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

Article regarding transcription error by an Indian - MT

Posted: Apr 22, 2013

Of course this could happen to any one of us, but it's interesting that the article points out the terrible quality of the reports being done in India. This particular MT transcribed the incorrect insulin dosage that ultimately led to the death of the patient. Proofread, proofread, proofread. We already know that, but it doesn't hurt to spread the word. We're all so production oriented these days given our excessively low pay, but we still need to be so incredibly careful.

http://www.nuzzapp.com/2012/12/18/140-million-judgement-against-thomas-hospital/

This was discussed extensively a couple of months - ago. nm

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s

I'm by no means a "regular" on this board, so - would not have known that.

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Sorry to bore you, just thought I'd pass it along.

No prob, now you do. We really are a current bunch - of sista MTs here. nm

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x

I wouldn't go so far as to say "sista MTs"... - sm

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though that would be nice if it were true. I've seen so many rude posts on here, not very sisterly at all, which is why I don't come here too often myself. I've been frequenting a FB page lately that is a very nice group of MTs. I would post the name of it, but I've done that twice, and each time it's taken down by the moderator, saying "don't post other social web sites" or something of that nature. Again, not too sisterly if you ask me.

Is that the one that charges you? nm - MTpockets

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nm

No charge to subscribe to the FB page... - sm

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She's working on a website though where you can get a membership for 5 bucks a month, or something like that. I don't plan to do that, but just like the camaraderie and the "insider tips" so to speak that I get from networking with the other MTs on her FB page. She really seems to know her stuff. If you want to email me, I will send you the name.

I would like to join the FB page (nm) - anon

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nm

Let a coder come here & trash talk an MT & I betcha see MTs coming - together as a sista-hood. nm

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x

Well, that's news to me... - UsedToLoveMT

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I'm here pretty often but didn't happen to see that article. Thanks for sharing, definitely a reminder to slow down and proofread. Easier said than done during this time of produce or starve, for sure, but still have to keep in mind how important our job really is. With all the talk of how horrible the quality of MT is in India, it is mind boggling that they are outsourcing so much work overseas just to "save 2 cents" like the article said.

Proofread, proofread, proofread - MT

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I certainly agree with proofreading, but ultimately the final responsibility is the dictator's, before he/she signs the report. In my opinion, this is a situation that will only get worse, as profit seems to be the only concern.

judgement - tired mt

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I don't mean to sound like I have a horrible attitude, but I guess I do. I will thoroughly proofread when I get paid to proofread. If I proofread now I will be doing it for free and making even less money. I try to proofread as I type but I am sure mistakes get by me that I would normally catch. I care about patient care as much as these hospitals and MTSOs do. If they care about the almighty dollar so do I. I have had a belly full of all the weight being put on the transcriptionists for pennies while they make the money.

I understand, being there too, but saying you care isn't - caring. Saying others injure patients through

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negligence doesn't somehow make it okay for us to do it too. Nothing justifies hurting other people, and we're in such a good position to do that.

The rates of patients injured and even killed by "healthcare" are horrible these days, and everyone connected with healthcare has a piece of it. But definitely some more than others and some less.

For those who really don't care, may I suggest stocking racks at Walmart? A callous attitude toward the shoppers is pretty much expected, and acting out one's resentment at low pay is extremely unlikely to hurt anyone.

I understand - tired mt

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I don't think you read my post good enough. What I said was I care about patient care about as much as the hospitals and MTSOs care about patient care, no more and no less. You bet our job is an important one, but doctors need to take responsibility for what they say and do. If they sign the report without reading it then they deserve to be sued. Bottom line, not everything is our fault. If he signs the report its his fault, not mine. I am human and as hard as I try not to make mistakes I do, never to the extent like the person in India but again if they want me to proofread every report then I need to be paid for that proofreading. Like the saying goes you can't shop at Macy's and expect to pay Walmart prices. You get what you pay for. Everyone in this industry knows about the quality of work from foreign companies, but yet they still keep using them so patient's are going to suffer no matter what. You just don't know who and when. I just pray it is not me or one of my family that suffers because of their greed. All those millions would look good in my bank account too.

I hear ya. - tynkerbelle

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you have a valid point. and something that i have been harping about all along. if the doctor cannot take the time to read over the report, when the patient is PAYING HIM TO DO THIS and he signs the report, he should be sued and he should be fired. you as the consumer can fire your physician.

Like the person in India? - Anonymous

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The original error might have been made by a person in India, but the hospital named in the lawsuit is in the United States, and I am assuming that the QA staff for this MTSO are based in the United States. The nurse who administered the medication from the discharge summary (which should not be done) was in the United States, the physician was in the United States; none of them caught the error. Everyone makes mistakes, even in the US. If you don't think you need to proofread, you don't know for sure what kind of mistakes you have made.

I worry about this all the time... - sm

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especially with SR reports, which most of mine are. SR has a way of influencing what you hear -- it will type it out wrong, but you think that's what you heard because that's what you're seeing typed in front of you. Very dangerous. I would be curious to know if this report done by the Indian MT was SR. Honestly though, I don't know how they are able to do this job at all, unless for some reason English is *not* their 2nd language.

SR - Anonymous

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Yes, it was an SR report (not that it excuses the error). All of this information can be found in news articles dating back to December 2012.

When VR first came out, I do not think it was taken - into consideration the fact

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that instead of looking at each word said and catching the errors, your eyes as a human will play tricks on you. For instance, the dictator may say look and the word turns out looked on VR. You have to catch every single word that happens with and it happens each and every report, or it does on the ones I work on. I loved it at first and basically still prefer to straight as I am used to doing it now but if not reading very carefully you will get it wrong. Maybe it's my age of not wanting to do a lot of overtime now or maybe it's the fact that my eyes are really tired from doing all the scanning once those 8 hours are over that but mostly turn down any overtime for me now.

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