Not Exactly What The Doctor Ordered...
So, I have been doing this medical transcription training for several months now...to say it's a chore is beyond understatement; it's torture. Basically, I hate it. But it has gotten me thinking. The way that medical transcription works is, a health care professional dictates their notes and some sorry sack gets to listen to it and try to figure out what the hell they're saying. Sounds fairly simple, right? WRONG!
The problem is that doctors don't seem to understand that the notes they dictate need to be understandable. There are some that do very well, they speak at a moderate speed, they don't mumble, and the recording itself is crystal. These are the good ones! But some of them are nearly impossible to figure out...at least, not without a lot of time and stress. They mumble, they speed read or they have so much static or noise in the background that you can barely hear the words! I'm not a computer...I can't filter out the static or make the sound quality better, I can only do what I can do.
As a result, this course has been murder on me. It's not fun, it's not interesting, it's a crime. I know, I know, "why are you still doing it then?!" Because certain people are desperate for me to. Trust me, if it was truly up to me I'd be done with it...would've been done with it ages ago.
But my predicament has prompted thoughts into a few changes to the program. The issue is the recordings themselves. Again, there are doctors who do very well and those are fine. But for the vast majority of the doctors that I have had the misfortune to come across, they, and all the poor transcriptionists who get stuck with their crap, would benefit from some sort of computer program that can end this problem forever.
What I'm talking about is a program that is essentially a template where all they have to do is fill in the blanks (surely they can manage that??!). Another issue is that there is no industry standard -- yes, there are standards, but they're only suggestions. Each transcription company can make their own "standard" and the standard can change from client to client. They need to have one industry-wide standard for each type of report and one program that allows the doctors to fill in the blanks. After that, (because doctors aren't exactly perfect) they would have an editor come along and make sure the report is legible. But nobody would have to listen to someone who sounds bored and is in such a hurry that they dictate the physical examination at Mach 2!
So, for all you programmer types, you want to make lots of money? Develop a program that does this. I, for one, will thank you effusively. Oh, and if anyone knows of a good job that won't start until the second week of August...let me know.
The problem is that doctors don't seem to understand that the notes they dictate need to be understandable. There are some that do very well, they speak at a moderate speed, they don't mumble, and the recording itself is crystal. These are the good ones! But some of them are nearly impossible to figure out...at least, not without a lot of time and stress. They mumble, they speed read or they have so much static or noise in the background that you can barely hear the words! I'm not a computer...I can't filter out the static or make the sound quality better, I can only do what I can do.
As a result, this course has been murder on me. It's not fun, it's not interesting, it's a crime. I know, I know, "why are you still doing it then?!" Because certain people are desperate for me to. Trust me, if it was truly up to me I'd be done with it...would've been done with it ages ago.
But my predicament has prompted thoughts into a few changes to the program. The issue is the recordings themselves. Again, there are doctors who do very well and those are fine. But for the vast majority of the doctors that I have had the misfortune to come across, they, and all the poor transcriptionists who get stuck with their crap, would benefit from some sort of computer program that can end this problem forever.
What I'm talking about is a program that is essentially a template where all they have to do is fill in the blanks (surely they can manage that??!). Another issue is that there is no industry standard -- yes, there are standards, but they're only suggestions. Each transcription company can make their own "standard" and the standard can change from client to client. They need to have one industry-wide standard for each type of report and one program that allows the doctors to fill in the blanks. After that, (because doctors aren't exactly perfect) they would have an editor come along and make sure the report is legible. But nobody would have to listen to someone who sounds bored and is in such a hurry that they dictate the physical examination at Mach 2!
So, for all you programmer types, you want to make lots of money? Develop a program that does this. I, for one, will thank you effusively. Oh, and if anyone knows of a good job that won't start until the second week of August...let me know.
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