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

I can't understand what the dictator is saying - newbyscribe

Posted: Apr 20, 2010

What do you do when you absolutely cannot understand what the dictator is saying and you work at home on your own. Can you call the dictator? Can you request to review the other medical records because chances are, the dictator is saying the same thing that appear on those records?

can't understand dictator - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If you're an IC, then not sure, but I would think you would have to ask whomever you were contracted with. If it is your own client, then yes, I would think calling would be fine. If you're an employee (which I'm assuming you're not just by your question), then ask your supervisor/team lead/QA what you should do. Many companies have samples of past reports to give you for the difficult dictators.

Good luck! It's no fun when you're new and have one of those dictators where you feel like just chucking the whole thing! It gets easier.

Thank You for your answers and encouragement - newbyscribe

[ In Reply To ..]
I appreciate everyone who replied to my question. I am on my own, so it's good to know that I can rely on this forum for Questions and Answers.
Thank you all.

Can't understand doc...... - MargoMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I know we have all been in your shoes....and it is so frustrating I know! What I do is I usually try to relisten at a much slower speed....type what you know for sure. Whatever you do don't make a guess, leave a blank if you are not sure. If you have client contact you may want to call or email. If you are able to obtain a sample of some previous reports by this doc...that will surely help as well. As you know they are rather redundant....for the future make a template if possible. Good luck....and hang in there....definitely it will get better! Good Luck!

it depends-sm - anonymous

[ In Reply To ..]
If your client has specific guidelines for missed words, follow those, of course. You may want to ask and see if there are guidelines, because some companies forget to hand them out to new employees.

If it's just a single word, I'd leave a blank of a few underlines and move on. If it's multiple words, find out if you can send it to QA if you have one and see what they think it is.

I've tried this before... - MTmtMT

[ In Reply To ..]
It's a time-consuming pain in the buttocks, but I've found that sometimes if I sit back with coffee and try to relax and just LISTEN THROUGH ONCE, just to try to get into the swing of the dialect and stuff, I'll start to pick up words and phrases which, in turn, help me to figure out what else the dictator is saying. I hate having to do it because it takes extra time, but in the long-run it saves me time so it evens out.

Good luck, because a totally inintelligible dictator is just the worst thing ever to deal with.

Can't understand dictator - here's a trick - Old MTSO

[ In Reply To ..]
I know that this is going to sound crazy, but it works. I learned it many years ago. When I hit a difficult dictator, I close my eyes and tip my head slightly back and relisten. It works 90% of the time. Yeah, I know it sounds nuts. I think it may have something to do with the closing of eyes shutting out all other interferences and you can just concentrate on the dictator. For years I had a huge teaching hospital where 90% of the dictators were Pakistani/Indians/Middle Easterners. That is where I learned the trick from another older MT. I was afraid to post this for fear you all would think I had gone around the bend, but please try it. It really does work! Good luck to you. I hope this helps.

Here is another tip - gatherNweed

[ In Reply To ..]
Put an underline and then next to that type what it sounds like or what you think it might be and the counter number (where on the voice file) it is. Finish the report and see if anything in the rest of the report helps clarify what the blank is.

Sometimes they will say the word again and you can understand it, or stuff later in the report gives context that helps clarify it.

Don't spend too much time re-listening over and over. It is not going to come to you the 27th time, but it might if you go back to it later.

Also... utilize the Word Help Board on this forum. Bring the whole sentence over, put "s/l" (sounds like) before your questionable word or phrase, include some of the text before and after your blank spot, and just watch how fast the experienced and knowledgeable MTs here jump in to try and help you out.

Good Luck.

PS) Gonna try the eyes-closed-head-back trick next time!

closing your eyes...crazy...NOT! - xoxo

[ In Reply To ..]
LOL, it really does work!!! I thought I was strange when I'm caught doing this, but when you do listen, close your eyes and not even have your hands on the keyboard. If I have a word/phrase that I can not understand, I will listen with my eyes closed and just concentrate on the report. When I upgraded my sound card to one with an equalizer function and play around with the different settings/slowing or speeding tape, volume etc...all this makes a huge difference. Each report too may need fine-tuning based on the dictator's voice and speech pattern.

Great tip to type phonetically what it sounds like. Google MT sample reports and read through some other similar reports, you will more than likely find the term/phrase somewhere. Read the reports OUT LOUD. Hearing your own voice give the word an audible sound is much different then saying it in your head.

Good luck!!

Similar Messages:

Nov 16, 2009

She had a bright or right tube placed endengia? I can't figure it out. ...

