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


Tips for Success with VR - VR Trainer


Posted: May 14, 2010

Learning to use VR can be accomplished by any MT who has solid MT skills and is knowledgeable about their work.  I do not believe newbies or grads within their first 2 years should be using VR without QA backup (just my opinion).

1.  You have to want to learn to use it effectively.  If you try to do it kicking and screaming, being obstinant, you simply will hinder your learning curve and depth significantly. 

2.  It takes time.  You will not learn it overnight.  Simply "knowing" what keystroke combinations to use will not help you.  Give yourself some time to ramp up on your VR speed and accuracy.

3.  You need to learn VR on the account(s) you are most comfortable with if at all possible.  If your company is trying to force you to use VR on accounts you are not familiar with try having a very serious (and/or series of serious) discussions with your manager or supervisor.  Yes, I know the realities of this work.  Most of the time, however, you are going to VR on your account.  Just try to avoid working VR on just any account until you are accomplished with your primary/secondary accounts.

4.  Make sure you understand how VR works.  Speech/Voice recognition software works basically the same way regardless of the platform.  Most all speech recognition software is produced ultimately by Nuance but still yet they all function the same way.  The speech engine is the software that is making the voice comparison to produce the written transcript.  The engine can "learn" and starts by the "draft" that the company uses for a dictator.  ** Important:  When discussing working on VR with your employer or when you are interviewing for a VR/editing position, ask what accuracy percentage they require on their drafts! You want at minimum of 75% (80% to 85% or higher if you can) or I would refuse.  Just my educated opinion here.  **  The dictator's reports will first go through a drafting process and the VR technicians will review it for accuracy.  They will give it an accuracy rating.  The higher the rating the more accurate the transcript was for the dictation.  Companies set their threshold or accuracy % they will accept on drafts.  The lower that score, the more you (the VR/editor) will have to change.  You cannot correlate this score with the amount of lines you will have to do or your effort but you do not want to work on VR for a company who accepts/allows drafts with less than 75% accuracy. The engine can learn but the company will also determine what percentage of corrections must come in for that particular word or phrase in order for the engine to adapt its transcription to the dictation.  Remember that this is a team effort:  If you have MTs who do not make their corrections appropriately, they do not help this process.  You should report those MTs who are defiant and don't want to do the work correctly--they are a detriment.  Do the work right, it will learn.  Do it wrong, you hurt everyone in the process so respect the process, respect your fellow MTs.

5.  Learn the keystroke combinations.  Learn how the company wants you to handle redundant text and hidden text.  Learn how the company wants you to handle transcription errors so that the engine can learn.   Learn this so you don't have to think about it at all. 

6.  Practice! Practice! Practice!  Do all the VR you can.  It's the only way you will learn it.  You must be able to handle the keystroke combinations, redundant and hidden text issues, error reporting, etc., as smoothly and without any thought just as much as you don't think about how to spell "heart" or "the patient."  You don't think about how to spell those words - it is 2nd nature to you.  This is what your goal should be for the VR process - your hands knowing what to do should become as 2nd nature as your foot does with driving the foot pedal. 

Remember:  Unless you have very high accuracy drafts for your dictator, this is not smooth work usually.  It is choppy.  It is start-and-go (like basketball).  Relax.  The more tense you are, the more you physically and mentally will resist and get frustrated.  You really do have to meld with the software itself to be most effective.  It will take you some time and effort to become comfortable and efficient.

I can personally attest that if you make effort, learn your software/keystrokes, and practice diligently with an open, accepting mindset, you will be successful.  It will not stress you (with the exception of the normal stresses we face doing MT work anyway) further and your production willl increase.  You really can make as much financially with VR as you do with MT.  You also have a good (not high but a fair) chance of making more depending on your company/account/dictator. 

I truly hope this helps someone here. 

VR Trainer

 

You rock - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
These are fantastic points. I totally agree with everything. I've used eScription VR for about 3 years now, first my hospital went from all transcription to ES and it was a rough road at first, I was the very first MT to go live for our system and it was an... interesting day. But with time our drafts started coming out great, I loved some of the shortcuts like Alt+shift+: and Shift+F3, I wish every Word program would come out with these. My production increased dramatically, it was the same (even learning the new platform) the first payperiod then started going up and up and up. I think keeping focused, really paying attention to what is in front of you, makes all the difference. It is easy to get bored and let your mind wander and miss things. But if you are open to it and willing to learn, it will come and you can produce 2-3 times as much. Not to mention save yourself from carpal tunnel or other repetative motion injuries in the process.

