MT Daily Logo Reviews of Journals, 1996

Review of PERSPECTIVES, Summer 1996, by Gail Hall
As a regular subscriber to PERSPECTIVES magazine from HPI, I am often frustrated by how regularly late I receive this publication. Today, the first FULL day of Autumn, I received my SUMMER issue. However, on opening it and seeing what was inside, I could think only, "WOW!! What an issue!" The range of subjects goes from words to money matters, from software and humor, and many topics between. I've seen lots of MTs and others ask about word processors and related products. Judy Hinickle's article, "Investigating Word Processing Systems" includes descriptions of various types of software for medical transcription and includes some contact information for each vendor described. There is a large table with information on such things as system requirements, number of installations, management options, transcriptionist options. Her article contains questions the buyer should ask. It's a good idea to read this when making up your wishlist for new software because she may list something a buyer might not have thought of before.

While there is a large table for some of the main wordprocessing software packages, the descriptions for enhancement software are brief but do include some good questions to ask. She does not include specific answers for the individual products, though. At first this might seem like an inconvenience, but considering the speed at which new versions of products come out, I think including the questions and contact information was the best course for this writer. Getting too specific in such a fast-paced industry would lead to more misinformation than valid information.

You can pick the features most important to you and make your own checklist for asking vendors about those features. The contact information for vendors is limited to a person and phone number. I hope HPI will include an expanded list on its web site with postal service address, e-mail and World Wide Web URL if available.

"Money Matters: Compensation Methods in Medical Transcription" by Kathy Cameron discusses various methods for paying medical transcriptionists and includes discussions of the pros and cons of various methods. She compares straight hourly wage, pay on production, and hourly wage plus incentive. She discusses this from the viewpoints of management and workers. This will give you plenty of food for thought and help people make decisions about the ways they would like to pay (or perhaps work). The reference list at the end gives the reader even more sources for information.

Of course, there are the regular columns such as Vera Pyle's new words and Dr. John Dirckx's interesting discussion of medical language.

Humor and food for thought from Judith Marshall and Richard Lederer make good medicine any time of the day.

Linda Campbell gives us some of her favorite web sites. She'll no doubt have to add to that list in another issue or perhaps on the HPI web site. I'd like to see Toni Mercadante's home listed because it lists so many links that MTs can use as a jumping-off place.

Susan Turley's "Soundalikes for Students and Serious Practitioners" makes a good review for any of us. This is like the old English worksheets I remember from school. There is a list of sentences with one or more left blank and your choices in parentheses. You pick the correct one. The next batch of sentences just has sentences. You find the errors. The last group of sentences contain MT errors. You figure out what the doctor really said. For CMTs who do not belong to AAMT or who can't make it to meetings or workshops, I think that this set of exercises would be an excellent source for CME credit. Although it doesn't say it is "preapproved" for CME credit, it is certainly as good or better than some of the articles labeled "preapproved" in JAAMT.

I found the article on editing by Judith Marshall especially helpful. She gives examples of phrases that she changes or doesn't change and gives us her reasons for her decisions. Her comments really help me to find criteria that I can use for making editing decisions. Even if some of us don't agree with the specific examples, we have some good food for thought. Mrs. Marshall considers the status of the dictator as well as the specific phrase when making her decisions. Experienced attending physicians get more freedom from Mrs. Marshall's editorial mending basket. Good idea!

If you would like information about getting PERSPECTIVES or copies of articles from it, you can contact HPI online or off. Health Professions Institute, P.O. Box 801, Modesto, CA 95353, Phone: (209) 551-2112; Fax: (209) 551-0404; E-mail: hpi@ainet.com; WWW: http://www.hpisum.com

Now I'm looking forward to getting my Autumn 1996 issue while it's still autumn!

