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

Critital Error! The dictator said "melanotic stools" - instead of "melenic"...

Posted: Jan 13, 2015

I think he should get 3 points off and his pay deducted this week in the amount of $219.00.

i always use melenotic if dictated... - is it a verbatim account?

[ In Reply To ..]
My accounts make us use slang as well....

I assume you meant melanotic...but there is no such - thing as "melanotic stools"

[ In Reply To ..]
verbatim or not, I refuse to make myself look like a dunce by typing melanotic stools. I guess if it's verbatim it should be blanked, but even that is so ridiculous.

Anyway, my point is that I bet the dictators wouldn't stand for getting their pay docked for simple human errors. For that matter, what other job do you actually get money taken away for errors---errors that can be easily corrected (if the dictators READ their reports for correctness (is this a word?0 before signing like they are supposed to).

Melanotic has a meaning - to do with skin or tissue pigment

[ In Reply To ..]
From melanosis, which means: Abnormally dark pigmentation of the skin or other tissues, resulting from a disorder of pigment metabolism.

IMHO this means melanotic is incorrect, whether considered slang or not, but I happen to think it does matter.

I think you have two choices with this, you either correct the doc and put the correct melenic, or you put a blank, but if you put melanotic that is incorrect.

I personally would put melenic, verbatim or not.

Again, would the doctor care you corrected him? I think not, I think most would not care or be happy to be corrected.

Would it be best for the patient to correct it? Of course, these are really two different things, despite the fact that associated with stool most would know what it meant anyway.

The next time... - Will

[ In Reply To ..]
I know this is going to come across as a scold but I don't mean it that way. It's just that, the next time you come across a word that you can't verify (and I mean in using a rock solid source), blank it and send it back for review or to QA (but preferably the first as it is Nuance).

I have been doing this kind of work for a very long time now. Put it this way: I started when people still used typewriters to do it. The fact is that doctors don't always know the right word for what they are trying to express and they also make up words from time to time. There is just no sense in making their low level of literacy your problem!

You are missing the point of my post..... - which is that

[ In Reply To ..]
I bet dictators wouldn't stand for having THEIR pay docked for human errors that can/should be corrected by THEM (as the author of the report).

I've been doing this a long time, too, and I know enough that what they meant in this case was melenic. Why should I blank it and possibly have it count against me financially?

Life isn't fair - Will

[ In Reply To ..]
If you blank it and send it back for review, you wont be dinged financially. If you send it to QA and you have sent other things to QA which bring your percentage too high, then yeah you could be.

On the other hand, if you type a made-up term and some QA person comes along and reads it, you will get dinged and look careless. Life isn't fair and, certainly, when it comes to dealing with semi-literate doctors, it really is unfair. Still, that is the way it is and has always been in this ridiculous business.

The thing is, those paying the doctors do not care--sm - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
about whether or not they know the differentiation in terminology of melanotic or melenic. They are primarily interested in whether or not a physician can treat or diagnose the problems and thus they will never be in true danger of having their pay docked for saying stupid things. Communication of what they see/observe is only a portion of their job. Sorting it all out is unfortunately ours.

Yeah that's true but I have seen them deny some crazy stuff they do - Will

[ In Reply To ..]
Well, first, Doctors carry pretty expensive insurance to cover the times when they mess up--and believe me they do mess up badly sometimes. I used to work for an attorney who defended doctors in malpractice suits. I have read things that doctors have done which would send most reasonable people to the local wise woman for medical treatment!

Beyond that, though, there are just a lot of doctors who are divas and don't feel there should be any consequences for anything they say or do.

Here is a story about one such man I used to transcribe for, back when I was still working in clinics. Now, not only did I once transcribe a tape (yeah it was a while ago) in which this prince charming used the toilet while dictating, I transcribed many a tape on which he said people had lost his previous dictations and on which he dictated little hate notes to another doctor in the practice--in which he complained that the other doctor was making him change bandages and other such lowly tasks. Never mind that the other doctor was a senior partner and the guy I transcribed was a relative newbie.

Anyway, after several months of this, I started getting an attitude. So, one fine day I decided I would stop tactfully omitting this doctor's childish comments. I must say that putting all of that rubbish into the computer was a satisfying experience. However, what happened when the doctor saw some of these documents was less than satisfying because THE DOCTOR SIMPLY DENIED HE HAD SAID ANY OF THOSE THINGS AND I GOT INTO TROUBLE!

So there it is. Childish doctors stay childish and everyone else continues to wipe their bums. Not fair, I know, but, sadly, just the way it is in this business!

Critical error - Not even close... - AnonQC

[ In Reply To ..]
Even a grammar error is stretching it. I would challenge it, claiming dictator error.