It might be good on Escription but Mmodal suxs big time. It is totally messed up - transcender

[ In Reply To ..]
and no one ever does anything about it. I can transcribe much faster than I can edit and not worry about the problems that VR has created for me.

add MQ's ASR to the bad list - but thanks

[ In Reply To ..]
for the great tips on learning VR in general. I would love to work on Escription or some other platform that is efficient and effective and not a salary draining nightmare.

Great tips... but how do you train the engine? (see inside) - lindawordlady

[ In Reply To ..]
I love VR and use Escription which is great. I have been using it for over 8 months. There are some words that I have to correct like every single time; why is that? Why hasn't the engine learned that word by now, i.e., gastrointestinal instead of abdomen. It's second nature now to correct it but also a pain every single time it is listed in the physical exam part. I am not sure about about other employees (of which I have no knowledge) if they are not correcting? I would assume if they are not, they would get lower QA scores. I am always 99.5% or above myself. Any clarification on that would be much apprecitaed.

I do SO agree with your tips though. I have set goals for myself and love to achieve those with more lph than I thought I ever could. After being an MT now for over 25 years, I really hate to type a "live one" anymore.

My guess is that they are not changing it - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Generally with things like that whatever the VR engine brings in from the begining, ie, what the company creates as a voice file, isn't changed by the majority of MTs, so it stays the same. If every one of the MTs changes it, it will learn eventually. You might want to talk to your QA or manager about what should go there, might end up saving you some time ;-)

I assume that more MTs are changing it than not - puzzle to me

[ In Reply To ..]
changing it.
Why does the system not get it? Are the software people not watching this and make the adjustments and corrections so that the software CAN LEARN and eliminate errors?

Didn't they promise the clients that the software WILL learn?

"VR trainer" should be able to answer your question! - where is it?

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

all this risky effort for 3-4 cpl? - is it worth?

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

No. - Novrforme

[ In Reply To ..]
Hell no.

Well 3 is low, 4-6 is pretty good - sapient

[ In Reply To ..]
and it is worth it if you want to keep up on the new technologies. Imagine if one of the 'old' MTs who LOVED her typewriter decided learning those 'new fangled computers' were just TOO hard.

It is worth it, because once you 'get it' you can make good money.

What is definition of "good money" - Want to know

[ In Reply To ..]
One person's good money is another person's subsistence money. What is your idea of good money?
I brought in 40,000 a year last year - nm
[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Yes, for those who really apply themselves. - VR Trainer

[ In Reply To ..]
You can do as well and sometimes better than straight MT work but you have to learn it and use it.

VR Trainer

what is there to learn? Are you a "trainer" or a "vendor?" - see message inside

[ In Reply To ..]
An MT has only to memorize hundreds of shortcuts and then apply those shortcuts in a robotlike speed.
That's it!

Or one can continue to use the mouse.

It is not yet proved that usage of shortcuts speeds up the production.
VR editing is definitely a robot occupation.
My guess is a "trainer", vendor or MTSO - definitely not an MT
[ In Reply To ..]
Otherwise they would know that only about 1 out of every 10 MTs can actually make the same amount of money or more by doing VR. About 9 out 10 MTs actually make LESS once they switch to VR.

Whoever this person is, it sounds like they are trying to convince everybody otherwise, and it's just not true.
You'll never be proficient at it if you don't change your outlook. - VR Trainer
[ In Reply To ..]
I work full time as an MT/Editor (about 70% of my work is VR) and part-time as a VR Trainer.
It certainly wasn't my attitude at all - VR is impossible
[ In Reply To ..]
Actually, I *volunteered* to go onto VR, and I was really excited and really motivated. I *wanted* to do this!!!

But then, after the first 4 months or so, my excitment started to drop off, especially after I saw my dismal paychecks and realized that I would never be able to make even the same amount of money on VR, let alone the two or three times more production as they had promised.

I honestly don't know what your interest is in pushing VR like this.

VR *might* be okay **IF** they hadn't cut the MT's wages so drastically that we can't even make the same amount of money on our paychecks.

They promise that we will make the same amount of money or even more, and that just simply is not true, at least not at the wages that they currently trying to pay the MT for VR editing.
all your posts smell of "advertisements" - see message
[ In Reply To ..]
What "outlook" is there"

We tried it all out. VR is definitely NOT the answer.
And it is definitely not here to stay since it did not sdeliver what was promised. The next wave is EMR and

"medical databases that integrate scheduling, reports (EMR) and invoicing into 1 package are already in usage."

Keeping up with technology is not enough anymore, technology takes over.

what are you doing as a "VR trainer?" - please elaborate
[ In Reply To ..]
Could you please explain in more details what are you doing as a VR trainer?

Besides handing out lists of short cuts to be memorized?

