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

confused about transcribing numbers - OlderMT

Posted: Feb 12, 2012

I have been an MT for many years doing the same work for the same company. Now, all of a sudden, I am out of a job and starting to test for companies. I think I have picked up lots of bad habits and also conformed to the client's wishes. Now, I feel as if I don't know anything for sure. I have reviewed my test many times and find myself going back and changing things, especially regarding numbers. For example 5 to 6 years ago, or is it 5-6 years ago or is it five to six years ago. The patient has 1 sister and 2 brothers versus one sister and two brothers. Oh my! Also, Is it diabetes melliitus type 2, uncontrolled. Or is it diabetes mellitus, type 2, uncontrolled? Commas and numbers are giving me fits. I feel very old right now. Did I ever know this stuff? Can someone direct me to clear and current rules for such things. Thanks so much for your help. Feeling kinda stuck right now.

I know what you mean - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
The first job I had as an MT was typing for an acct where you have to spell out numbers 1 through 10 and after that you type out the number, so when I got laid off from that company, I went to test and did the same. I failed the tests. I realized it was the numbers. Most do want you to type the numbers as they are it seems. Like 1-5 and not 1 through 5. I think they look at it like you're wanting more lines or something. I really don't know, but I would just type it 1-5. I've passed tests since I changed it to that way.

I still do the zero to ten spelled out - sm - Zorro

[ In Reply To ..]
and anything over ten is a number. But you are correct in that most want just the number. I train MTs from time to time and I just tell them it is a matter of personal choice unless the acct/doctor tells you to do it a specific way. Obviously labs are numbers. An issue I see is comma's in numbers of 4 digits, 1,000 instead of 1000. I was taught about 12 years ago to not put in the comma when it was a 4-digit number so it would not be confused with a decimal point, which I think makes a lot of sense. But I see a lot that put in that comma. The comma goes in when it is 5-digits or more (e.g. 25,000). I know if I do any testing though to use numbers and not words. Luckily all the jobs I have had do it the way I like to do it, and yes I do want that few extra pennies we get if we spell it out, it adds up in the long run.

Do you own the Book of Style? By which I mean... - Briana

[ In Reply To ..]
...the current edition.

If so, you'll find that the ladies in Modesto have had nothing to do but think up rules for numbers and such. For the most part, these rules are picayune and utterly meaningless, but it gives them something to do when they tire of crocheting doilies.

In answer to your questions, I must ask certain questions, for these will determine how you should render these numbers:

1. What day of the week is it?

2. What's your favorite color?

3. Who is the President?

4. Does your husband wear briefs or boxers?

5. Have you ever owned a pet monkey?

6. Does the doctor's name begin with A through M, or N through Z?

7. Do you always try to "Buy American", or do you go for the cheapest price?

8. Have you watched any single Harry Potter movie more than 3 times?

9. Is the patient suffering from any rare tropical diseases?

10. Do you know what the term "half-pipe" means?

So, if I were to draw out the diagram winding its way through these critical questions, it would look like a plate of spaghetti...

...subjected to machine-gun fire...

...run over by an Abrams tank...

...and filtered through your home-town sewer system.

I hope this has been helpful.

LOL... You are so funny! - alias

[ In Reply To ..]
you can turn anything and any situation into something funny! I really like this interpretation of the BOS, which I think is utterly ridiculous, as they change their rules once a year so people have to buy the latest and updated issue of the BOS at the highest going rate possible. The rules they keep changing are the numbers, as that is the easiest to change. What a rip off! and MTSO's fall for this line of crap. BOS does not = GOD. but they seem to think so.

BOS = Bunch of Sheet - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

Briana - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
This has been very helpful. I am allergic to the sorority sisters in Modesto. Thanks for the morning laugh!

I totally agree - Old and Tired MT

[ In Reply To ..]
The old biddies in Modesto keep coming up with all these so-called "rules" on how to do transcription just to sell their BOS and the MTSOs fall for it every time. What does it matter to patient care of the number is typed "2" or "two"-- who cares? The only ones who do are the ones who seem to think the BOS is the "2nd" or "second" Bible-- take your pick.