Most doctors - do say

[ In Reply To ..]
melanotic stools. Almost always. That is one I learned very early on to change.

I agree you could challenge it as a doctor's error, but I don't think they will go for it because it is so well known that doctors do that constantly.

Melanotic - Chavera

[ In Reply To ..]
I have to admit, I thought this was correct because, as you said, most doctors say "melanotic". I have to put this on a post-it note for myself!

Yes a lot do say that, but there is no such - thing. It is said so often

[ In Reply To ..]
that it actually comes up in google, which is why you have to always question the source.

AnonQC - I meant THE DICTATOR gets - a critical error from me. LOL

[ In Reply To ..]
He said melanotic...I corrected to melenic. But I WILL demand a reversal if I get a post audit and fail it because QA changes it back to melanotic...that's for da%3 sure.

Errors - Disappointed

[ In Reply To ..]
I guess what makes me angry is not necessarily that the dictators (whether docs, PAs, NPs, etc) misspeak (everyone makes errors) but that they and the "clients" want the best of both worlds. They want electronic voice recognition so they don't have to pay us MTs a livable wage but they want us there to correct their goofs AND correct what the computer system puts in what they mumble. So not only are we responsible for editing the dictators but we've got to edit the computer too. All that and only getting paid 3 cents per line. I am shaking my head.

I would argue it this way... - as previous med term instructor...

[ In Reply To ..]

I previously taught med term...

I would argue it this way:
melano=black
-ic=pertaining to

Thus, pertaining to black stools. I a SURE that is what the MD is thinking.....

Melanotic IS a word, but you use that when - describing skin or tissue, not stools....

[ In Reply To ..]
you use melenic when referring to stool...

believe me, I've spent WAY too much time researching this one (I'm the OP)...LOL

Think of it this way - clyde

[ In Reply To ..]
If a computer can do your work for you, and if VR is getting better and better all the time, then soon we will all be replaced by computers and the industry will no longer need us to edit the reports for errors.

It's errors like this that should prove to the medical community eventually that our skill set is important. This is job security for us (and the reason why when I get a discrepancy in a report I flag it so the hospital as well as my MTSO know that something was caught).

Another word that is used often but is incorrect - nonicteric

[ In Reply To ..]
Nonicteric is not found in any medical dictionary. The appropriate term is anicteric. Just because an MD says it doesn't mean it's correct.

Similar Messages:

Jul 15, 2010

Melanotic, melenotic, and melenic stools, is there a difference? Does anybody have any documentation to back this up? Thanks ...

Nov 04, 2009

She has had very hard and s/l sibilus stools by her description. ...

May 24, 2010

I've gotten conflicting answers over this. Is it melenic or melanotic stools and is it urine nitrites or urine nitrates? ...

Jul 20, 2010

" "She is describing a recent change in bowel habits with fluffy, floaty stools." Could that be right? I can't even picture what a "fluffy" stool would look like! ...

Sep 10, 2010

she is nowing having some small s/l calvater? stools. ...

Sep 15, 2013

I recently typed a consult letter for a gastroenterologist. This was the impression: Impression: Nausea and vomiting with questionable tarry stools, possibly melena. He sent the consult back to me to make corrections. These corrections were handwritten on the original consult. Impression: Nausea and vomiting with melanotic stool. Now....I know I'm not nuts and I know I'm not stupid, and I KNOW that melena pertains to blood in the stool and ...

Jul 31, 2013

Is every error, both real or fabricated, a major error now? Are there no levels of error any longer? Seems that EVERYTHING under the sun that can be made up is a major freakin' error. I would swear that I did not even make any of these and that these are fabricated. WTH? ...

Dec 28, 2009

Does anybody know how long a report stays in our specific work pool? I've done a break on a report hoping to get rid of it. But it keeps showing back up. I'm trying to make up some sick time, but I just can't understand this garble and have already spent way too much time trying to decipher it. I've been checking on and off for the last 30 minutes and it keeps showing back up. Help!!!! ...

Apr 25, 2011

you wanted to quit mid shift????? Sigh. I had one of those yesterday. Everytime I see his name come up in my cue I cringe!!!! He is horrible. Horrible accent. I did notice though after doing about 3 or 4 of his reports, my ears becames "trained" on him and I get better with him as time went by. But still, he is one that just makes my momentum (sp) drop drastically! Just venting!!! Thanks for letting me share. ...

Apr 04, 2012

that he does NOT have to say "next sentence" before every sentence. I'm looking at 16+ minutes of this.....I'm just sayin! ...

Dec 03, 2009

What do you do if you are typing on a document for 780 seconds and the dictator at the very end tells you to cancel this and erase everything because she already dictated it? In all my years I was lucky enough not to get this until now. I was thinking about sending it in anyway because I just spent all this time on it!!!! ...

