Typing Sense

I've just been busy proofing a transcription from a subcontractor and I amazed, shocked and appaled at the lack of sense that the report makes. Granted I had to listen to it a couple of times, which is a whole other ballgame, but please if you're typing at least read what you're typing to see that it makes some sort of sense in the context of what you are typing.

Some of my all time classics (bearing in mind that I do medical dictation) have been:

1. The person who changed gender about 5 times in the space of a dictation of 1 minute.
2. The person who had a short leg cast of his arm (now surely even with no knowledge whatsoever you can all work out what's wrong with that one).
3. The person who had a Chief Comlaint of a Right wrist fracture who had a Left short arm cast placed.

Like I say those are just a couple and are all medical related but I think you now all get the idea of what I'm talking about.

If you're a Virtual Assistant (VA) starting out in business please remember to factor in time to proof read your reports when quoting to clients.

How to Manage your Outlook Inbox with Rules

If you're finding that your inbox is becoming too cluttered and you're struggling to find your important emails then you really need to set up rules to help you manage them.

Setting up rules in Outlook is very easy, quick and will work on all the existing messages that you have already in your inbox.

There are some very simple easy steps that you need to take to set up rules:

1. Go to Tools, Rules and Alerts,
2. This will then open up another dialogue box where you select the various options to manage your messages. You can select it to work on a certain email address, a certain person or with certain words in the subject or sender email address.
3. Once there you select where you want to move the emails to, you can create a new folder from here as well.
4. Once you've set up all the rules you need/want, if you click Run Rules Now, and this will process all of the existing emails in your inbox.
5. Once complete click OK and all future emails will be sorted out according to the rules you've created.

New Virtual Assistants and there cashflow crisis

As a new Virtual Assistant (VA) you willl often have problems with cash flow until you're up and running and making a regular income.

As a new VA though, when you take on your first few clients and until you have built up a relationship with them it might very well be worth asking for anywhere between 50 and 100% upfront for the work that you are due to undertake. While this may seem stiff it is a lifesaver for many a VA.

While not guaranteed a client who has to part with some or all of their money to get a project off the ground are likely to be more reliable to work with than one who is concerned about paying you anything upfront.

The main thing though is to trust your instincts and if something doesn't seem right about a Request for Service then before you get involved in the nitty gritty of preparing a quote why not run it past some more experienced VAs and see what they have to say, they may well have had dealings with the perspective client and be able to give you some good feedback on them.

The humble apostrophy and its uses

Following on from my post the other week, I see that the UK and Australia are talking about removing apostrophies from the language as it's too hard for children to learn the rules.


I personally find this quite a shocking state of affairs. The rules for apostrophies really aren't that hard to remember and follow.

Firstly, there is the apostrophy when letters are missed out when words are combined, ie. cannot becomes can't, will not becomes won't, it is, becomes it's. Note that the apostrophy is used in each case where the letters are missed out and nowhere else.

The second rule, whcih granted is harder (but not really all that much) is for them to show possession, i.e. the boy's ball means the ball belonging to the boy. However the boys' ball means the ball belonging to the boys.

Incorrectly placed apostrophies can dramatically change how the sentence reads and means. Please take the time to use them correctly after all it really isn't that hard.While this is very plainly put and I'm sure if you want to take the issue a bit further than have a look at this website which goes into greater detail about the use of apostrophies.

Admin Processes

Sorry, I haven't posted for a couple of weeks, but I've been busy updating my website.
While the aim of a Virtual Assistant (VA) is to provide office support to others in many forms of admin, it's very important that the VA doesn't forget abou their own admin policies and procedures.

If as you are starting out you create a plan for your admin processes, i.e. you invoice your clients on 25th of the month, you spend an hour a day marketing, and half an hour a day filing etc, then as you business grows and expands those policies will be easy to maintain and keep you on top of the all essential admin.Your clients won't be very impressed if they get invoiced on 20th this month, 30th next month and anytime in between the third month, it just shows that you are incapable of staying on top of your own admin procedures.

While filing may not be the thing you really enjoy doing, if you don't keep on top of it on a regular basis you will find yourself swamped under paper and unable to lay your hand on that vital file when your client requires it.

