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

what's so different about radiology? - hmm...

Posted: Jul 27, 2013

I'm wondering why radiology seems to be its own separate entity in the MT world. It seems like if you know radiology, they'll bend over backwards to hire you. I've done radiology before, just as part of my regular MT pool. I don't get what's so "special" about it. Does it have it's own quirky platform or something?

Radiology MT - FormerCMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I've done radiology for over a decade and have been an MT for 30+ years (recently gotten out of the field). I've transcribed many different specialties, including pathology. In my opinion, there's nothing special or more difficult about radiology. It is actually much easier than any other specialty I've transcribed. In the old days (back in the 1980s), beginner MTs used to be put on radiology and psychiatry accounts as they were the easiest.

Okay, then! - hmm...

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Thanks, former CMT. Think I'll apply for some radiology jobs.

another question - hmm....

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Do most radiology accounts use Meditech? Is it easy to learn? Does anyone like it?

Meditech - FormerCMT

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When I did rad MT for a hospital, they used Meditech. Very easy to learn. Basically like MS Word. I forgot to mention that when I did MT for Nuance, the pay rate was lower (3.75 cents/line) than other specialties.

I meant to say... - FormerCMT

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...when I did RADIOLOGY MT for Nuance, I was paid at a lower rate.

like Word? All function keys are different and it aligns - differently, does not even delete teh same nor

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copy paste the same, and does not cap a new line after a period...that was Meditech Magic for me. Not sure what version you are talking about but you are misleading this poor gal on many levels.

Not misleading at all... - FormerCMT

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Yes,the version of Meditech I worked on was similar to MS Word. I am NOT misleading anyone. I don't know what version YOU and the poster below worked on, but I didn't have those problems at all. After being laid off from my rad MT job because of VR, I took a temp pathology job at a different hospital that also used Meditech. It also was just like MS Word. No need to be nasty and think you know it all.

I did say what version, it was Magic, the most like Word is Meditech 4 - you were not specific so FYI for next time.

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Helps to know what version you are talking about when you talk about it. especially with Meditech - several (outdated) versions still in use. It is not just all "Meditech" is just like Word. Not true and misleading...sorry.

Meditech is the pits. - allie

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We upgraded last year - I'll have to log on to find the version - but it is quite user-unfriendly, more so than Magic. It does this compiling of patients - every patient that ever had a diagnostic test - that we have to abort or end up waiting and waiting. It has glitches when searching for the patient you want to transcribe on that, even though you have an accession number which you plug into a search field, it will bring up multiple patients with the same last name or ALL the dates of admission and tests for the patient you're looking for. If you wait too long to choose, it switches back to the names of patients whose reports you've already transcribed. Sometimes it just does this for no reason. For instance, you have Jane Doe, you find the orders for the chest x-ray she had done, go to click on it and Meditech opens up a list of orders for another patient. You see chest x-ray orders, click on the order and find it's a completely different patient. This caused multiple HIPAA violations for everyone including the doctors because this glitch happened so fast that if you glanced away for a second, the change was made and you missed it.

It is very slow saving reports. I remember Meditech Magic being quick as far as retrieving, typing and saving. This version is not. It also has a shortcut/expander program from the year of the flood. Spell check is a joke. To add a word, you choose "Ignore all". It doesn't recognize words with 4 letters or less so it flags those. Ours doesn't recognize medical terms that we keep adding. The arrow keys don't work the way they do in Word. "End" doesn't bring you to the end of the page. I'm sure there's more I could add.

It's still Meditech Magic v 8.49.21.223 - allie

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.

Meditech - hmm...

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Meditech sounds dreadful! Ugh!!!

one of the oldest non-MT friendly systems around. - plus

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Radiology is a lot more technical than acute care - which is way more plain English than medical.

And beginners who say they have experience and don't get found ount in a day - so hope you are being honest about your experience when applying as it will come back with teeth that bite.

Radiology is a well kept secret - in my opinion

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I've done MT for 25+ years and no, there is absolutely nothing special or difficult about radiology. In fact, it's extremely easy...almost too easy! As with any specialty, there is terminology specific to radiology, but if you've done acute care, you should be able to do radiology with no problem at all. The only thing I don't like about radiology is that it can get boring, especially with nothing but a bunch of bones and chest x-rays all day long.

