National Medical Transcription Week

In 1985, then President Ronald Reagan gave a proclamation that the week of May 20 through May 26 would be set aside as National Medical Transcription Week. The following is an excerpt from that proclamation:

"A century ago, physicians knew many of the patients from birth, knew all their ailments, and provided all their medical care. Today, with medical specialization and greater mobility among people, many skilled physicians may treat the average American during a lifetime. Using transcribed medical records, each physician can easily and quickly review a patient's medical history even if the physician has never seen the patient before. Because of the work done by trained medical transcriptionists, patients can be assured that the history of their medical care is portrayed accurately and legibly. Medical transcriptionists have therefore become a vital link between the physician and the patient.

It is appropriate for our Nation to recognize the contributions of medical transcriptionists. We should encourage hospitals, allied health education programs, and community colleges to provide appropriate courses of instruction recognizing the high standards that must be met by medical transcriptionists and the vital function they perform."

The proclamation can be read in it's entirety at:
http://www.aamt.org/scriptcontent/downloads/MT_Week_Proclomation.pdf.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful National Medical Transcription Week!

The Eyes Have It

Medical transcriptionists spend several hours a day staring at their computer screens. This can lead to eye strain and other visual problems over time. That is why it is important to take preventative measures to ward off unnecessary visual disabilities.

Short breaks can help alleviate or lessen symptoms of eye strain and other visual problems caused by staring at a computer monitor for long periods of time. Practice moving your eyes to distant objects periodically or closing your eyes for a moment or two. Another thing to try is adjusting the brightness of your monitor to a more comfortable level. Adjust the distance you sit from the monitor and its angle to lessen the glare on the screen. Consider purchasing a glare-reduction filter or adjusting the lighting in the room you are working in. A little prevention can go a long way; especially over time. So, try putting these practices into use and see the difference for yourself!

Big Opportunities from Big Businesses

I read an article written by Sara Eisen for Medill Reports Chicago that described an annual conference for the Midwest Business Group on Health. These business leaders, consisting of more than 200 individuals from a diverse group of public and private companies, are gathering this year to discuss the advantages to expanding company health care benefits. They are trying to persuade other companies that there are many good reasons to give employees more health benefits. Some of these reasons include less productivity loss due to employee illness, lessened existing health conditions, and increased health awareness overall. If successful, these changes in health care benefits packages would lead to steady work for MTs as more employees were receiving health screenings and additional services to maintain their health.

Memorial Day

Memorial Day, celebrated on the last Monday of every May in the United States, is a time of rememberance for our country's men and women who have died in service to America. It is a day to honor the sacrifices these brave Americans portrayed to help keep our country free. For medical transcriptionists, this day might hold memories of medical reports transcribed to preserve the medical record of one or more of these men and women.

Memorial Day is also viewed by many as the unofficial start of summer activities. This becomes a very busy time of the year for health care workers as accident rates begin to soar while more people spend their time on the road, at pools or lakes, at sporting events, and other such activities. Help to keep your family safe this summer by practicing safety rules and precautions. View my previous posts for some of these tips and guidelines as well as links to other informative sites.

Have a happy Memorial Day and a safe summer!

What Do You See?

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."

-- Author unknown.

What do you see when you look at a medical report you have just transcribed? Does everything look accurate? Sometimes first appearances can be deceptive.

While I was completing my online Comprehensive Medical Transcription course from the University of Central Oklahoma, I learned a very useful trick for viewing what I had transcribed with a new pair of eyes. Listening to the dictation a second time while carefully proofreading makes errors in word usage stand out like red flags. I realize that the experienced MTs reading my posts will already know this. However, if you are still in training or new to the field, this trick might make a difference for you.

One of my professional goals is to help educate other MTs while I continue to learn more myself. I have found that no matter how much knowledge I have gained, there will always be far more to obtain. Experience is often one of the best teachers, so I hope to broaden my field of view by learning from the experiences of others as well.

Quality Care Reporting

Value-based purchasing is a concept that might be seen more and more in the near future from health care providers. P.Q.R.I., or Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, is a program established by Medicare. During the summer, a federal law was established which provides a 1.5 percent pay incentive for physicians to report quality measures through this program.

As more physicians begin to utilize quality care reporting, it is estimated by researchers that an increased number of less-ill patients will be treated. This, in turn, could possibly be the next big breakthrough in health care as more serious illnesses are caught and prevented in the earlier stages. This turn of events might eventually bring about lower health care costs as patients are being treated before more costly treatments are needed to reestablish good health.

I hope everyone had a safe summer and a happy Labor Day! I am looking forward to resuming my medical transcription blog! I am going to be changing the format to a weekly review of events rather than daily postings.

Summer Safety Tips

With the onset of summer vacation, it is a good time to post some safety tips that might help keep you and your children safe as the summer fun begins this year!

• Practice common sense.
• Make clear safety rules for the whole family.
• Learn to swim and/or teach your children how to swim.
• Swim in familiar areas to reduce the risk of potential dangers.
• Set up a secure area for your pool.
• Be aware of where children are. Many lives are lost every year due to accidental drowning.
• Keep rescue equipment and emergency numbers near your pool.
• Wear life jackets.
• Follow all of the rules posted in the area where you and your family are swimming.

These are only a few safety tips. While there are no 100% guarantees that nothing will ever happen, following safety guidelines might prevent serious injury or death for you or for someone you love.

The American Red Cross has an extensive amount of information to educate parents and children about safety. Visit:

http://www.redcross.org/services/hss/tips/healthtips/safetywater.html to learn more!

Medline Plus also offers information and links for more safety tips and related health information. If you follow the link below, you will find:

• Overviews.
• Latest news.
• Information on specific related conditions.
• Information on related issues.
• Tutorials.
• Journal articles.
• Directories.
• A list of other related organizations.
• Statistics.
• Articles regarding health information for children and teenagers.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/watersafetyrecreational.html

Have a safe and happy summer!