accuracy matters. We have to have medical records and what is the point of having them if they are not accurate?

I'm an MME, and - anon

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The best example I can think of is that a recent report came across my queue from one of our global employees because it had one blank in it. It was a 500-second report. I went ahead and corrected the entire thing even though we have been instructed to fill in the blank ONLY. I made *62* corrections on that 500-second report - the majority of them critical medication, allergy and historical errors. It was a HUGE wake-up call for me about the many thousands and thousands of reports typed by our global employees that DON'T make it across an MME desk and DON'T get corrected. If you could see the quality of work that I see in an 8-hour day, you would probably FREAK. Sometimes, I actually thank GOD that I have accidentally found the critical errors that I find.

62 corrections in a 500-second report in my eyes renders that document "useless". So I will repeat your question back to you: "What is the point of having them if they are not accurate?"

NOBODY CARES.

and the same mistakes over and over too - slave wages

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I don't think Global even looks at the reports we correct. At first I thought they did, but after seeing the same mistakes over and over, I don't think so anymore. Now I think I'm just Ms. Fix-It. But you're right. Nobody does care.

To MME...I hope you report this and that MModal - sm

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has something in place that if they get reports from MMEs regarding errors in reports like this from overseas that something is done about it. Unbelievable!

Nothing New - They Know

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Long before there was MME, there was a QA Dept at MQ and I was one of them. This offshoring quality is nothing new. I'm going back at least 6 years, maybe more. SO...we QA people spun our wheels to no avail.

This is just old hat, normal for MQ. It's just what they DO.

the only place it makes a difference - slave wages

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is if the case ever goes to court. Then you can bet the lawyers will be all over our typed documents looking for mistakes.

to keep JCAHO accreditation - no name

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Otherwise if it wasn't a law, I think you would just fill out a medical questionnaire.

disagree - MT - anon

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When you see an entire clinics reports being done VR and they have no editors - I'd have to say fewer and fewer care... so unfortunate - Joe Blow public doesn't know about their medical reports - let alone errors that might be in them...

You are 100% correct - old and burned out

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Typed reports are used mainly for insurance purposes. Any doctor who treats a patient based on a transcribed report is going to lose his license.

I agree... I think hospitals and doctors - only care minimally

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about what goes into the chart and MTs who take pride in their work (most of us) are the only ones who really, truly care. Hospitals and doctors have shown how much they value us by what they are willing to pay to get stuff to put in the charts. Foreign workers and VR are the final blow to the idea of quality in a medical record.

transcribed medical records - MT

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If most agree that the records we type are just for insurance and not too important, then why is there constant indignation here about not making good wages? If the reports are not that important, then we should make min wage. Also, we cannot expect to make top dollar in an industry that is fading away in favor of technology.

Very depressing but apparently true.

I actually think that question was part of my wake-up call just now - anon

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I think I FINALLY made the connection between "why are they paying minimum wage for such a seemingly important part of patient care??", and "nobody cares one bit about the transcribed report anymore".

As depressing as it was, the realization that came with the above post might actually be what I needed to start to let go. I think I'm going to print out the post and pin it on my wall everytime I start to feel that my job is important and that someday I might be paid my worth again.

THANK YOU to the above poster and I mean that sincerely. Sometimes reality checks come in strange forms.

That is my understanding also --- - anonymous

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All the diagnoses have to be done just to a "t" and needed information included so that the doctor can collect from insurance and Medicare. Once again all about the money (for everybody but us).

I've always felt that way too - slave wages

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There's so much more information in the chart than just our typed reports. Any health care professional would know to look to actual lab reports or other chart documentation before making any medical decisions.

On the contrary: I've had more than one of the Drs. - Ive typed for tell me that MTs are - sm

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their FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE against patient care mistakes and/or lawsuits.

Yes, but you are misunderstanding why - sm

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Yes, transcribed documents are legal document, but it is because they provide a record. The CONTENT matters, not the spelling and punctuation.

You are also missing the most important point . . . patient care is not affected. We are not talking about Dr. Smith's interest in sending nicely written letters from hi office, either. We are talking about hospital records.

If you believe what those doctors prattle at you, you have not taken a good look at what they write by hand or type themselves, or produce using Dragon. It is a mess and they do not care. They don't even recognize what is wrong with it. If they really believed that th spelling was going to win a court case for them, they would take more care. The reality is that it just isn't important.

MTs sem to believe that patients will get wrong drugs or dosages, or wrong surgery, because of what they type. It does not work that way. That misunderstanding comes from a lack of understanding about how medical care works. Nurses do not look at your H&P to see what meds to give--they get that from the orders. Surgeries are documented in more detail elsewhere in the record. And everybody just reads and understands it all in spite of the errors.

I agree with you. It's ironic that this kind of - nonsense is preached SM

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by the MTSOs, don't you think? Docking someone's pay for forgetting to type an "a, the", etc. as if that really matters?

Pt. care isn't usually directly affected. But a careless - RN or MD may not catch the mistake.

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We are in no way a major player in quality of patient care. But we ARE a valuable link in the chain, because we produce written record they depend on and refer to when treating.

Joint Commission would certainly disagree with this "reality check." - MThospital

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Just because someone writes something on the internet does not mean it is true. Just because a person came on here and says that Medical Records and their accuracy mean nothing doesn't mean they are correct. This is not a reality check. This is someone's biased opinion.
Anyone who has ever worked in a hospital years ago, yesterday, or today who has to deal with the Joint Commission, will tell you accuracy is extremely important. So are the fines ensued all the way down to lowly MT if caught in error.
So, I would suggest that people take what they read here and otherwise as strictly opinion and not "The Gospel," because the facts are Joint Commission does think it is important.
Most of all have you forgot about
"Jane Doe."
Shame on you for forgetting about the patient.
Our ultimate responsibility (along with providing for ourselves and our family) is to that patient who is directly impacted by our errors. If nothing else, think about them. If nothing else have a conscience!
Your job as an MT, editor, medical clerk, whatever it is MATTERS. Period. Yes, I wrote this on the internet. You don't have to believe it. But, I have had a baby and my medical record was transcribed incorrectly. I was in a hospital and they needed my transfer sheet and that was important (TO ME) because my care when I was sick and vulnerable mattered. As well, if nothing else, the people who come and audit, you better believe THEY CARE.
Thanks for letting me get this off my chest. Yes, it's about the money and our survival, but it's about a heckofalot more!

Joint Commision... - anon

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Then if there are all these reports with all these errors, why isn't the Joint Commission taking more of a stance on this???

Wonder what their opinion of all this is?

There is a clinic in my hometown that uses VR, they have NO editors - VR reports are placed on the chart as is... regardless of errors...

Please tell that to QA next time I accidentally forget - to capitalize a med, or omit a comma!

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To hear them rant about an honest mistake, you'd think I had walked into the hospital and injected a misdosed medication personally.

well QAs tend to take themselves - way too seriously nm

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as we all know.

Errors - just me

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I was working for a service and typing overflow on another account they assigned me when I noticed the ortho report for a practice in Nevada and a cardiology letterhead for a practice in Maine. I flagged it and stated something about the template that had came down to use on the platform. At first they were yelling at me that I used the incorrect template, and then realized after almost 2 years that they had in fact loaded the incorrect template! You would think after all those years, the clients would have said something!

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