Actually, though, a LOT of IT people care big time. - There is nothing new about choosing

[ In Reply To ..]
a particular style of punctuation and dictation for an institution. All major publishers, newspapers, etc., have done it for many decades. They even publish their own books of style. The folk in Modesto have annoyed me with various items, but they performed a service for us, not just the industry, in establishing a "generic" style, which institutions can adapt in whole or just in part.

People get in trouble when they think there is one set of "rules" for grammar and punctuation. No. No! There are a variety of ways to do things right. OP's way is correct for one place, a testing company's preference correct for another.

Now HERE's the benefit of the "Book of Style": You learn its rules (not hard, tons of overlap), and when you test you explain that you are defaulting to those guidelines. Since it's a widely accepted standard (to deviate from as desired), it is an impeccable excuse for the style you use on testing and reassures prospective employers that you're probably not one of the many punc/gram-challenged typists they're trying to weed out.

It would be very pleasant if any of that were true. - Briana

[ In Reply To ..]
First, there is a degree of uniformity and conformity that has absolutely no demonstrable value whatsoever, and which ultimately becomes counterproductive. The Ladies of Modesto crossed that line so far back that I can't remember, but I do recall Gutenberg busting a gut laughing.

Second, in practice the BOS hasn't generally been used as you imply - i.e., as a "standard to deviate from as desired"). It has been treated as a series of Commandments from the Mount, and squadrons of hoary demons sent forth in the guise of humans to punish the wrong-doers who fail to abide by the Holy Edicts in every minute detail. These fiery beasts, also known as "QA", have the unique power to cause bonuses to disappear, line rates to be adjusted downward, and, in general, to make the lives of MTs miserable beyond all comprehension over utterly immaterial "transgressions".

Third, if you knew the slightest thing about editorial "style guides", and particularly the history of such guides, you would not have mentioned them in this context.

The Ladies of Modesto are, as I once read somewhere, "unpardonable meddlers" who have in this, as in everything ELSE they have done, played no small role in totally screwing up the process of producing a perfectly respectable medical record.

I can think of NOTHING they have turned their hand to that has benefited anyone, except...well, I don't really think I have to say it.

Wow, there's a degree of cruelty and sexism that's not so funny - in your posts anymore. nm

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

I'm sure I have no idea what you're referring to. - Briana

[ In Reply To ..]
Would you please be more explicit?

Thanks.

no, you wouldn't because you can't hear yourself. - imho NM

[ In Reply To ..]
.

If you prefer not to answer a direct question - Briana

[ In Reply To ..]
...that's fine, but let's have done with the "nm" one-liners, okay? They don't accomplish anything.

Briana, from "NothingNewAbout", I used to be an - assistant editor at a publishing company

[ In Reply To ..]
in Beverly Hills, and at one time I had several different style guides in my office, along with many other references.

Regarding who gets to decide what to keep and how to deviate--that's not most of us, of course. The institutions do that. It's their prerogative.

And, yes, "rules" do often have a way of getting in the way of a good job, but that's intrinsic to the application of any rules. That was the way it was 5000 years ago and will be 5000 years in the future.

The complaint about your tone is because the humor that usually softens your statements somewhat, whether on point or way off, was missing here. Your comments on my observations WERE offensive to me when I read them just now--but only for their rudeness. I recognize that you are just as entitled to be wrong as any of us on a discussion forum.

I never intend to be rude. - Briana

[ In Reply To ..]
I presume we're talking here about my comment that spoke to your reference regarding "editorial style guides".

I'm reasonably sure that my experience with these guides - both in the world of academia and publishing - would compare favorably with anyone on the forum, and it seemed to me that you were not making the distinction between two very different processes:

1. The preparation of what I will call "working trade documents", and...

2. The preparation of materials for publishing.

Almost everything about these two processes - including the outcome to be reasonably expected from each - is different, and a "style guide", if it is to be useful at all, should be crafted with both the process AND the reasonable outcome in mind.

Obviously, the folks who publish the BOS have mistaken an editorial style guide for one that aids in the preparation of working trade documents, and my comment presumed that you did not recognize the difference either.