Dec 29, 2009

What you say is true, BUT when 90% of your work is off-shored except for 10% and you barely have any work, and the work you have is 100% ESL (the absolute worst dictators ever) you make minimum wage. The fact that I'm a much better MT than the ILPs does nothing to comfort me at this point when I have bills to pay. If you don't believe this scenario, then you have not experienced it. Try being in SA3. BTW, I'm scheduled for 24 hours per we ...

Sep 15, 2010

Everyone says with VR you can double your line count. I want to know what was their line count typing? On my account, I can type anywhere from 250 to 300 lines in an hour. I've been doing VR now for almost 2 months. I'm editing around 300 lines in an hour, however, I'm being paid 50% less. I was told I would not have to work MORE hours to make the same, but would work the SAME hours and make more. I have an extensive autocorrect and use it a lot. I'm finding that many of the ...

Oct 09, 2010

this is what it sounds like but makes no sense to me. can any one help. "Some low muffler quantative abdominal tenderness to deep palpation." ...

Dec 01, 2011

An 84 year old monitored for diagnoses of renal failure, anemia and hypertension. 586, 285.9, 403.90. It seems to me that the last code should be 401.90. I don't understand why the code 403.9 was selected. The guidelines say you should "assign codes from category 403, hypertensive chronic kidney disease, when conditions classified to category 585 are present." There is only the 586, renal disease, present in this scenario. Can anybody tell me why a 403 code is appropriate here? ...

Apr 14, 2012

So Amy will have four (4) one-on-One sessions each month. But she will be going on maternity LOA (Leave of Absence) and will actually conduct six (6) sessions this month. Rules: Each month, if any of the US regional or India winners of the 'MT of the Month' are interested in a one-on-one session, they will be entered into a lottery and two will be chosen (one US, one India) for an automatic slot for that month. To express interest for th ...

May 30, 2012

so many people on here have been looking for a position for months. It's not THAT difficult to find a job on here. I applied to a lot of places and heard back from just about all of them. What are you doing wrong that you can't find one when I found at least 10 of them? Perhaps you should all revamp your resumes? ...

Sep 15, 2012

Patient with trigger fingers. Patient was given injections into the A1 pulley of the 3rd digit - "Patient tolerated the injection well and without complaint. Following the injection, he did verbalize some relief of the discomfort. I went on to explain to the patient that this was merely a procedure done to try to *"mil-u-right"* some of the symptoms, however, I strongly recommended that he consider undergoing a redo right 3rd trigger finger release". ...

Apr 09, 2013

You know, I have worked in a health care facility ever since I graduated from college. My supervisors have always tried to foster a spirit of teamwork -- how we all, working together, can accomplish the goals set out for us. As a result, I believe in building people up, not tearing them down. And I have seen such GREAT examples of that here. When I first posted on this board, I was so upset about a job decision I had made that I was ready to quit, and with the ...

Jul 07, 2014

We've been told emphatically to NOT put m2 for meters squared, to instead put sq. m., yet the software continues to put m2. Why hasn't that been changed? ...

Jan 18, 2015

First, let me start by saying I've worked as an MT for 25 years. The company I started with was eaten up my Medquist years ago, now MModal, and I've worked at home for the past 20 years. I've lately seen many posts by MTs wishing they were paid 15 minutes a day for reading emails, paid for taking coffee breaks, and would get cost of living raises, Christmas gifts from their employer, flowers on their birthday, and some sort of gift acknowledgement during MT week. I u ...

Feb 09, 2015

That you tend to use the instruments that you prefer, another doctor uses a different set, and there are a several different ones that can be used for the same purpose. I don't only type for you, I type for about 100 different docs at this point. Please enunciate, it would make my job so much easier and your final product perfect. ...

Mar 05, 2010

According to the suits, they whole reason for this locking-us-out-unless-we-are-scheduled thing was because some of us were not working when we were supposed to or clocking in and working when we weren't scheduled. Okay, at any other job, if someone clocked in or out when they were not supposed to without notifying anyone, they would get written up 3 times and then fired. Why do they spend so much time and resources putting this stupid, probably messy idea into play, when they ...

Apr 18, 2010

First off, is "med" an appropriate abbreviation or if I need to expand it. Also, I'm having trouble with a few of the medications she's listing. The first one sounds like Serapril...I know there's Seroquel, and that's a possibility, but it really sounds like she's saying, "pril." Is there anything else that sounds like that? The next one s/l permecidene and the last one s/l kolite. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much! ...