Review of article in JAAMT, by Debbie Hahn, debbicmt@visuallink.com
I have the JAAMT you're referring to (Jul/Aug issue). There is an article mentioning three different bills which might impact medical transcriptionists: S.1610, Independent Contractor Tax Simplification Act of 1996; HR.435 Fair Health Information Practices Act of 1995; and S.1360 The Medical Record Confidentiality Act of 1995, commonly referred to as the Bennett Bill. The last one seems to be of the most concern. The concern seems to be related to MTs being inappropriately classified as "healthcare providers" or "healthcare trustees", which would create some changes in how transcription is done. AAMT has written and met with Senate staff members who are working on the bill, which they say has been well received. They also said that AAMT will be represented legally if the bill reaches markup (rewriting). It isn't definite that the bill will come up for vote in 1996 because of the presidential election. On the next page, there is a 2-page copy of a letter written in May by Claudia Tessier to someone in the office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, concerning the Bennett Bill. In her letter she outlines various specific paragraphs in the bill and suggests changes in the wording which would exclude medical transcriptionists from the definition of "health information trustee" and thus eliminate this bill's impact on MTs. She summarizes by giving several reasons why MTs should not be classified in the bill's definition of health care provider, health care trustee or health researcher. Anyone who wishes to obtain a copy of the actual bill and read the actual wording from themselves should contact their senator's office and ask for a copy of Senate Bill 1360.
MT MONTHLY, June 1996
by Mary Morken
Jennifer Martin, editor, encourages established MTs to welcome new MTs and hire them, and cautions new MTs to have realistic expectations. The Mile High Chapter of AAMT has a new form for recording continuing education credits for the CMT; contact Lind a Galbraith in Parker, Colorado. A short note full of abbreviations to decipher is followed by a request for comments from readers. Jokes and a contest to find errors in a paragraph follow. A new regular column where readers can ask questions of Donna Avila and Mary Glaccum debuts with two words of advice, one on call-in systems for dictation and the other on confidentiality. A list of anesthesia terms is followed by an article on dictation technology. It starts with people who still write by hand and cannot seem to learn to dictate, then discusses digital equipment and voice recognition. There is a long list of new medical terms and drugs, an article on the ASTM subcommittee on standards for voice files and computerized medical records, and one on Corel, the company that has bought WordPerfect. A final article claims we now have poorer patient care due to cutbacks allowing the hiring of less-skilled medical technicians.
ADVANCE FOR HEALTH INFORMATION PROFESSIONALS, June 17, 1996
by Mary Morken
The theme of this edition is on guidelines for records for ambulatory patient groups (APG). Two letters to the editor from MTs respond to the letter of March 25th from an anonymous MT who had a bad experience with a national company. One letter says her company treats her well, the other letter is from a company who treats their MTs well. There is an article for managers on how to deal with people using the Internet for personal use.

An article by Pat Forbis of AAMT warns of the hypocrisy of employers who claim to have quality priorities but are laying off MTs or cutting their salaries, and paying the top managers too much money. Quoting from a book, PUNISHED BY REWARDS, she opposes incentive pay for production because it endangers quality documentation for patients. She suggests giving incentives for better patient care and containing the cost of the salaries of the CEOs. She cautions MTs not to trust or love their health care employers and make them earn their trust.

There is an article on chart tracking and a report on the recent conference in San Diego on the electronic patient record. A few new medical terms are given from Stedman's WORD WATCHER periodical, including tropisetron, zileuton, BioSkin support, EndoLive endoscope and PumpPals. There are 15 advertisements for medical transcriptionists.

PERSPECTIVES ON THE MEDICAL TRANSRIPTION PROFESSION
by Mary Morken
Issued at the end of spring, this issue starts with a statement by Sally Pitman, the editor and publisher, about the current challenges in the field of medical transcription, and PERSPECTIVES effort to accurately portray the state of the industry. Kathy Cameron of HPI writes about the centralizing of transcription departments that often comes with mergers. She tells how to analyze production and estimate needs. After a piece on Lincoln's language by Dr. Lederer, Joe Weber of Narratek and Smartype tells of his initiation into networking on the Internet, starting with the sci.med.transcription newsgroup. He marvels at the things that can be accomplished online. Catherine Baxter of MTIA writes of the HL7 project which is working on setting standards so that computerized medical records can be exchangeable. A protocol has been devised for demographic information.

Adrienne Yazijian, a sales manager for Medical Records Corporation, writes of the importance of networking and reading to obtain information for career development, adding a good word on the importance of having vision and energy. Juanita Reames, an MT, writes on "Computer Fitness Training" and the importance of posture and movement for health. She recommends the Alexander Technique (800, 473-0620) for learning alternative movement. She has patented an arm cushion for computer users. She advises doing something about any pain you suffer while you work. She discusses assistive devices.

After an article on MTIA by Catherine Baxter, Kathy Donneson, an educator, analyzes what she calls "hybrid organizations," new ways health care groups are working together. She discusses HMOs and managed care plans, and discusses the implications for transcription, mainly an increase in dictation and using subcontractors.

Dr. Bob Seale answers a variety of questions from readers, and Mary Glaccum and Donna Avila-Weil write about learning to set boundaries and be assertive, rational and persistent in your business roles, acknowledging valid criticism objectively and resisting manipulation. They recommend terminating work relationships where there is unfairness if your concerns are not respected.

An anonymous article outlines the transition to using a digital system, illustrating the principles with bad examples and the consequences that followed. The importance of research, planning and orienting staff is discussed. Carolyn Grimes, a teacher, describes how she found a way for her students to practice transcription in nearby sponsoring clinics, called "Service Learning" sites. Marcy Diehl, teacher, discusses teaching students to use reference books. Dr. Dirckx lists anatomy terms that are metaphors of geographic, such as fossa (ditch), fovea (pit), iris (rainbow), stellate (star-shaped) and sulcus (furrow made by a plow). Two pages of new terms with definitions are presented from Vera Pyle's Sixth Edition of CURRENT MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY. Judith Marshall, MT, talks about having started out on the "low road" in 1978 and finding MTs are still on that road due to mergers and cutback and lower standards. She suggests MTs research job opportunities, learn to negotiate, join AAMT and "join other MTs online."

From Juanita Reames, Seattle, juanitar@u.washington.edu:
Thanks for reviewing my article in Perspectives on your website. I really appreciate it. I would appreciate hearing any feedback from readers. You may give out my e-mail address to any MT who would like to contact me with comments or questions.
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