QUICK TIPS TO AVOID ERRORS

 Verify demographic information: Before moving to the editing or transcription process, be sure
all demographic information is correct: patient name, date of visit, work type, signing clinician,
cc names, etc.
 Mental image: As you’re editing/transcribing, form a mental image of the patient. This will help
you focus and stay engaged in the report and help prevent pronoun (he/she) errors.
 Context: Check for context as you transcribe, e.g., a male would not receive IVF; a female would
not have a PSA lab test.
 Proofread: Take 30 seconds before you submit and do a focused “power proofread” for each
report. Proofread the report “backwards” by reading each paragraph from last to first, to break
up the flow so that the eye can better catch any errors or discrepancies. (If you submit 30
reports in a day, this will only add 15 minutes to your day.)
 Verify terms: Use www.OneLook.com online dictionary to look up spellings & definitions. There
is an excellent wildcard search if you can only make out part of the word(s). Click on this link to
pull up the handout on OneLook from ENRICH:
https://learning.nuance.com/Files/NTS%20Shared/Resources/Onelook%20Online%20Dictionary
%20Search.pdf
 Verify dosages: Use a reliable website such as www.drugs.com and www.pdr.net to verify
dosages and help prevent sound-alike numeric errors, e.g., 15 versus 50.
 Verify lab values: Use the Normal Lab Values handout in ENRICH to help prevent sound-alike
numeric errors as well as sound-alike acronym errors. Click on this link to pull up the Normal
Lab Values handout in ENRICH: https://learning.nuance.com/Files/Normal%20Lab%20Values.pdf
 Verify acronyms: Use www.medilexicon.com to research acronyms and help prevent sound-
alike letter errors, e.g. IVF versus IBS.
 Homonyms: Be careful of words that sound the same/are very similar. Check the meaning to
ensure you have selected the correct term. Click on this link to pull up the sound-alike reference
in ENRICH: https://learning.nuance.com/#/courses/course/3d66b518-43e5-48fd-8cf3-
e275fa605b56
 Zoom: Enlarge your screen to make the text larger. An easy way to do this with is with Control +
mouse scroller wheel. This makes typos and errors more obvious and helps to prevent eye
strain.
 eScription Only: Turn off Skip Silences feature to prevent word clipping or word cutoffs.

ERROR EXAMPLES
Here are some examples of errors that would be avoided by following the above recommendations:
ERROR TEXT
Patient placed on a cycle of beer. Patient placed on acyclovir.
Pterodactyl reduction of the
shoulder
79-year-old female with IVF
is a very pleasant 34-year-old
gentleman, who
Nuance Communications, Inc.
CORRECTED TEXT TIP USED & COMMENTS
Context: Always read every
word of a SR draft so sound-
alike errors don’t get sent
through to the customer.
Context: Always read every
word of a SR draft so sound-
Active reduction of the shoulder
alike errors don’t get sent
through to the customer.
Context, acronyms: An
elderly woman would not be
79-year-old female with IBS
a candidate for in-vitro
fertilization.
Demographics: Look at the
is a very pleasant 74-year-old
patient’s date of birth to
gentleman, who
avoid age errors.
May 10, 2017
 ERROR TEXT CORRECTED TEXT TIP USED & COMMENTS
Dosages: Restoril is
available in the following
dosages: Cap: 7.5 mg, 15 mg,
22.5 mg, and 30 mg. There is
Restoril 50 mg Restoril 15 mg no 50-mg dose of that
medication, so that cannot
be what was dictated.
Always leave a blank if
unsure.
Lab values: See Normal Lab
Values in ENRICH. The
normal values for MCV are
78 to 98. A value of 10.6 too
MCV slightly high at 10.6; platelet MCV slightly high at 102.6; far outside the normal
count 249,000. platelet count 249,000. range. A value of 102.3 is
slightly high, since it just a
bit above the normal range.
Always leave a blank if
unsure.
Context: The cornea is part
The right fallopian tube was The right fallopian tube was of the eye, nowhere near
identified and grasped identified and grasped the fallopian tubes. The
approximately 3 to 4 cm from the approximately 3 to 4 cm from the dictator is referring to the
right cornea. right cornu. uterine cornu, or the "horns
of the uterus."

Nuance Communications, Inc. May 10, 2017