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

MT punctuation - Confused

Posted: Apr 20, 2014

Does anyone know why punctuation became such an issue in the MT world? Does anyone remember back in the day (not too long ago) when we were all pretty much trusted to insert our own punctuation? I worked QA in-house and I didn't even worry a bit about punctuation. I mean, had an MT typed a long list with no punctuation I am sure I would have caught that, but we didn't even bother with worrying about that, because the MTs knew how to punctuate. Then, when I started working for a national, they never graded punctuation either. I have noticed that recently though, punctuation seems more important than the actual content. Do you think the doctors were complaining that this or that was missing a comma or it should have been a semicolon or what happened to make it such a dramatic change? I was just wondering.

I hear ya and agree with the level of policing. I just figured - sm ANON

[ In Reply To ..]
it came from the same idiotness as in the BOS. You know, rule after rule after rule that the docs could give a flying flip about. Then, to really make us REALLY look stupid/schizo - rules are changed and changed back again. And then came punctuation protocols.

With an exception to every rule that accompanies the English language - we'll never be right anyway so I hold commas to a scant bare minimum.

crazy business this is. with every attempt, the standard of quality gets lost in translation.

punctuation - zrn

[ In Reply To ..]
It's because the people who have taken over the transcription field didn't have a background in transcription and they treat the reports as letters. The problem I have with that is you could give the same paper to 5 different English teachers and I'm sure there would be differences on all of them. Everyone knows commas are subjective. Some people think they're overused, some don't. It's just a big waste of everyone's time. The content in the report is what they need to be worried about.

Catch myself trying to anticipate - how QA will look at it

[ In Reply To ..]
Rather than just trusting myself to do it like I would do it. It's so often "darned if you do, darned if you don't."

Similar Messages:

Nov 23, 2009

How would this be punctuated? Her knee is stable to varus valgus anterior posterior stresses. ...

Feb 16, 2010

I am transcribing a H & P - under review of systems I have: She has had some headaches, as above. Question: Is there suppose to be a comma after headaches to separate as above as it is not necessary to the sentence? BOS does not give a speciific answer for this. ...

Mar 16, 2010

Can anyone help me with the punctuation in this sentence? I've added 2 commas but I don't think they are correct.... I'm thinking a semicolon or colon somewhere? CT scan of the head was negative, of the chest, the findings included mediastinal hematoma with displacement of the esophagus and stomach. Thanks in advance!!! ...

Mar 20, 2010

How to punctuate this? Would you use a semicolon after hypertension? History of hypertension, on treatment with Dyazide daily, repeated bladder infections, appendectomy, 3 D&Cs, tonsillectomy, history of yellow jaundice as a child. ...

Jul 27, 2010

Is this right? She also had somatosensory evoked potential, which showed abnormal bilateral tibials. Somatosensory evoked potentials in both the normal position and "budda position". Slowing of the central conduction is worse in the left than the right. ...

Aug 05, 2010

Is the punctuation in this paragraph correct? I am mainly concerned with the sentence concerning the spine. Thanks! Slowing of the central conduction is worse in the left than the right, but abnormalities are bilateral. She had an MRI of her spine; C-spine;T-spine; and L-spine. All of which showed no problems after her surgery except for post operative changes. ...

Dec 30, 2010

She denies partner change, although, when queried further she states that since her STD check, which was done in August, she actually has had one partner with use of a condom. I also thought of putting a semicolon before although...? I am really stuck on this...and I want to put a comma after further because I feel it is more introductory, but QA does not like commas. Does that look right? I swear, with the way QA is at my company, I feel like I don't even know how to wr ...

Jan 06, 2011

How would you punctuate this? I do think that the combination of discontinuation of splinting and initiating some therapy, in particular, home therapy, will help substantially with this stiffness. THX! ...

Aug 20, 2011

Please note that the punctuation help I need IS NOT FOR A COURSE TEST! I am at my wits-end trying to punctuate the following two paragraphs. I hope a few of you more knowledgeable MTs can show me the correct way to punctuate the following paragraphs: The patient is a 98-year-old Caucasian female who is hard of hearing, with visual impediments, with a known history of coronary artery disease; history of congestive heart failure and vasovagal syncope; with a history of lumbar stenosis, lumba ...

Sep 29, 2011

This doctor is testing proverbs on this patient. He does a lot of I said, he said stuff. I'm not sure how exactly to punctuate this. How would you do it? The comma placement is what is bugging me the most. However, when I said "you can lead a horse to water", he said "you cannot force someone to do something", and when I said "you should not cry over spilled milk", he said "do not be so sensitive." ...

Apr 18, 2012

How do you punctuate "however" when docs and nurses dictate it more like a subordinating conjunction rather than a conjunctive adverb? In other words, they use "however" the same way one would use "yet." An example: The patient no-showed his last 3 appointments however showed up for this one. (I purposely left the punctuation out.) I know how to punctuate it if the sentence reads: "The patient no-showed his last 3 appointments; however, he showed up for this one." ...