Nov 17, 2010

For the first time in a long time, I was in the cesspool. I spent 3 hours with an ESL serial dictator, that was speaking so softly I couldn't hear most of what he was saying, and what I could hear I couldn't understand. In one of the reports I only got 5 random words after spending a half-hour on it - and it was only 20 seconds long. What should we do in cases like this - when you literally just Can't Get It, and not for lack of trying. ...

Jun 14, 2011

The patient s/l FI and brought to the operating room. General endotracheal anesthesia was used as s/l restroom :0. Seriously. This guy talks so fast and I know these are common and could be anything but any help would be great. ...

Jul 14, 2011

I've started trying to understand it. I see lots of software programs out there that supposedly handle this. But if there are multiple programs, how does all the various work put into these programs end up in ONE (!?) place where a persons medical record can be accessed by any medical professional? Or is my understanding already flawed? Will those MDs, or whoever, that choose to continue the narrative dictation (vs point and click or fill in the blanks) can they con ...

Aug 02, 2011

Just sitting here laughing to myself as I listen to an ESL dictator that I've had report after report by, heavy accent, talking about how difficult it was for him to get an exam done with a patient who is "difficult to understand due to language barrier." HA!!!! Welcome to my world. ...

Jun 27, 2012

I busted my butt for 2-week pay period. Looked up EVERYTHING. Did my best. Not only was my paycheck something I'd use to line the bird's cage, but my bonus pay was......are you ready?.........$38.64. Big friggin whoop. So I can understand the attitudes of you who are not afraid to bitch. I'm right there with you as well as the others who are afraid to open their mouths. The only ones sticking up for this mistreatment are the newbies.&nb ...

Jul 17, 2012

Hi! I am currently taking my MT final. My problem is, I am having LOTS of trouble understanding some of the dictations. Is there any tips/tricks to help understand some words that are dictated? Thanks! ...

Jan 07, 2013

How can medical records which are so closely guarded in this country be sent to another country for transcription. I think that most patients would be against having their sensitive medical information going to another country. It doesn't seem that Mmodal could even outsource. Is it because the public doesn't know? ...

Nov 04, 2013

HOW is it legal to require us to check FIESA daily or several times a week without compensation? Worse, HOW is it legitimate to require us to acknowledge/agree to errors in FIESA that we have no way to verify since we have no access to the voice file and no access to even view the report? It's simply here's this error and how much we dinged you for it, no way of seeing/hearing anything. It's ridiculous and I have never heard of any job anywhere in this country th ...

Dec 02, 2013

How is this even legal? ...

Feb 19, 2014

that I type that in the abdominal exam says "no masses or megaly." "Megaly" by itself is not a word. This is not a verbatim account. I did about 5 of her reports last night and changed every one to organomegaly - as that goes with abdominal exam. Now, I'm told by my QC coach that if Audit pulls that job, it could be an error. This is so stupid to me! I was thinking as I was typing her reports ~ if I put just "megaly" that would be considered a ...

May 11, 2014

MM ASR used to be very good at numbers 2 versions ago, but is now getting worse and worse to the point I do not understand how it can be so wrong. 110 sounds like 190??? 90 sounds like 150??? The dictation was crystal clear too. ...

Dec 24, 2014

that when you hire someone under certain criteria and then change that criteria on them without so much as an inquirey iinto if they are willing to do that, but demand that they do it, that that company is probably going to lose some of those hires just when they need them the most? Why does everything have to be by force? It makes the company look desperate. . . . . . . and nasty, so nobody else wants to work for them. Hence, no new hires and lots of bad reputation. Oh well, some places just ne ...

Jan 30, 2015

in FIESA is supposed to help my quality if I CAN'T go back and relisten to what I missed. I don't like taking somebody's else's word for it and I certainly don't like putting my initials that I reviewed it. If I missed it, I would be the first to admit it, but I don't ever really know if I missed something or not. I know it doesn't count against the QA score, but it's still aggravating. Sometimes, being able to listen a second time would make everything cl ...

Feb 25, 2015

That instead of making US responsible for EVERY SINGLE doctor that doesn't know how to type in the correct work type, it would be easier to make them responsible. Guarantee it, you give them a week or so of the wrong work type and they will learn how to be responsible. The biggest problem with this world is people not being responsible for THEIR own actions..So sick of this garbage. ...

Mar 08, 2015

If US MTs are 30% of MMs global employees and ILPs are 70% of MMs global employees, If US MTs average 99.5% QA and ILPs average 85% QA, MMs overall average is 90%. ...

Apr 06, 2015

It just confuses me. ...