Dec 06, 2009

This doctor says "ah" inbetween just about every other word. So I'm spending all my time in the ASR taking out a bunch of "a's"!!! Wouldn't normally ah vent, but I've ah had her a lot ah today! ...

Jan 26, 2010

Coumadin 30 mg per day. Now, I want to make sure I'm not dreaming here, but that is completely incorrect, right? Maybe I'm having a brain lapse (been an MT for 20 years) but I want to make sure my thinking is correct that this dosage would probably be lethal? I'm going to leave a blank for the dosage, but I just wanted to double check with my MT friends. I have listened to it many times, and she is positively saying "30 mg per day." TIA!! ...

Mar 01, 2010

This is what it sounds like. "His WBC 11.48, and his 12.4 and 37.0 PT/PTT were normal." It seems like "PT/PTT were normal." Should be a sentence on its own, but then I'm not sure what the 12.4 and 37.0 lab values would be for. Grr... Any help would be greatly appreciated! ...

Mar 15, 2010

I am just curious as to what speed setting to most of you keep it on when doing ASR? I try to keep mine between 8 and 9 unless it's an extremely slow dictator. I would like to increase my line count, but I'm afraid if I speed it up too much I might miss something. ...

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? ...

Jun 14, 2010

ESL dictator with very thick accent states: ...for antibiotic management. NOT with antibiotic management. Please learn to transcribe correctly. Although it wasn't me who made the mistake, it was all I could do to not put in the QA note: A female is SHE and male is HE and it is vomit not WOMIT, please learn to dictate correctly. I so wish it was okay to put QA notes to the dictators. ...

Jun 17, 2010

This ANP who is dictating can't make up her mind what she wants to say and constantly corrects herself and then keeps yawning, but doesn't stop the recording or even stop speaking while she's yawning. It's annoying me PLUS it's making me sleepy now myself. More coffee, please!!!! ...

Jun 24, 2010

Hemostasis was maintained with a bipolar and fublar. Dictator spelled FUBLAR, but pronounced as FIBiLAR, or more accurately, FIB-YOU-LAIR. ...

Oct 12, 2010

I know this is petty, but for some reason, it grates on my nerves to hear: blah, blah Period space space. Or Colon space space enter. I mean, please, are we considered that incompentent? but on the other end of the spectrum we have those that don't say any punctuation, which is absolutely fine, but a pause would be nice. It's not necessary to dictate a whole report in one breath. ...

Oct 30, 2010

on the phone to correct their grammer? I have this one who always says "chynosis" for cyanosis and "catheterism" for catheterization. It was funny at first, but now very irritating! Thanks for the vent. ...

Jan 23, 2011

What is the rule on filling in mg or mcg, etc., if the dictator just says "Lasix 20." (if the account is not verbatim, should this always be filled in by the transcriptionist?) Thanks! ...

Mar 26, 2011

Just need to vent about my ESL doc who decided at 11 last night he needed to dictate all of his H&Ps for the week. He's not very good at his best but his yawning is giving me tons of blanks and it drives me crazy not being able to get it, so have to listen 20 times to try to get one extra word, which of course takes much longer than his 5 minutes of dictation should require! Really wish he would pick a weekday to talk since I only do weekends for this hospital! ...

Dec 23, 2011

Dictated ... "EGD that allowed chronic GERD, with small total chronic S/L destoration" I have tried to hear chronic ulceration but that is not it. Does anyone else have a clue, please? Thanks in advance! ...

Dec 25, 2011

I really don't think any of them know what it means. It's been getting under my skin lately. ...

Feb 11, 2012

Mumbly dictator First he clearly dictates a drop-fem test of which I am dumbfounded. As well as on an imaging report post total hip arthroplasty he dictated what sounds like he is stating.." Vasser clause wires are in place from previous surgery" Is there such a thing...have checked all my books, and online to no avail. Any ideas? I think my ears are beginning to tune this guy out, he is awful! Thanks in advance!! ...

Mar 04, 2012

Just want to preface this before anything..I am not new at this by any stretch of the imagination, have heard pretty much all of it..I have had this crappy dictator all day..My theory on them is leave the freaking blanks and bypass QA so they will learn to talk like a human being..Most of the time I send things through QA they dont find the blanks anyway...And we know the company will NEVER say yo doc, speak correctly..This is an English speaking doc who just does not enunciate so there is no ex ...

Apr 20, 2012

We have to write out as (100,000), so how do I type out platelets 9.2. ...

Jan 18, 2013

Got a guy here listening to the conversation of two co-workers in between dictating. What a waste of time this is. Thanks, Bub. ...

Apr 15, 2014

then it is insane to expect to transcribe 99.7%. That's all. ...