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

Only straight-up opinions, please... - Anon

Posted: Dec 10, 2013

Okay, I need some straight-up serious opinions, no bashing. Does anyone like VR? Whille it may be wonderful for the MTSOs and the physicians, is it good for us? Does it really up productivity while reducing repetitive physical strain? Because I'm not feeling it. I don't like jazz music. I don't enjoy the discordance. This is what VR feels like to me. There is no flow, no rhythm, you start and stop, start and stop. The critical thinking aspect that is so vital to the medical record fades into the background while my fingers try to constantly re-form the text into what the dictator said and meant. My company is just now transitioning, so the software is embryonic and very, very stupid. In a 5-minute chart, there are maybe 20 words that are used correctly in the correct place in the template. The rest is garbage. I just delete everything and type it myself. I feel my heart pounding faster and my nerves are shot from trying to stay focused on the voice. Instead of me and the voice, there is me and the voice and now these words on the screen that are stupid and irrelevant and don't belong there, they come from some technological invader that does nothing but interfere with the entire process. Now, I do understand that the system will "learn" and improve and become more proficient, blah blah blah, and the monster and I will seamlessly integrate into a "team" that preserves the physician's intent and saves the life of the patient who exists behind the MRN blah blah blah.

So..what am I not understanding here? My brain isn't handling the intrusion of words on the screen that don't have any meaning and I am getting paid half the money to do more than twice the work, so what concept do I need to grasp to make it acceptable? Please no bashing, you must be able to tell that I am intensely frazzled from 8 hours of this.

VR versus straight - Rose

[ In Reply To ..]
After almost 40 years in the business (yes, typewriters with white-out), I would have had to quit about the time VR came into existence because of wear and tear on my hands and wrists. That being said, my greatest concern with VR is that one cannot be careful enough to edit everything that VR sees fit to add to a report. Every day, it continues to amaze me what it will put into a report what just plain is not dictated, such as a referring physician heading and a name of a doctor at the beginning of a consultation, even if the dictator did not dictate one. It consistently adds headings because it thinks there should be one there, even if it isn't dictated. Yes, about once or twice a week, VR recognizes a sentences that I would have struggled with and I appreciate that, particularly on heavy ESL dictators. But knowing that, I also have to blank it sometimes, because I just don't hear what VR puts in and I cannot be sure because I know what it does put in on its own. For accuracy of medical record, I still think straight transcription is better, no question about it.

Agree with Rose - poorhouse

[ In Reply To ..]
I try to use the VR as a tool because, yes, it does figure out some of the tougher accented ESL dictators. However, there are times where I just cannot reconcile what VR is spitting out compared to the dictation and I blank it.

VR trainers - 19yrMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I feel similarly to you. Having no flow or rhythm has killed my production with VR. I've been working for 3 years with VR accounts, and I have never been able to make close to the same money working the same hours. I wonder if it is due to having done straight transcription for so many years.

The only dictators (which VR has "learned") that do well are the dictators who speak clearly and at a normal rate - the same dictators I can transcribe as fast as edit. Then the not-so-good dictators are a huge headache.

Sadly, we have no bargaining power, collective or otherwise, and have to take what we can get. Why would it be such a bad idea to give dictators a period of time until their VR is 50% accurate before giving them the discount?

At 46 years old I have gone back to college because this job will not be here when I'm still working in 20 years, and I'm tired of training my replacement and then cleaning up after said replacement.

If you post for a rant, I'll happily post one :)

VR Trainers - Anon

[ In Reply To ..]
Thank you for feeling my pain. It has been a month now and even with perfect dictators, the software is not learning anything at all. I can literally type it faster than I can edit it but only get paid half as much. I'm 20 years older than you and do not have your options. My spirits are very low.

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