CanScribe Blog
Welcome to CanScribe's blog. Below you can select from a wide variety of our categories, or search through all of our blog posts at the bottom!
- All
- Administrative Assistant
- Blog
- Career Development
- Clinical Documentation Improvement Specialist
- Company News
- Computers
- Events
- General News
- Health
- Hipster Content
- Just Food
- Just for Fun
- Lifestyle
- Medical Terminology
- Medical Transcription
- News
- Podcast
- Press Release
- Testimonials
- Tips and Tricks
- Uncategorized
- Virtual Assistant
- Virtual Scribe
- Work from Home
Every medical transcriptionist from time to time wonders how to increase their work production and pay check. Your MTSO (employer) may give you a minimum line count to meet, and fulfilling that requirement sooner may free up your schedule for the rest of the day. Here are a few tips that our MT instructors have found helpful over the years to increase their productivity and accuracy - whether you worked as an independent contractor or employee for a hospital or clinic. 1. Save your keystrokes Invest in a good word expander. Word expanders are programs that allow you...
As we all know, Medical Transcriptionists absolutely depend on their computers. It can be extremely frustrating to try to work on a computer that isn't running properly! Keeping a good maintenance program and regularly cleaning your computer can help keep it running fast, and will allow you to work more productively. If you’re having major problems with your computer, you should place a call to the manufacturer or bring it in to be serviced. But first, a little technological cleaning may put the hum back in your hard drive. Get rid of clutter
Dear prospective student, Study Online? What should I expect? Is it hard or easy? What if I need help? How am going to juggle a full-time job and school? These are just some of the questions I asked myself when I was looking into CanScribe Career College. I took the time to get answers to my questions and am I ever glad that I did. CanScribe Career College Medical Transcriptionist training is one of the best things I have done for myself in a long time!
The holiday season can be an extremely difficult time to motivate yourself to study. As if keeping yourself focused under everyday pressures isn't enough, try throwing holiday parties, copious amounts of food, gift shopping, and family into the mix! I am here to tell you that yes, it is possible to stay on track with your studies during the holidays, and maybe even...get ahead! Here are some ways to increase your motivation to study:
Meet Candy Klaudeman. She is a medical transcriptionist, blogger and CanScribe graduate. She loves working from her home in Regina, Saskatchewan. She is married and is the mother of 3 children and has numerous pests--oops is that a typo--cats, birds, a gecko, crickets and fish. Candy has a passion for learning, exploring, and spirituality and loves to pass on what she has learned to help others. She gives such an honest and real student perspective in her MT articles, and we wanted to share her thoughts with you!...
Your Security Responsibilities as an MT We deal a lot with the importance of confidentiality in the Professional Issues portion of our Medical Transcription course. More and more hospitals and practices in Canada and the US are adopting Electronic Health Records, but hackers are finding weaknesses in their networks and are stealing patient data. It seemed like a great time to remind students and MTs about their duty to treat the information they transcribe with the utmost care and discretion. The HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)...
I want to contact an employer. Where do I start? Contacting employers, especially big MTSOs (Medical Transcription Organizations) such as M*Modal or Nuance, can be extremely intimidating. You may already be an MT looking for employment, in which case you want to make a good first impression. Maybe you are new to the industry and are doing your research on a school (we actually put you in touch with our employers to give you the opportunity to ask them about us and our program!). Whatever your situation is for contacting them, don't burn any bridges. Make sure they get a positive, professional first impression of you, even from the first phone call.....
There are many advantages and perks to working from home. You save money on gas and auto expenses, you have a better level of comfort, and you can wear your slippers if you want. You get to be there more for your families. These are all just some of the many bonuses that a work-from-home career can offer. Challenges of working from home Many people, especially those in the transcription industry and those new to the transcription industry, like the idea of working at home. There are, however, challenges to working from home, and one of the biggest dangers is the...
Your chosen career field in Medical Transcription is unique in that much of the MT population works from home in a virtual environment. For that reason, the cover letter and resume that you construct invariably create the impression, and it could be your only chance to engage a prospective employer! It is critical that you make an outstanding first impression that will urge an employer to take a closer look. As a new graduate, you will want to take advantage of this first impression by creating a captivating cover letter and supporting resume. Tips for Writing Your Cover Letter
Medical words that sound similar (and how to deal with them) Sound-alike words can pose a challenge to transcriptionists. For example, there is a vast difference between ileum and ilium, even though they sound the same. It could be a critical mistake to type the wrong word into a medical report. The ileum refers to the distal portion of the colon while ilium refers to the superior portion of the hip bone. Using the wrong word could make the medical report very confusing and could potentially put a patient's life at risk.
Your email behavior is important. Whether you are writing an email for personal or professional use, you need to follow basic email etiquette. A poorly-written or inappropriate email has the power to sabotage your reputation with employers, colleagues, or even friends and family. Most of your communication in the medical transcription world will rely heavily on email, so pay attention to the tips below and allow your professional side to shine through! Email Address Make sure your address portrays a professional tone. Don't use an email that is childish, cute or suggestive to send work-related emails. Choose your...
Seeing Green? Your Self-Assessment Reports May Not Have Errors. When you are transcribing reports, some things you may be asking yourself (besides what is this guy saying?) might be: “How should I transcribe this date?” “Do I need to create a main heading for this section?” "How many spaces follow a period?” The answers to these and many more questions can be found in your...
Mad Gab for Transcriptionists As you may know all too well, one of the hardest things about transcription is developing the listening ear. Developing a listening ear means being able to untangle complicated dictated phrases. For Medical Transcriptionists, this means developing a listening ear for the language of medicine. Almost all of the words that you are trying to untangle are brand new to you...
Quick Plural References for Healthcare Documentation Specialists Wouldn't it be just fantastic if all we had to do with a word to make it plural would be to add a simple "s" at the end? Unfortunately, it isn't that simple...there are a lot of grammar rules in the English language, and medical words complicate things even more! Fortunately, there are many resources to help Medical Transcriptionists, including the Book of Style. Below is a summary of the common rules and exceptions that you will come across in your MT career.
The BOS is often called the ‘Bible’ of transcription rules and styles. Something I have noticed, in both chat and with practicum students, is that many students don’t use the Book of Style for Medical Transcription (BOS). Many aren’t even sure what is being talked about when it is brought up. I’d like to help you become a little more familiar with what it contains and how it can help you be a better transcriptionist. The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI), who publishes this style guide describes it as “streamlined and strategically reorganized flow of critical data, enhanced explanation of standards and practical application, robust examples taken from clinical medicine settings, and so much more.” Heavy....
Most of us know how to send an email in Microsoft Outlook. But do you really know how to use those other features and functions that Outlook provides? Proficiency in Outlook is a must in the corporate world today, and Outlook amateurs will find themselves scrambling to get caught up on their skills! Let’s say a co-worker sends you and the other management staff an email about the sales team, and you would like to set a meeting about it. Microsoft Outlook allows you to reply to the email message with a meeting request, without forcing you to leave your inbox and open your Calendar. When you respond to a message with Meeting Reply, a meeting request is created with everyone who was on....