While the procedures should not be carved in stone they should at least be a start point for you to work from, as and when you get busier.

Converting Analogue to Digital Files.

Following on from my last post about the benefits of digital transcribers over analogue, I thought this would be an appropriate next post.

 

If you have received an analogue file it is possible to convert it to digital.

 

For this you will need a couple of things:

1. A line-in or microphone jack on your computer or laptop.
2. A dictaphone capable of playing the tape.
3. A suitable recording program, ie Wavepad from NCH (www.nch.com.au), or one of the many other programs that is capable of recording digital audio.
4. Lastly, and by no means least, what potentially can be the most important, and yet least expensive, peice of equipment, an audio cable that is capable of plugging into the headphone socket of the dictaphone and into the line-in/microphone port on your computer.

Once you have assembled all the items and plugged the audio cable into your computer and dictaphone you are ready to go.

 

The first thing to do is under the recording options of the software ensure that the recording program is using the appropriate setting for where the audio lead is plugged in. Once this is sorted, then you can press record on the recording software and press play on the dictaphone. Wtih Wavepad, as I'm sure happens with the other packages, you will be able to see the sound volume moving up and down the scale as the file is converted to digital.

Once completed, save the file. The format that you save in will have an effect on the size of the file so you might want to experiment with them to see what gives you the smallest file without loosing quality.

 

The file is now ready to be sent on to your transcriptionist or sub-contractor to work on.

Digital versus Analogue Dictation

This is often a hotly debated as to which is better, especially in South Africa where the costs of digital recorders are still quite high. From the transcriptionist's point of view however there is no real contest, if we had our way it would all be digital.

Why I hear you ask, well the answer is simple. The pros of using analogue dictation are mainly that the cost of the dictaphones are quite inexpensive. The cons however are many. The most traumatic for any transcriptionist is the faulty tape. this could be anything from the tape has stretched, broke, twisted or any of the other problems that tape is prone to. When this happens there is very little that can be done to retrieve the dictation. If you take into account that if you use your tapes often at least once, if not more a week, then they ideally should be replaced yearly the relatively low costs of an analogue dictaphone are no longer so cheap.

Also with analgoue dictation, for the quickest turnaround the dictator and transcriptionist ideally need to be in quite close proximity.

The cons of the digital dictaphone can be that they appear cost prohibitive, especially for the new up and coming business owner that wants to take advantage of them. The pros however are vast. The chances of loosing a dictation are usually pretty slim, unless you actually manage to delete it off the dictaphone yourself, therefore you won't have the problem of having to redictate letters. The transcriptionist can be and sometimes are located anywhere in the world. As long as the dictator and transcriptionist have access to one of the following (and this is just a basic list) then they can easily send the dictation and the finished work anywhere in the world), email, internet access, or FTP server. Obviously email is not necessarily secure but there are many websites that offer secure (meeting HIPPA security requirements in the US) file transfer.

Digital files can be quite large depending of the file format but they very often can be reduced in size iwth a little bit of experimenting with file formats.

Therefore, if you are interested in having work transcribed and you want to receive the best possible product then to be honest there is nothing better than going with the digital option.

Spelling and Grammar

It seems to be a trending topic this week in the circles I'm in about grammar and spelling. So I thought I'd air my pet peeve as well.


There is nothing worse to me than receiving an e-mail that is so badly worded and with the incorrect use of grammar. I do understand that while English is the most commonly spoken language in the world that a number of its speakers are either second or third language English speakers. However with today's computers and the internet there really is no need for bad spelling and grammar. In fact those e-mails I get with incorrect grammar just confirm to me that the person has no consideration for what they are doing or who will end up reading their e-mail.

The classic for me was an e-mail I received for a business from China looking to get one of my clients to use their services. The opening paragraph of the e-mail reads as follows "We are a facotry about 300 workers.We have a long-standing experience in all kinds of knitting, & printing in all washes, designs, constructions & specifications. Like T-shirt, polo shirt ,singlet ,kid's wear, sleepwear, casual wear and sports wear."

Now firstly any decent spell checker would/should have picked up that "factory" is incorrectly spelt. Then can someone please explain how they can get some of the commas right and then mess up on some of them as well. What does that say to me, and this doesn't matter what language you speak, it says that you didn't even bother to read what you had typed or you would have picked up the grammar errors at the very least.