I have a friend who transcribes radiology only, and she says she doesn't like acute care transcription, but the fact is that her terminology and knowledge skills are very limited, so radiology is really the only transcription she can do.

Radiology - hmm...

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This is great news! I've done acute care for 32 years, including some radiology and some pathology. I didn't specialize in radiology, but I'll bet I can pick it up quickly. And now I'm not scared of Meditech, since reading your post. I'll start applying. Thanks, everyone!

Boring & Easy - FormerCMT

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The above poster is 100% correct that radiology is boring and easy. As you've done acute care for so long, you will have NO problems with rad MT. You will probably get bored, but there are far worse things that go along with jobs than being bored!

Boring and Easy - Another former CMT

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I wasn't sure where to insert this; after I wrote about missing radiology transcription and wanting to do it again, I was approached by one of the managers yesterday at work in regard to returning to their department. Our rads have been using VR and doing their own editing for about a year, but want to start using transcription again. Apparently they are going to try and add it back gradually and see where that goes. I'm working in HIM and already wearing a couple of different hats. One part of me says "go for it," but another part worries about job stability in radiology. That was quite a coincidence after just discussing it here. Any thoughts about what to do? Many people say, "get out of MT," but opportunities keep opening up for me.

Why are radiology reports paid differently? - sm

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Something like 70/cents per report, I've seen.

Radiology Report Pay - FormerCMT

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The pay is lower because radiology is easy. I'm not sure why some places pay per page or report. Maybe because most of the reports are very short (basic x-rays like chest, hands, etc., not interventional radiology or nuclear medicine), and it's harder to get a high volume of lines with such short reports (getting in and out of each report, verifying demographics for each, etc.). I've heard of rad MT jobs years ago that paid per page or report, but I was never paid that way.

I would never work for 70 cents a report. - gamt

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I make $1.20 per report.

I wish it was chest xrays all day. - MSMT

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When doing radiology, you end up getting those long reports like MRIs, CTs, special procedures that can take 30 minutes to an hour to type and if you get paid by the report like most companies pay, you have now only made around $1.25 per report in 30 minutes or $2.50 in an hour. That is the only downside to radiology that I see as I have transcribed radiology for around 15 years.

so true. not just bones and lungs. she'll find out - have little faith it will work our. NM

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They won't babysit you through it. Doctors are the ones who catch the errors and complain, especially with new transcriptionist's initials at the end, and MTSOs don't tolerate looking like fools for hiring someone with no experiences so don't lie about "oh I can do it" when you don't know.

They may be willing to teach it on the job if you are an honest person about no to limited experience. Otherwise, well, MTSOs don't like looking bad in the eyes of hte client, especially with dictator complaints.

so you havent done special procedures then, invasive studies - not just bones and lungs.

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just asking because you have no idea.

Yes, I have a lot of experience in ALL radiology - sm

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CT, PET, MRI, MRA, nuclear, ultrasound, neuroradiology, radiation therapy, you name it and I've done it, 25+ years. I remember when ultrasound was new and CT and MRI were unheard of LOL

The special procedure reports are a little longer and perhaps not quite so boring. But usually, a rad MT also gets a whole lot of bones and chest x-rays thrown into the mix every day too.

But, my opinion still remains the same. If you're an experienced acute care MT, you will have NO problem at all with radiology transcription.

What I've found is that working weekends - allie

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can be lucrative, since a lot of elective imaging like CT, MRI, bone scans, even mammography, is done during the week. On weekends it seems to be inpatient chest x-rays and plain film bones from the ER - short and sweet.

Radiology experience - Another former CMT

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I did radiology transcription for a number of years. I was an acute care MT who did that in addition to my regular work. The only thing different about rad is that the terminology is different but repetitive. Once you learn it, you have learned it. For me, the difficult part was the turnaround time; my providers wanted 3 hours and there were numerous stat requests. I was paid well but I did not work for a service. In hospitals, radiology usually has its own MTs because of the unique situation in regard to turnaround and being accessible to the physicians. However, if you are trying to find a job as a rad MT, I wish you luck. At my facility, radiology was the first to convert to VR and the doctors do their own editing and I think that is true across the board. We had 5 radiology MTs and they all were let go. I was lucky to have had acute care experience and was fortunate to be able to keep my job. I miss radiology and have wanted to do it, but now when I see a job opening it is usually very part-time or per diem. To my knowledge the platforms are not quirky, it would vary by facility.

do not be stupid about this. Look for samples on line - of all modalities of imging studies sm

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Xrsys, ultrasounds and Doppler studies, CTs, MRIs, CTAs, nuclear medicine studies, mammograms and DEXA studies, and special procedures (stent placements/replacements, balloon angiograms, etc).