Jul 06, 2013

I am getting report after report with virtually no punctuation unless the doctor dictates the punctuation. I had the same situation yesterday, and my line count was so low - even below 100 at times. Punctating all the PMH, medications, et cetera is ridiculous. ...

Jan 15, 2015

Granted most of my work these days are partial dictations, so very short, but lately there are some with absolutely no punctuation. Its all one big run-on sentence. Also a lot of times with no caps on obvious things like the months of the year. ...

Nov 02, 2009

She saw Dr. ___, who she tells me is at the UCLA Medical Center, who told her that she had a "borderline blood test on her nerves," and that she should see a neurologist. that is typed as the dr. says.. but i feel like I should break it up somehow, or that he has almost two quotations, but only does one? tia :) ...

Nov 09, 2009

sentence: . . . man who describes burning low back pain . . . should it be burning, low-back pain OR burning, low, back pain. I am thinking low-back is a compound adjective and should be hypenated as in the first example, but am not sure. The second example just looks funny to me. (lol) ...

Dec 09, 2009

The patient is now about 1 week postoperative arthroscopy and debridement of the right knee for a posterior horn tear of the medial meniscus, medial extensor plica, and synovial calcinosis. tia ...

Dec 11, 2009

I hope I posted this in the right place. If not, my sincerest apologies. I'm curious - how many of you put a comma after the phrase "At this time", i.e. At this time, the patient was discharged to home, as opposed to At this time the patient was discharged to home. I used to know all of this stuff but it's been 34 years since I graduated high school. LOL. I had some great English teachers but the memory fades with age...... :-) Thanks in advance! Have a ...

Jan 27, 2010

HEAD CT IMPRESSION Multiple regions of low density in both sides of the internal capsule, probably represent old white matter infarcts. (Should there be a comma after capsule or not? It makes sense with or without the comma) ...

Feb 04, 2010

I've always been confused with although. Would you use a semicolon with it? indeed she is a candidate for botulinum toxin for her cervical dystonia, although the Botox therapy ...

Jul 02, 2010

CEREBRAL VASCULAR ACCIDENT INTRACRANIAL HEMORRHAGE, COMA NONDOMINANT, HEMIPLEGIA, AND s/l *HYDROCEPH* COMMUNICATING HYDROCEPHALUS. Is the punctuation correct. Is coma considered an abbreviation? Thanks so much.. ...

Jun 08, 2010

Is the punctuation correct in this sentence: The patient is a 30-year-old, never married, unemployed white male. I'm wondering if there should be a comma between unemployed and white. Thanks! ...

Sep 07, 2010

I was reading and found it is okay to use one space after punctuation. This is going to be a hard habit to break. I am old school and was taught to use two spaces after punctuation in typing class. Thanks for any comments. Mel ...

Oct 18, 2010

Hi! Could anyone tell me if they use (or have used) any software that helps with punctuation. I have to tell you that that's my weakest point. Any product names you can give me that you think are good, please let me know. I'd need the software to use both with a Mac and PC. Thank you. ...

Jun 08, 2011

I have seen this all three ways, which is correct please? wet to drys wet to dry's wet to dries ...

Jul 02, 2011

I've noticed at most mtso's throughout the years - no periods on the end of sentences such as: HISTORY: Headache COMPARISON: None POSTSURGICAL DIAGNOSIS: Same Is there a specific reason for this? It's...well...certainly doesn't make us look good, that's for sure. ...

May 01, 2012

Hello, I am having a bit of a hard time knowing which to use when using then and than. Also, how to punctuate months time or month's time? Do you always use an apostrophe even when it's one month's time? DDoes anyone know any good resource sites that would be helpful? Thanks in advanced! ...

Sep 03, 2012

FYI Monday, September 24, is National Punctuation Day. Visit nationalpunctuationday.com to learn more. Let your QA people know about this day! ...

Jan 24, 2013

Why would a transcription company you are working for ask you to only put one space after puncutation, like a period? To cut down on your lines? ...

Feb 21, 2014

I don't want to be too harsh, but some people need to go back to English class. All I do all day long is correct really, really basic, childish, stupid punctuation mistakes. Granted, most of them really don't make a different in the meaning of the sentence, but how would you feel if you were the one reading your medical report and it looked like crap or maybe faulty punctuation did change the meaning of what was in your report? Some representative examples I see all the time: S ...

Aug 16, 2010

Unsure of comma placement/procedures. It is all running together in dictation. I'm sure of the dictation, that part is clear. Thanks! Procedure is posterior arthrodesis at L4-L5 bilaterally, posterior non-segmental instrumentation in the form of pedicle screws with rods, fluoroscopic guidance and supervision and interpretation and placement of percutaneous pedicle screws, greater than usual procedural services secondary to revision nature and the claimant being graded at 100 pounds o ...