Basic Tips for Repeated Medical Transcription Errors

By Connie Limon

Medical Transcription is acquiring a new skill. This new skill requires the coordination of your eyes, ears, fingers, and foot (if you use a foot pedal). If you are already an accomplished typist you start medical transcription with an advantage. You should have a copy type speed of at least 45 words per minute before attempting to transcribe medical dictation. You should expect to start out slow in the beginning of medical transcription. Do not try to type fast at first. Strive first for accuracy of medical words, grammar, punctuation, and format.

Accurately transcribing medical words, a good grasp of grammar, punctuation and format create another group of skills you must continually consider, evaluate and take time to master. Diligence and patience are key components when you first start medical transcription. It may seem a bit overwhelming at first. However, as the days pass on, your diligence will be rewarded later with added speed and accuracy.

As you transcribe each medical dictation, transcribe carefully, stop as often as necessary to word search. Word searching time is never time wasted. It strengthens and builds one of the most important skills for medical transcription.

Start slowly, take advantage of every opportunity to learn, memorize, and understand this new language of medical materials. Speed comes naturally as you acquire knowledge and experience. The fruit of all your labor will be a Medical Transcriptionist able to transcribe new reports accurately, quickly and with confidence.

There are six common categories of errors which include:

1. Omitted dictated word;

2. Wrong word;

3. Misspelled word;

4. Typographical error;

5. Grammatical error; and

6. Punctuation error.

Omitted dictated word: If you find yourself repeatedly omitting dictated words, do the following:

• Listen carefully to the dictation

• Slow your pace

• Do not increase your speed until these errors are minimized

Wrong word: If you repeatedly type the wrong word, do the following:

• Take more care in checking word definitions. The definition must match the context of the report.

Misspelled word: If you repeatedly misspell words, do the following:

• Mentally spell the corrected word several times

• Highlight the word in your dictionary

• Write the word in your personal notebook

Typographical error: If you have repeated typographical errors, do the following:

• Proofread carefully

• Allow time to elapse between the time you transcribe the report and the time you proofread it.

Grammatical error: If you have repeated grammatical errors, do the following:

• When physicians make grammatical errors in their dictation, the Medical Transcriptionist is expected to correct them.

• If your transcription contains a significant number of grammatical errors, a basic review of English is in order for the Medical Transcriptionist, and unfortunately, not the physician

Punctuation error: If you have repeated punctuation errors, do the following:

• The most serious punctuation errors are those that alter medical meaning.

• A significant number of punctuation errors require a basic review of punctuation.

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© 2007 Connie Limon All Rights Reserved

Written by: Connie Limon, Medical Transcriptionist. Visit us at http://www.aboutmedicaltranscription.info/ for more information about the unique and rewarding career choice of Medical Transcription. Visit Camelot Articles http://www.camelotarticles.com/ for a variety of FREE reprint articles for your newsletter, web sites or blogs.

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