Ideas, I Get Ideas

Every job has it's downsides, it's quirks if you will. Mine is that I encounter so many doctors that eventually I run into some that one first blush I absolutely hate transcribing. Luckily, this phase doesn't usually last for most of the ones I dislike, but unfortunately, some of those I intensely dislike just never get better and I never adjust to them. It's an occupational hazard, I suppose, one that just cannot be avoided.

I wonder why there isn't a guideline for doctors for their dictations. Since there isn't I am going to make one. First off, doctors should always speak clearly. When a doctor is doing his/her first dictation, they should have a template in front of them showing them what type of information and the order in which that information gets dictated into the dictation system. If a doctor makes an error or changes his/her mind about the phrasing of something or a medication, s/he needs to be clear about what changes they are making, not simply pausing and resuming talking, leaving the transcriptionist to figure it out. Doctors should not talk at the speed of light. We understand that they need to be quick. However, speed at the cost of accuracy is not a fair trade. Clarity and reasonable speed along with relevant information in the proper order is the cornerstone of a good dictator (not in the fascist sense!)

Since we are talking about medical records, these are some of the most important records that are kept and there is no standardization. Imagine if every library you went to had a different system of keeping track of its books and describing its holdings. Given that fact, health care records should be somewhat standardized. For example, all follow up visits should have a certain template from which doctors should have - they can add and subtract from it as necessary to suit the patient that they are seeing. Believe me, after hearing literally hundreds and hundreds of doctors dictate from different specialties, to general practice, to initial intakes, this can be a standardized process. Doctors do fundamentally all say the same thing. They just like using different words in different orders from each other. Some of my favorite doctors in the past liked to many adjectives deeply describing anatomical abnormalities. Since for that job I got paid by the keystroke, I loved transcribing for that doctor!

Oh well, these are just the opinions on how to make some things a little better from a Bad Kitty.