Doctors every now and then
come across some very critical bloopers from medical transcriptionists. Some of
these can be downright funny! It’s common for transcription errors to creep in
for various reasons like the dictation might not be clear, too many medical
terms stuffed in, or misunderstanding at the transcriptionist’s end. Medical
transcriptionists vary in experience and skill and may not be well versed with
some medical terms. Here is a compilation of some very funny transcription
mistakes you could note to avoid being on the receiving end of the laughter!
· "Eyes and nose continue
to be within normal limits" (I & O).
· "History of sick as hell disease"
(sickle cell)
· "She was a bitch and
grinned" (a bit chagrined).
· "The last day the patient took
their meds was for beaver." (forever).
· “49 year old occasional male”(Caucasian
male).
· “Borderline respectable
pancreatic cancer”. (Resectable).
· “Patient is alert and oriented,
sedated on Propofol”. (alert and oriented as well as sedated?)
· “Pt was successfully intubated with
a kaleidoscope”.
· “Rectal exam revealed a normal size
thyroid”.
· “The baby was delivered, the cord
clamped and cut, and handed to the pediatrician, who breathed and cried
immediately”.
· “The lab test indicated abnormal lover
function” (Liver).
· “The patient was discharged with Homo
Two.” (Home O2, i.e. oxygen)
· “We consulted the psycho team"
(psych OT, i.e. occupational therapy)
In Extremis – That’s a Good One!
It’s often seen that
physicians use the Latin term “in
extremis” to mean “at the point of
death”. Most transcriptionists won’t know this as the term doesn’t fall
under conventional medical terminology and is rather a medical term-of-art. So
make sure you don’t transcribe “…when brought to the ICU, I found the patient
to be in extremis” as “…when brought
to the ICU, I found the patient to be an extremist”!
Transcriptionists sometimes make
numeric mistakes which can be deadly. Exactly how much medicine is administered
to a patient is extremely crucial and while transcribing, make sure you never
misinterpret the dosage. In 2010, a woman died after a 30 times higher dosage
of blood thinner was administered to her! Not funny though, but transcription
is a fairly responsible profession.
Care should also be given for
similar sounding words such as hypertension and hypotension, colostrum and
claustrum, dysphasia and dysphagia, etc. Also make sure you don’t mix up
homophones, which are same words with different meanings and spellings.
Examples include ilium and ileum, radicle and radical, plural and pleural, etc.
Making an error in case of such words can completely change the meaning of the
report or the diagnosis. Some heavily accented doctors may make the
transcription job difficult, but in case of doubt, it is always important to
clarify with the physician or leave the field blank and bring it to his notice.
Do share with us your experiences,
grim or funny. Maybe others will get something to learn from them!
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