If you are not comfortable in the ability of your English when having business dealings then why not consider hiring a VA who can at the very minimum proof the file to make sure that the grammar is correct. Also please always remember to use your spell checker.

What is going to happen to the e-mail I mentioned above, well it went straight into the Deleted Items folder never to see the light of day again.

Hiring a Virtual Assistant to Help the Medical Practice

A VA can be great for your business if you choose the right one. Likewise, a bad VA can be very bad for your business.

If you are bogged down with the nitty gritty stuff of running your business and finding that you're just not getting the time to grow your business then consider a VA.

When searching for a VA for your business there are many different things you can try.

You can try searching on the internet for virtual assistant, if you add in your field of expertise then hopefully you'll get a much smaller collection to choose from but they should be specialists in their /your field of business.

Alternatively, you can ask your friends and colleagues for word of mouth referrals. While this is a good way to get a referral you do run the risk that the VA you are referred to knows nothing about your business.

An important aspect to remember is that a VA is a business owner in their own right and they are not going to be willing to clock in and out iwth you every day, so long as they meet the deadlines that you set.

If the worst comes to the worst and either you or your VA do not feel that the business relationship is working well then you may well want to cut ties and start again. If you find yourself in this situation ask your VA for a referral as they might know someone who is better suited to the job.

By the same token if your VA approaches you about referrring you on to another VA this may well be because the new VA is better skilled in your area of expertise.

Don't get put off if you have a bad experience the perfect VA is out there waiting for you.

Busy Doctors

I am fortunate to have met and deal with some very nice pleasant and helpful doctors in both my line of work as well as personally through my children and family. The one thing that does facinate me though is the degree of care and attention some of them put into their practices compared to others.

I know a paediatrician for instance types his own letters. Why you might ask, well his secretary/receptionist is very busy. He thought about voice recognition software (VRS) which he trialed for a period of time. He then came to the conclusion that even slowly as a two finger typist he was better than the VRS and that by using it, it actually took him longer to do the letter than if he just typed it in the first place.

Now, I can fully understand that having trialed some VRS myself. My question though is "Isn't his time much more valuable than to be spending it typing".

Often the person or people employed in a doctor's office while they have the secretarial skills etc necessary might not have the necessary medical knowledge to make it worthwhile for the doctor to give them the work to type, hence why they type their own work.

This is where the services of a medical transcriptionist comes in very handy. While certainly not a doctor they are highly skilled language specialists with a clear interest in medical terminology and advances that are being made in the medical field.

If you think your type is too precious to be spent typing letters or reports then why not consider hiring a medical transcriptionist.

If you are interested or would just like to discuss the matter further please feel free to call us, or visit our website.

Working From Home is easy Right!

You've decided that you think working from home would make you life easy, well you'd think so but you would be wrong. You would be amazed at the number of people who think that because you work from home you don't really work. You'll have the friend who stops by unannouced for coffeedbecause they're on leave for a day/week. The neighbour who doesn't understand why something hasn't been done that they spoke to you about urgently this morning. The friend who asks you to go on a shoppingspree with them, and then gets upset when you explain you can't as you're working. And lastly what about the partner who asks you to do something, and rings back 5 minutes later to check if it's been done.

These are just some of the external challenges you'll face if you want to work from hom. If you can be strict and set guidelines for friends and family and not let them disturb you when you're working then working from home can be wonderful. However, having gotten past those hurdles we come to the one hurdle that will sink any work at home career faster than all of the above put together. How good is your willpower. If you are easily distracted if you're at home by yourself or if there are other people about then working from home might not be for you.

A case in point, someone I worked with a while ago was "committed" to working from home and making some money. She however had no concept of self discipline for working at home. Now I'll grant you she had a young child, but there was also a full time nanny to help look after the child and keep an eye on the house. Her work would often miss deadlines and when queried upon why her standard answer was "I needed to do something" for the child. Breaking point for me was the day at 8:30 in the morning she told me she was just going off to pay a bill, at 6:0o that night when asked about the file her answer was "Well I was out with my husband until 5:30, then we got home and it was time to make supper, then her son needed to be bathed, and put to bed before she could start on it". Needless to say that the working relationship didn't last much longer, unfortunately, she took it personally and the personal friendship suffered a bit as well.

