What If?

Imagine what would happen to a hospital's records if:

• The laboratory which routinely performs electrolyte panels transposed the values for sodium and potassium on 2% of its reports.

• The laboratory which performs complete blood counts (CBCs) omitted the number of white blood cells on 5% of its reports.

• The hospital's accounting department did not record or deposit checks which arrived on Wednesdays.

Now think about what happens to information stored in a data repository when:

• Doctors routinely enter the numbers [000000] or [666666] instead of the patient's medical record number.

• Physicians who are delinquent in their dictation try coding discharge summaries as preoperative histories and physicals in the hope that their reports will move to the top of the transcriptionists' queue.

• Dictating doctors who routinely omit the patient's medical record number from their reports never bother to spell the patient's name correctly.

These problems don't just happen at other hospitals or in other communities.

These problems happen all around us. All the time.

That's why Dictation Therapy For Doctors is an attempt to administer "preventive medicine" to dictating physicians. By the time you finish this blog you will understand the compelling personal, professional, financial, and legal reasons for its publication.

Next: What Is Medical Transcription?

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