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Tips to minimize Blanks in Medical Transcription
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One of the most critical challenges for a medical transcriptionist (MT) is avoiding blanks in healthcare documentation. Reasons for blanks include the following:
Muffled speech
Poor recording quality
Clipped or omitted dictation
Background noises
Suboptimal dictation practices
Difficulty in verifying terminology
Author requested blanks (which would be filled in later)
Preexisting blank within text that has been copied forward
Of course, blanks are inevitable and valid blanks are acceptable as making wild guesses and misjudging terms can lead to an inaccurate transcript. It is the responsibility of the physician to identify the points of uncertainty and rectify them. However, it is necessary to avoid invalid blanks – blanks that can be resolved by the MT using best resolution practices. A report with too many blanks makes no sense at all. Here are some tips to help minimize blanks in medical transcription.
The MT should think of the pronunciation of the specific word first rather than thinking of its spelling. Searching for similar sounding words can help find the word apt in the particular context.
Thinking contextually is important. For instance, in the case of radiology transcription, think of symptoms, complaints, and medication related to that field. This will help you zero in on the right word.
Use the Web. The internet is a vast resource and instead of wasting time thinking, use googleMT to check out names of new drugs, and unfamiliar terms or names.
Referring to a similar report can help. Physicians use the same kind of words repeatedly in similar reports. There are also chances that it could be the same word repeated in the report somewhere else. If you are involved in the work, you can catch it easily, saving a lot of time.
As a last resort, you can always ask another MT to help to decode an unfamiliar or inaudible term.
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Make an effort to remember the physician’s voice and accent. This would help over the time to reduce blanks to a great extent. The medical transcription team in an established medical transcription company is well trained to handle blank spaces and produce comprehensive documentation.
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