Get informed.

Yes, good advice. - alana

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Our radiology work includes DEXA scans, nuclear cardiology, vascular imaging, plain film, ultrasound, MRI, MRA, CT, CTA,fluoroscopy procedures like PICC insertions, nephrostomy tube insertions, etc, hysterosalpingograms, mammography, breast biopsies,

Still say rad is easy - FormerCMT

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I've transcribed ALL those types of reports as a rad MT. As I stated to the OP, as she has many years of acute care experience, she will have NO problems with the more technical radiology reports. So, to the OP, I say go for it! You'll do fine.

Yes - it is easy and you can make - allie

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tons of shortcuts. There's very little left that I haven't turned into a shortcut. You can always look up the comparison study, if there is one, if you're unsure of something, too.

Yes, rad is easy and repetitive - MT

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It's easy for an acute care MT to quickly become familiar with radiology, but hard for a radiology MT to quickly learn acute care.

Being an only-radiology MT is limiting, unfortunately.

Imaging vs. rad - Montana

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I'd like to do radiology too. I've done a lot of x-rays in my time for orthopedics, lots of bone stuff. My question what is your opinion on imaging such as CT, bone scans, MRIs, etc., are they more difficult to learn the terminology?

Not at all. With CT and MRI exams, you - allie

[ In Reply To ..]
will likely have the first paragraphs provided by the hospital in a template. Same with bone scans - we fill in the measurements only. You will need a good resource to keep up with the technology terms. Even with these different imaging modalities, you'll pick them up quickly and make shortcuts.

Imaging vs. rad - Montana

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I've been told in the past that it would not be an easy transition but I believe after 30 years of transcription, I can do any of the specialties because I know how to find terms etc. Thanks for your opinion.

first check the job seekers board - count the ads for radiology - maybe 2 not counting the repeats. Gone VR mostly.

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there's no jobs.

What you were told was wrong. - Allie

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Bone plain films - very basic, femur, tibia, patella, diaphysis, humerus, radius. Ultrasounds - liver, kidneys, spleen, retroperitoneum, uterus. The most technical part of the job will likely be keeping up with the MRI (imaging modalities like FLARE, FIESTA, etc, and whatever contrasts come up), and PET/CT. I did acute care for 25+ yrs and radiology was a breeze. Few surprises.

I'm guessing a surprise for you was finding out it's FLAIR not FLARE? - (NM)

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.

Sigh. - allie

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That's what I get for one-handed typing on the fly. You're correct. FLAIR is used in MRI but FLARE (tm) is used in intraoperative studies.

(tm) must be account specific - never in my 40 years did a company - require the tm in any report. NM

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many hospitals, many faciltiies, my experience being trademarks never required anywhere I have been employed.

FLAIR - Another former CMT

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I pointed that out too (see below), tried to do it tactfully so I wouldn't get into trouble with the spelling police.

FLAIR and FLARE are two different - imaging modalities

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nm.

FLAIR = fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (an MRI view) - NM

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/

FLARE is - anon

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FLARE intraoperative near-infrared fluorescence imaging system.

Allie - Another former CMT

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Research FLARE, that's all I'm saying.

Allie - Another former CMT

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As far as I know, the term FLARE does not exist in radiology. Imaging modalities, contrasts, PET/CT and all the other terminology is a lot to learn for someone who has never done radiology transcription and I agree with the person who said you cannot fake having experience, it will take about a day for the doctors to figure that out. There are also quite a few studies that you did not name, mammograms and breast MRIs to name a couple. I also did acute care for as many years as you but even I struggled at first. The terminology was a bit like learning a new language.

Reply to my own post - Another former CMT

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I stand corrected, I did find FLARE. I had never heard of it before, sorry.

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