FILLING IN THE BLANKS ONLINE RESEARCH FOR MEDICAL

TRANSCRIPTION

Laurie Monks, CHDS

Instructor, CanScribe Career College

WILDCARD SEARCHES

WHAT IS A WILDCARD SEARCH?

I can only hear part of what the doctor is saying. How might I figure this out?

Most websites accept either an asterisk or percent sign to hold

the place of any letters you don’t know (the blanks above, for

examples). These symbols will hold the place of any number of

letters on most sites. If * doesn’t work, try using % instead.

Be aware of letters that sound the

same way. If you try a search with the

letter F and nothing comes back, try

PH instead, for example.

www.mtdictionary.com

• Medical terms, phrases, and surgical tools.

www.onelook.com

• English words, medical terms

www.drugs.com

• Drug names (generic and brand), dosages, side effects

RESEARCH AND VERIFY TERMS!

SURGICAL TOOLS

www.mtdictionary.com

• Medical terms, phrases, and surgical tools.

Stedman’s eBook: Stedman’s Medical & Surgical Equipment Words

• Enter parts of a term to help find full term, capitalization.

www.medilexicon.com

• Describes what a tool is used for.

http://www.medicaltranscriptionwordhelp.com/surgical-equipment-instrument-word-list-for-medical-transcriptionists

• This has a list of surgical tools, which may help you find a term.

www.surgicaltools.com

• This is a sales site for surgical tools, but is organized by specialty with subsections on tool types. You may find what you are looking for here if you cannot find it elsewhere.

https://medlineplus.gov/surgeryvideos.html

• This site has videos of various surgical procedures along with transcripts of some of these videos.

http://www.wheelessonline.com/

• This site has a plethora of orthopedic-related information, particularly skeletal anatomy and types of fractures. Check spelling to ensure it is US or Canadian, rather than British.

BRAND NAME INFORMATION

How might I find brand name info, such as spelling or model numbers?

www.zimmerbiomet.com • Go to the official website for the brand and look

at the products available. Find the spelling and model numbers there. Capitalize brand names!

FOR EXAMPLE:

SPECIALTY INFORMATION Section 4 of the AHDI Book of Style, 3rd Edition, contains

information specific to various specialties. This includes

chapters 13 to 24. These topics range widely and cover

formatting and classification information. This

information is GOLDEN!

SOUND-ALIKE WORDS

He has a discreet mass. He has a discrete mass.

She has course breath sounds.

She has coarse breath sounds.

Book of Style Appendix C: Usage Glossary

• List of commonly mistaken sound-alike words.

www.stedmansonline.com

• Look up definitions of medical terms.

www.thefreedictionary.com

• Definitions of English and medical terms.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/

• Definitions of English and medical terms.

ABBREVIATIONS

www.stedmansonline.com

https://www.acronymfinder.com/

www.thefreedictionary.com

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/

www.medilexicon.com

http://www.stedmansonline.com/reference

LABORATORY VALUES

www.stedmansonline.com

• Reference tab > Reference Values

The dictator said the patient’s potassium is normal at 6.3. That doesn’t sound right….

https://labtestsonline.org/

• Research labs and normal range values. Information on various conditions is also available.

MEDICATIONS AND DOSAGES

WEBINAR ON STUDENT FORUM: http://canscribe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=80&t=290 ine.org/

Stedman’s eBook: Quick Look Drug Book

• Drugs listed in alphabetical order by generic names with added info regarding brand names and doses.

www.drugs.com

• Ability to perform wildcard or phonetic searches for drug names. Info provided on generic and brand names, doses, use, and side effects.

* The Quick Look Drug Book trumps www.drugs.com in the

CanScribe resource hierarchy located in the account specifics.

Verify your research.

DOCTOR OR NURSE NAMES

What can I do if a dictator gives a doctor’s name or a nurse’s name and I am unsure how to spell it?

RESEARCHING PHYSICIAN NAMES

Each province and territory should have a website for their

College of Physicians and Surgeons. These sites often provide a

search function to help you obtain a physician name, practice

location, etc.

RESEARCHING NURSE NAMES

Each province and territory should also have a similar website to

search nurses. This can be found by searching for the College of

Nurses for each province.

OTHER REGISTERED HEALTH

PROFESSIONALS

All registered/licensed health professionals

belong to a governing body (normally called a

college) and can be searched for online. This

includes:

•Chiropractors

•Registered Massage Therapists

•Physiotherapists

•Osteopaths

•Naturopathic Doctors

•Dentists

•Et cetera

What if I don’t know how to spell a first name mentioned in a report, such as the name of a patient’s relative or friend?

Try a site where parents go to look for

baby names! I like www.babynames.com!

LOCAL INFORMATION

What if I am unsure how to transcribe names of support groups, seniors’ residences, businesses, or other local or regional information?

I suggest you perform a search including the name of the

city where the patient lives. Take note of local names, such

as a seniors’ residence or the name of the local police force,

as you will hear these local references again and again!

Creating an Excel document or keeping notes in Word will

help cut down on your research time in future.

THANK YOU FOR COMING!