For instance, if it makes no practical difference in the outcome of a working trade document whether there is, or is not, a period when "Dr" appears in the body of text, THE STYLE GUIDE SHOULD BE SILENT ABOUT THIS.

If we "silenced" the BOS on matters that make absolutely NO practical difference to the preparation of a working medical record, it could be slimmed down to about 50 pages. In saying this, I am obviously not arguing for "no standards" - just standards that are in keeping with the work we are doing and the outcome that is needed.

We do NOT produce documents that are to be published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and if they should happen to appear there - say, as a part of an article - then it is entirely up to the editorial people at NEJM to decide what to do about any relevant stylistic issues.

But - you know what? They usually do nothing, and import the text as originally prepared.

This is why I said, "If you knew anything about..." - and I apologize for the presumption, but your post did not reveal evidence of this sort of knowledge about style guides.

Sure, Briana, and you and I agree that the BOS is - frequently bumptious and bothersome. SM

[ In Reply To ..]
Like you, I also prefer to just ignore their choices when they conflict with my own, or especially the dictators'.

Since they undertook the job of providing a style guide to facilitate some standardization through the industry (something that actually helps us a great deal), though, I can't fault them for covering all bases. When people go researching answers, arcane or otherwise, style guides are supposed to provide them.

After all, a fair number of people don't just love rules, they have a visceral, occasionally desperate need for someone, anyone, to privide them. Plus, there's nothing more pathetic than watching someone try to do CYA without a handy rule to blame. :)

You get my vote for POST OF THE YEAR! - sheermadness

[ In Reply To ..]
LOVE IT! Thank you.

She described the B.O.S. better than any other - description Ive ever seen. BRAVO! - Meerkat

[ In Reply To ..]
=^^=

You failed to note that . . . - SM

[ In Reply To ..]
They changed it with each edition . . or was it yearly . . . no, that was the rule on eponymic disease names and apostrophes . . . or was it diabetes? Kidney failure? No! Wait! I have it! Now I remember! It was decimals. Or was it cc and ml, err, excuse me, mL . . .

Absolute Nonsense! - Addison

[ In Reply To ..]
Does it really make a difference to patient care if we type 5-6 days versus 5 to 6 days? Or 2 children versus two children? As far as I'm concerned, we shouldn't have worry about something like that.

"Dr Whoozits" with a period or not? - Briana

[ In Reply To ..]
The patient will see Dr Whoozits for followup.

...or is it "Dr. Whoozits"?

The Modesto ladies frown on the period, although they'll tolerate one at the end of a sentence. Should one be found skulking anywhere else, they wonder what it must be up to. A period that doesn't know its place is a period that can't be trusted.

You'd think they belonged to some sort of league for the abolition of periods.

I tell you, I think I have a pretty fair idea how to put an English sentence together, but I haven't been in such a tizzy over periods since I hit menarche.

You know what I think all this "drop-the-period" - garbage is really about? - s/m

[ In Reply To ..]
It's about being able to "save the client money" (and thus be able to retain the greedy scums' accounts), and in turn, pay us LESS.

Just one more chink knocked out of what used to be readable, accurate medical records, and further dumbing them down, all in the name of the Almighty Dollar.

Pathetic.

When you're not typing a period, you're typing something - else. Nothing lost. Chill. Chase the

[ In Reply To ..]
bucks, not the dots. It's about equitable pay for the keystrokes performed, not the style someone else chooses for the reports. Dot/no dot--irrelevant.

EXACTLY! - lizzie

[ In Reply To ..]
Isn't more important to correctly spell and correctly transcribe the report correctly??? Who gives a rat's behind about 3-5 or 3 to 5??? Just another way to screw MTs out of a decent wage. Oh and let's not forget the QAs who mark you off for 1 thing and another marks you off for doing it the way QA #1 said to do it???!!!!

Exactly! - Lexie

[ In Reply To ..]
I feel with all the tiding up we do with such rotten dictation, we go above and beyond and silly technicalities shouldn't matter!

The only ones who care are all the superfluous bean- - counters MTSOs are so top-heavy with. n/m

[ In Reply To ..]
=^^=

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