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

This one takes the cake....I've heard it all now......... - kiki1

Posted: Apr 03, 2011

From CCM: She says "if the dictator dictates incorrect lab values, the MT transcribes as dictated, the error belongs to the MT. We must be ever vigilant, not only to our own potential errors but to the dictator’s as well."

While I completely agree that the MT should be vigilant and try to catch dictator errors when possible, it is absolutely ridiculous to consider something like this the MT's error--it is the DICTATOR's error! Saying it's the MT's error is putting TOO much responsibility on us. We are not the ones who went to medical school--we are not the ones who get paid BIG BUCKS to know this stuff.

I really want to send this straight back to my CCM with a big "you know what you can do with that statement" along with it..........but, alas, of course, I like to eat and pay SOME of my bills at least..........

Ridiculous. The accuracy of the data is NOT the MT's responsibility. - Accuracy of the dictaiton is. sm

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We should NOT be second-guessing lab values, drugs and drug dosages, etc. If a dictator gives WRONG information, it falls on that dictator.

It's one thing if you have enough experience to recognize a dictator has made an error and flag it but it is not the responsibility to back up the accuracy of the dictator's dictation.

Your CCM has obviously never been an MT.

I do and still will leave a blank for lab values/drug dosages that - dnr

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make no sense or drug dosages that do not exist according to RxList. Since the FTR, I got a notice that I was sending too many documents with 2 more more blanks to the client, which, when it comes to the submission percentage can be a pretty scant number of reports. I am tier 3 and have 25 years experience and had my CMT for 15 years (in the past; I won't give ADHI any money anymore). I have left blanks for lab values in the past when every document with blanks went to QA before FTR only to see QA filled in the blank with what I heard but was probably wrong as the patient would most likely have already been dead. I flat out told my CCM that I leave those blanks for a reason and stand behind them(when it comes to lab values/medication dosages). :)

OMG..I so completely agree - Old School MT

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You know..if my 26 years of being an MT I have run into all sorts of rules and company policies, but I think this one takes the cake. My last employer's account specs on ASR required me to capitalize all medications, transcribe contractions (it's, she's, he's), and go verbatim using slang and everything else, even going against the BOS. It totally went against my grain and the way I was taught to type this way and I certainly had a problem signing my name to documents that required this, but in order to keep my job I had to do it. Over the past years I have heard some terrible things from doctors in their dictation and how I wished I had still been on one of those accounts with my past company. I have heard doctors flirt with nurses, yawn, burp, fart, eat, and even heard one say "the speculum was inserted into the patient's pussy"...and these were verbatim accounts; however, if I had typed them verbatim I would most certainly be without a job. What the hell is wrong with the MT world today? I think we all need to boycott and stand up for our rights. I think it would get us everywhere...if only we would stick together. Think about it...they never run out of sick patients so its not like this work is going anywhere. I have been blamed so many times for a doctor's error in dictation. They really need to find out how and who is typing their dictation. I have had them say "go to the patient's chart and look up the name cuz I can't remember"...and the dictator was in Jersey and I was in Fla. What is wrong with this picture. It just sucks and us MTs are getting the shaft every day. ASR is the final straw for me. I have started independent contracting and I now tell them what I will or will not do and what I charge. More of us MTs need to stand up for ourselves. It's not like you can find a good MT standing on every street corner. What we do takes a lot of skill...and we need to remember that. We are not typists...we are professionals..and a good MT is hard to find. Sorry this was so long...I just needed to vent. What they say is so wrong and you need to stand up for yourself. If they fire you without just cause and good reason...there are pages and pages of MT companies hiring right now. Don't sweat it ...stand by your guns and let them know how you feel. I have never kissed an employers ass and I refuse to now. Chin up soldier..it will get better as long as stick together :)

You are still lucky so far. Soon there will be - an Indian who will be

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perfectly willing to do your job for way less money and you will be without customers. That is the future.

Then - sm

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she will find another job. I am with her. I hear so much complaining on here about people who are afraid to stand up for themselves and are in tears over what their CCM told them or what this one said or that one said. Who cares. I know my job and am like the above poster and don't kiss anybodies butt. I have fought tooth and nail with QA and my CCM and don't back down if I am right and am still here. I have made errors, am human afterall, but thank them for correcting it and move on, no apology. I listen to a lot of garbage every day and am going to make errors, that's just a fact. I do my best but miss a few. I have written letters to the big guy and got a very nice phone back call from a VP regarding an issue and am still here. I don't fear losing my job to the Indians. If they get my job, I will find something else. I hate ASR and if it is not able to be done very quickly I F11 it, not going to lose money on crappy ASR. I remove doctors that are consistently bad. I leave blanks if I doubt something a Dr. says, the ones that I catch. If I leave a lot of blanks, nothing goes to QA, won't lose money for poor audio or dictator error. I am still here. If more of you didn't let people walk all over you, there wouldn't be so much whining on here.

I also hear on here the fear that we now work for India. Well, we have for a long time. There are many people who work in this country for Toyota, Honda, etc. who are working for another country. It is the way things are. They pay me a regular paycheck and a fair wage for my efforts and I will continue doing a good job for them as I always have. If I lose my job and they take all the work to India, there really is not anything I can do about it and will find something else. I really doubt if all the work is going to go over there though. Times are tough and wages are going down everywhere. That is what this global economy has caused, but I can't do a thing about it, so I just do my job every day and don't sweat the stuff that I can't do anything about.