While this is an extreme case, if you have the willpower and committmentto work from home then you will find you don't get yourself into such situations. But it is certainly worth consideringbefore decidingwhether working at home is for you or not.

A couple of good ideas if you want to work from home:

1. Set rules about your workings hours. Yes they can be flexible but you do need to have some idea. It's also good for if you have clients to remind them of your hours so that you can actually have some family time.
2. Think about getting dressed in the morning before starting work. I don't mean getting dressed in office clothes but at least get up and get out of your PJ's, it's amazing what an effect that it will have on your mind set.
3. Don't run errands as they occur but rather try and keep them so that you can run them all together and save you time in the long run.

Help for a Doctor's Office

I find that in my dealings with the medical profession I am constantly amazed at how much money seems to be wasted on employing staff/services that do not work.

When your secretary goes on leave and you hire the temp from the Agency who apparently has all the necessary skills what do you do when you find out that they don't. I've had dealings with professionals who have actually resorted to typing their own reports as the temp that was supposed to help cover for their secretary just couldn't/wouldn't get her head round the dictaphone machine and heaven help them if she was given copy typing to do.

Any of you had your secretary come back from holiday and after a week say she needs another break as she's just spent the last week fixing all the mistakes made by the temp.

Does any of this sound familiar to you. If so why not contact Mediscribe and see how we can help you next time you have a problem and need cover for your secretary.

What is a Medical Transcriptionist

I often get asked about what I do and when I explain that I'm a a Medical Transcriptionist  I then get asked what on earth one of those is. So here goes.

An MT as defined by the AHDI is "Medical transcriptionists (MTs) are specialists in medical language and healthcare documentation. They interpret and transcribe dictation by physicians and other healthcare professionals regarding patient assessment, workup, therapeutic procedures, clinical course, diagnosis, prognosis, etc., editing dictated material for grammar and clarity as necessary and appropriate."Basically they are responsible for transferring the doctor's written or dictated notes into a correctly typed and accurate account of the doctor/patient encounter. The accuracy part is highly important as errors in the record can and have lead to incorrect surgery being performed.

That said, the work is very interesting and constantly challenging as there are new things to learn every day. Just went you think you are getting a handle on it someone comes along and changes the boundaries. It's the joy of working in a constantly changing and developing scientific world. The day I am bored typing medial work is the day that I know I need to seriously change profession
If you want to find out more about medical transcription then go to

www.ahdionline.org This is the home of The Association of Healthcare Documentation Integrity which used to be called the American Association of Medical Transcriptionists. While it is an American site and mainly geared towards the American, it is a good place to get an overview of what is needed to be a Medical Transcriptionist.

The Medical Transcriptionist along with most other VA type work can now quite comfortably be achieved at home thereby reducing the costs of having to have space for office staff to type the work. The advent of digital voice recorders has improved this immensely as the turn around time between the work being sent to be typed and the time that it gets returned has diminished greatly.
Alternatively if you want to ask me any questions please feel free to do so.

Secretarial Assistance

Has your secretary been booked off work sick and youve hired a temp.

You've given them some typing to do for you and you've now spent the last two hours correcting the work, you're now wondering how long your secretary is going to be off and how long you can hold onto the typing before you have to give the next batch to the temp.

Why not instead try a VA. We offer secretarial and transcription services and are highly skilled professional administrative personnel.

If your field of business has it's own set of terminology chances are if you hire a temp from an agency they are just going to send you however is next on the list and not bother to see what skill sets you require. Also what you pay the agency is never what the temp gets paid.

When you hire a VA you pay precisely for the services you want. You don't line someone else's pocket while you have to spend time "training" a temp that by the pure nature of what they do will only be there for a short period of time. After all the other choice is that you spend hours correcting everything that they've already done and if that's the case why have them their at all.

Next time you need temporary, short term or emergency cover why not try using a VA instead.

While VA's normal work from their own office, if mutually agreed upon they may well come to your office for a short period of time to help with filing etc. Then any work that they can do remotely from their office they will take and do for you.

So like I say why not give a VA a try next time you need a temporary short term solution to your admin crisis.