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

Question to other MMEs - Calling work to QC attention

Posted: Jun 03, 2012

If you see significant errors in a report of an MT/ME, do you let the QC know? They were taken off 100% QA so that means the MT must have passed her audits, right? I just feel like I'm tattling or picking on the MT and I just want to know what other MMEs typically do. Whether to repot to QC or just leave feedback (which is probably not checked anyway) and move on.

I just leave feedback and move on - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Sorry, but at 3 cpl I'm not ABOUT to put more work into it than I have to. I figure by leaving feedback, whether it's checked or not, I've done what is expected of me. By contacting the QC, I've gone from earning 3 cpl down to 1.5. I'm already on Food Stamps so I can't afford to earn any less than I already do.

I would move on but would not let it keep - ammt

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happening if the same MT keeps making some of the same mistakes or critical errors. Doing the minimum may be okay, but sometimes you have to let somebody know. Don't just think about yourself all the time. These patients deserve to have correct information in their medical records.

"Don't just think about yourself all the time" - that's really funny - anon

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I bet you have a husband, or a second form of income, because you seem really comfortable earning 3 cpl and working your tail off for it. Here's an idea, since I'm a single mom with a son to support and this is my only source of income (unless you consider Food Stamps "income"), how about if I forward all the ones who require "extra steps" to you. Maybe then I can go on to "inconsiderately" earn my minimum wage pay and the troubled MTs I forward to you can get the proper education and training they need. It's a win-win!

I have a husband but I am the one with a 2nd - ammt

[ In Reply To ..]
income. I have to work 2 jobs to pay the bills because my husband is disabled and has not been approved for disability going on 4 years now. I do work my tail off 10 to 12 hours a day 7 days a week. I get up every morning at 4 a.m. and work until 3-5 p.m. so I know what it's like and make just enough to not qualify for food stamps, so sometimes my husband and I share one Banquet TV dinner, so I go hungry too. I am lucky enough that my children are grown so they don't have to starve too. But, I still do my best at my job to make sure the patients' medical records are correct. I also didn't say do it every single report. Give them a chance to do better before sending the info on to someone higher. Hope things get better for you.

I think we each have to figure out what our limits are - anon

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And what, and how much, we are willing to do.

MY "extra mile" is that even though we are strictly instructed not to do so, I edit EVERY report that comes across my desk whether it's full QA or not. I recently posted here that I especially do this if it's a report from our global employees because of the dozens and dozens of critical errors and mistakes I've found that could jeopardize someone's life. I do this because the patient is someone's mother, father, husband or wife and every patient matters.

Please don't judge someone because they are not willing to pick up the phone or spend time carving out "communication time" with their QC about the MTs. I do waaaay more than what is expected of me in other ways. I think it was the "Don't just think of yourself all the time" comment that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. You don't know me or the extra mile that is best for ME. Because picking up the phone and calling the QC is YOUR extra mile, it doesn't mean it has to be MINE.

Thank you for the well wishes - same to you too. We are ALL struggling and we all have to decide for ourselves what is best for us, and how far we are willing to go to earn minimum wage.

Nothing we do jeopardizes anyone's life - OABO

[ In Reply To ..]
Get over it. The doctor is responsible for the correctness of the information. Even if we make mistakes, if the doctor lets it go through, it is the doctor's responsibility, not ours. If someone's life is in the hands of an MT earning minimum wage then heaven help us all.

I'm not sure if you're the one who posted that last weekend, but ... - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Last weekend, there was a very well-worded post made by someone who said basically the same thing you said. This poster said, literally, our work doesn't really matter in the scheme of things aside from insurance purposes and that nobody really cares that much anymore about the documents we produce. I have to say that I have thought about that post many, many times this past week. It really kind of changed how I felt about the work we do, and it is helping me to "let go" of the concept that our work is important. My own personal work ethic is what leads me to QA every document ... it's really not for anyone's purpose except the patient. It's a matter of doing what's "right". But do I think our work is life-or-death important? No I do not.

I want to thank the person again for the well-written post from last week. I think it was the reality check and the wake-up call that a lot of us needed.