If ASR is the wave of the future, that's fine, I can't stop it. But I can F11 it if it is bad. I can't stop accounts from going to India and just do what I am dealt to the best of my ability. If I run out of work, I ask my CCM to put me somewhere else. I lost an account recently and was put in the cesspool and told my CCM to please get me put somewhere quickly and she did. Accounts do come and go and you have to go with the flow.

Please, people, start defending yourselves and stop letting them take advantage of you.

Not sure if this is in the right post, but am responding to the poster above me and the one she responded to.

That is completely idiotic. Our job is to transcribe what they dictate. - Sheesh.

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x

You do not transcribe what they dictate if it is blatantly - incorrect. NM

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We are not allowed to - sm

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presume to be doctors. They are Gods who know everything according to them... We are merely typists who type what they dictate. That's what they want. If you happen to catch a blatant error, then yes, leave a blank, but THEY are responsible for what they dictate & to proofread the report before signing it. Our job is spelling medical words, deciphering accents, and BOS rules. Their job is patient care and dictating what they want typed.

Actually - sm - Anonymous

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I work on site and have been an MT for years. If I catch someone giving an incorrect med dose, dictating left where it should have been right, or a lab value that makes no sense, I will either flag it or research it and make the change. In my department, omissions like that count against our QC, it's part of the job. If we don't do it, a coder or someone else will undoubtedly catch it and it will be pointed out to the MT. Docs are human too. You're not being picked on by your employer, that's how it is already in many transcription departments.

We are not doctors. We are transcriptionists. By the very - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
definition of our job, we are to transcribe what is dictated. Yes, if we happen to catch something way off, we should flag it, but ultimately if they said it, they are responsible for it.

I think this person is working where there is no access... - ndmt

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to the medical records. The only thing an off-site MT can do is trust the doctor dictates the correct values or leave blanks each time they fall out of the normal range. There is no research option available for at-home MTs, and I often have to make the call to leave a somewhat implausible lab value in a report. If dictator is clear and concise and the patient has a condition that would make the lab value possible, I leave it. If there is no reason in the report for the lab value and the dictator is obviously sloppy, I leave a blank. Most cases are middle of the road though, and the bottom line is while doctors do make mistakes, how can an MT presume to know when they are or not. I think this doc needed to own up to the mistake and not pass the buck.

You are right - sm - Anonymous

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I am fortunate to work where we have the ability to access the EHR and look at previous visits to confirm things. When I don't understand a medication dose, I will usually Google it to find the recommended dosage, the same goes for lab values. Naturally, I flag things when I am unsure. However, it has always been my understanding that as I transcriptionist I also had a responsibility to make sure that report was accurate instead of blaming the provider for sloppy dictation and passing it off. It's a QC issue where I work and my pay gets docked if it's determined to be something I should have caught. That's what I do but of course it's different for every MT and every employer.

I made a typo - Anonymous

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Should have been "as a transcriptionist" not "as I transcriptionist", sorry.

Actually... - sm

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If you do not work for MQ and work on-site, I assume you also are not paid on a production basis, so your experience is completely different.

I, too, recieved that email and it is ridiculous. If it is a glaring inconsistency, of course I will flag it. A lab value or medication dosage is not in my realm of expertise. Regardless of our years of experience or CMT title, we are not physicians.

Since we have been chastised for second-guessing the dictator and/or recasting sentences, etc, I transcribe what is dictated or flag as appropriate, but my bottom line is I'm here to make money, not read the dictator's mind.

Actually - Anonymous

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On site, we are paid straight production, but there is a 5% pay deduction for anything below 99% accuracy. If it is determined that it is something the MT should have caught and corrected, it's considered an error and counts against the MT. I don't work for MQ but I do have similar experience.

Would leave a blank and a note, but nothing sent - to QA by me at 3 cpl

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dock.

This is not new or news - mt

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It does not sound as if your CCM said "fix it with your best guess." It has ALWAYS been the responsibility of the MT to catch errors and discrepancies (flag, blank, whatever is appropriate) - not fix them because we can't.

As per usual on this board, there is confusion and hysteria about submitting things with blanks. This is one situation where you should send a blank because it is about patient safety. If your submission rate is high and you are losing money for submitting blanks, I doubt very much that this is a result of flagging errors or discrepancies because they are simply not that common.

If QA fills in a blank that you sent to them and it is wrong, it is not your problem. I have emailed my CCM a few times then this has happened and they will fix it if it represents a patient safety issue.

When FTR came in and we were told how to calculate our submission rate, I was absolutely shocked when the first team goal was to get under 25%. Mine was 2%. I should not have been surprised when I listened to the questions on conference calls, though - it was clear that there was a huge lack in general computer knowledge, an absolute refusal to learn anything new (like shortcuts that speed up production) and a bizzare mindset of chronic complaining with a flat out refusal to utilize anything advised that might help the situation. It seemed more important to 1/2 the people in the calls to whine "but I have always done it this way" than to use the opportunity to figure out the best was to do the job and hence, earn money.

Commence flaming - I am not a "suit" - just an MT who is tired of the rhetoric and whining I constantly hear.

I disagree with one thing you said . . - Just Sayin

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that errors and discrepancies are not that often. I run across these many times every day, seems like almost every other report lately, mostly residents, but also attendings. But of course I send it through with a blank, not to QA. They aren't going to be able to do anything about it either.

your ccm is stupid - nm

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