What else?

This would really interest me.

I never knew that this new occupation "VR trainer" emerged.

Waiting for your answer, thanks!
I don't know that it is a new occupation, per se...sm - VR Trainer
[ In Reply To ..]
I started learning VR when it came out. I volunteered. At first, it whipped me and I quickly was disenchanted with it.

I also don't take "no" for an answer or accept failure so I decided I was going to get back in the saddle and try it again.

This time I took my notes from the previous training class, wrote up all my issues and questions and asked to go through training again. This time, I had a different trainer. Over a period of a couple of weeks, through many phone calls and emails with the 2nd person doing the training, I was able to get all of my questions asked.

I made notes on what was wrong with the training sessions I had been through. I also started making notes on problems I was encountering. I would go back and be quite adamant about getting answers. It wasn't that the company did not have answers but rather a time factor. Just like anything else, they were not investing the time and effort it took to give good instruction. Their trainers were also people who had been trained about the software but were not active users. Big difference.

I asked to go to training classes several times and was allowed to go (on my own time) as much as I wanted. So I did. Each time I picked up more information and got other questions answered.

I also slowly implemented the "tips" and "shortcuts" one or two at a time so that I could learn to use them.

I started writing my own training agenda and applied at a few different companies, explaining my VR experience. I had a few phone calls from them. I was offered a full-time job at training but I wasn't inclined to do that. I did not want to give up my active daily work on VR. I worked hard to get where I was on productivity and accuracy with VR and I did not want to lose it. It also keeps me in the active "know" of what is going on, encountering problems, etc. I finally got an offer to train part-time. I took it.

I did not start training live immediately but I sat in their current training sessions and then gave them feedback as to what was not clear, what seemed inaccurate, pressed them further on their own knowledge. I asked to see the error reports/logs coming in and help write some solutions.

Then I started training live classes myself. I work as an IC and keep 2 part-time contracts doing VR training and consulting. I keep my skills current by working it, too.

I know first hand that it can be done but it does take effort and dedication on the part of the MT.

VR Trainer

I dont like VR period - Sassy Pants

[ In Reply To ..]
I have tried and practiced and asked and I still cannot make line count when I HAVE NO WORK!! My best lph so far is not even 100 lines/hour. Umm, how am I supposed to live on that? Then after you factor 75% of my lph is VR at 1/2 cpl x FT hours - insurance/taxes = minimum wage, no thanks! BTW, shortcuts suck, I have no cut/copy/paste feature or find/replace feature which really slows me down when I have to change "John" to "the patient" many times in 1 report. I am way faster/better and make more $$$ straight typing.

Nope, VR is definitely NOT worth it - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
My company paid me 5.4 cpl for VR, and I gave it (VR) over a year.

But after a year, I finally had to quit because it worked out to be such a big pay cut that it was slowly driving me closer and closer to bankruptcy.

VR editors know that the line rate for VR - vr

[ In Reply To ..]
varies from 3-6 cents.

We also know that teh line rate correlates with how many corections teh VR system requires. To make corrections takes time.

So, doing the math, somebody who gets 3 cpl will make as much money as somebody who gets 5 cpl because it is relative to the quality of the VR software.

As already said, only if 1 becomes and works like an MT-robot, 1 can afford to be 1.


Not true - pay depends on the company, not the account - nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

It is true since a company does not use for - vr

[ In Reply To ..]
every account a different software.

So, my comparison was between companies, not accounts.

I start training on VR June 1 (sm) - Long time MT

[ In Reply To ..]
I ran across your post and appreciate the positive encouragement. I am eager to learn something new.

another 1 who fell for advertisement - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
what does this "training" consist of?
Memorizing short cuts from a list you get emailed?
What else?
Please tell us.

your "tips" are sooo unrealistic - see mess

[ In Reply To ..]
I quote from your post, just only 1 example:

Tell me WHAT employer accepts this????
We are told what to do, we cannot ASK for FAVORS.

You suggest, I quote...

"..3. You need to learn VR on the account(s) you are most comfortable with if at all possible. If your company is trying to force you to use VR on accounts you are not familiar with try having a very serious (and/or series of serious) discussions with your manager or supervisor. Yes, I know the realities of this work. Most of the time, however, you are going to VR on your account. Just try to avoid working VR on just any account until you are accomplished with your primary/secondary accounts...."

Haha, this makes me laugh! "Just try to avoid working on just any account, etc..."

This shows me that you cannot possibly be a working MT, if an MT at all, and that you have no idea how it works in the MT business.

We have to transcribe and EDIT documents that are DOWNLOADED to us, we cannot CHOOSE what to do!

Your "tips" are so UNREAL.





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