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

Do you proof your work? - Wondering

Posted: Sep 22, 2011

I'm too slow and have heard other people say they don't proof their work. I am so tempted but find too many mistakes to dare try it.

I'm curious how many do and don't, how much it helps with line count (when you don't), and if there is a good way to train yourself to do it right the first time so it's not necessary.

Not as much as I did when I was paid better. - Now its all about crankin out those lines. (nm)

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How much difference does it make and plea for advice - Wondering

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Can you estimate how much difference it makes in your line counts? I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "Not as much as I did." Does that mean you just skim them all or skip some completely?

Seriously you guys, I am on the verge of losing my job due to low line counts (and I have no idea if I would be able do better with a different company). I have tried everything I can think of except not proofing. Any other advice on this would be appreciated.

I feel like I am working plenty hard, but my counts just don't cut it for some reason.

Wondering - Old Pro

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Rather than asking how much difference it makes in line counts, you might ask what difference it makes in PATIENT CARE. Where are your priorities?

Priorities - Wondering

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I go above and beyond what I think many MTs to in many ways and cannot seem to let go of it (which is probably a bit of my line count problem). I have not attempted the not-proofing thing yet because I am worried about the errors that I might miss (I'm surprised you didn't get that out of my post).

The people I have heard speak of this before acted as though they had developed a technique where they are able to pay enough attention as they type to catch errors up front. However, I have found that I miss little words and when I see an expander opening I think it is ok, but then sometimes find it was actually the wrong one from transposing letters.

It would be very much appreciated if questions were addressed in a respectful manner. I don't understand why some of you feel the need to scold people.

Here is an actual helpful answer... - hopefully anyway

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I don't understand some people either, but anyway....

What I do is if I catch myself making a frequent typo, I add it to my autocorrect with an x on the end to make sure it is flagged by the spell checker, i.e. os, which does not get flagged, as it is a word, comes up osx, as I often make the mistake for is. Also, don't make expanders too similar to avoid that mistake. I also proof as I go and just give the document as a whole a quick skim before I send it. I have never gotten below 98% QA score. Good luck!

Thank you ... - Wondering

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Thank you for the help.

The autocorrect idea is a good one. I will give that a try.

I'm not so sure how well I can comply with the expander idea though. I have mega expanders to the point where I have had to veer off my normal pattern in multiple ways. I do find myself having to change some as I go because they are close enough that I get them mixed up for another I have added. I think I was originally trying to be too concise which is ok until you get so many made.

I think I am making them better now but still come across old ones I have to change. I think my biggest problem with them, however, is just typo transpostion, and it seems the faster I try to go the more fumble fingers I have.

I think my personality doesn't do well with the whole line count, blank limit, error making stuff hanging over my head. I tend to be overconscientious anyway, and I think it actually has a negative affect on my performance.

Same here - mamt

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I proof as I go, then a quick once over after I spell check it. Also, I don't spend a ton of time trying to get blanks the first time around as quite often you may hear it later in the report. I mark them, then go back and listen to them. I find this is faster for me. Good luck!

Oh yeah - Wondering

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Thanks for the reminder about leaving blanks and going back. I have been working on that one. Lol For some reason I have a hard time not searching or listening/relistening on the spot.

Aside from the fact they often mention it again later, as you said, often enough it's just easier to understand when you go back (part of the reason why QA can get things we don't) ... it seems we get sort of a pattern going in our heads that make us unbable to hear things correctly sometimes (like when you think it's some bizaare med term and it turns out to be 2 regular words that are plain as day when you go back). Duh!

Another thing that makes me cringe is when I do the search thing and then the dictator goes on to change, spell or clarify, etc. One should learn in a hurry, but I still find myself doing that sometimes.

Thanks again!

As I go - Cheesey

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I had super low line counts. Now I'm just doing the 1 pass. I proof as I go. I was worried about it too, but really, I've been doing quite well.

When I would do multiple passes, I found myself not paying much attention on the first pass. That is what lead to all the little errors I would find in the other passes which seemed to justify proofing the report so much. But doing one pass, I concentrate more right then.

BUT, I notice that numbers can get mixed up and medications can get heard wrong, so unless it was a super easy dictation, I usually always go back and listen to the medications and lab values again.

dear wondering, from a long, long time MT - sm

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I used to be one that said I proofed as I went. Then I was given an account that has very very strict QA oversight and discovered that I was not as perfect with my work as I once thought. Now I proof every report. But I probably spend no more than a few to 30 seconds per report proofing. So if you are taking very long to proof, try training yourself to scan quickly, reading for sense, etc, and not just slowly reading every single word. You might surprised how fast you can do this, and how you can train yourself to still catch the errors. I really do not like to take the time to proof, even quickly, but I'd much rather do that than have an error, repeated sentence, etc. In this business it is far better to be slow and be very accurate than to make as much money as you can and sacrifice any quality. Your reputation will precede you down the road and it's just a win-win situation all around. To specifically answer your question, the way I do it, it does not impact my line count enough to make a difference. IMHO, there is no substitute for proofing. Your speed in transcription and proofing will no doubt increase over time, but nothing trumps quality!

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