I always ask anyone I meet - oabo

[ In Reply To ..]
who is in a position to give an educated response why they think that no one cares about the quality of dictation - not the doctor, the hospital the MTSO or the Joint Commission. Certainly, if the transcribed report were critical to patient care, someone would put some checks and balances in place as they do with other hospital practices. A friend of mine who was a medical records administrator for many years gave the response that what we do is essentially for insurance purposes and not a basis on which to treat patients. The fact that the vast majority of doctors get away with their horrendous dictating habits confirms to me, at least, that this is truly the case.

Such an interesting revelation ... - camt

[ In Reply To ..]
I read the exchange from last week too. What an eye opener. Like so many of you I've been doing this almost my entire career life and thought that our documents were vital to patient care and that accuracy was of utmost importance. The more I'm learning about how little our work is needed or valued, the easier it is to make the emotional move away from it.

I was one of those posters. Been at this for - 25 plus years.

[ In Reply To ..]
I still stand by it. Most of what we do is for documentation to pass JCAHO inspections and for coding for Medicare and insurance reimbursement. A cursory glance at an H&P by a consulting physician once in a while maybe. I do not believe that anything we edit has a great impact on patient care any more, hence the big push to Epic, Dragonspeak, and point-n-click reports. However, you can document easiest and get that reimbursement and JCAHO accreditation.

That is definitely not true. I have seen where - ammt

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there was a lawsuit at a hospital where all involved in producing the report that had some problems in it. The MT that transcribed the report was included in the lawsuit along with the doctor and hospital because of it.

Wonder who takes the fall when an Indian employee gets it wrong? - MMEtoo

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They're not held to American HIPAA regulations.

I too find it hard to believe that a minimum wage employee (or a foreign one) would be expected to have the kind of quality and accuracy expected from life and death patient decisions made by doctors and surgeons. That would be assinine.

I saw the post last week. It was mentioned that our documents are rarely ever even looked at in the acute care setting - that important decisions about patient care are made by doctors on information immediately and readily available to them - scans, lab work, and current symptoms, and that the documents we produce are rarely, if ever, even looked at.

I'm sure that is correct on some reports. - gomt

[ In Reply To ..]
Some of us are radiology and pathology, etc, on here that are looked at for diagnoses and planning patient treatment pretty immediately while patients are in the hospital, so what is in the reports are very, very important and need to be correct. I do wonder too if the Indian employees are held to the same rules of HIPAA as US employees. They should be since they are transcribing for US citizens, right?

Yes they should be but they aren't - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
HIPAA is only an American regulation. That is why having our documents outsourced to India is such an outrage - they can EASILY (and likely DO) sell our personal and private information to God knows who and there is not a single thing we can do about it.

Agree, I do think that doctors rely on Path - reports and diagnostic imaging

[ In Reply To ..]
and Lab results, but the majority of what we type --- not so much. Even the clinic I work for is way more interested in getting all those "reasons" for ordering tests and the diagnoses on paper (for the insurance approval for the test and the reimbursements) than anything else. When I started I was told that very thing.

I would certainly like to see documentation of that - OABO

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because once the doctor signs the report, the doctor and the doctor alone is legally responsible. In my 40 years of doing this I have never heard of an MT being held responsible.

For instance, once upon a time the - anon

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doctor dictated "oh point 4-5" drain and I thought he said "four point 4-5 drain" (I was new) and he reamed me up one side and down the other and told me that if that report were to be used in court HE would be put on the stand and held responsible. Never once did he say he was going to haul me up on the stand with him and tell them it was MY fault. He trusted me to get it right, but in the end it was HIS name on the document and HE was the one with malpractice insurance and it was HIM he would be at fault. Just my experience.

I totally agree. I wasn't judging, just - ammt

[ In Reply To ..]
saying what I would do and let whoever wants to read the post do what they want with their own work. Just giving another perspective. We all get discouraged and aggravated with the way things are going with our industry and just have to blow off steam sometimes since we can't afford to go to "therapy". This is our therapy. All of you have a good day, with what is left of it.

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