Medical Transcription Errors That Can Cost Your Practice and Clients

Medical transcription is one of the most important aspects of the Canadian healthcare industry. From helping draft clinical notes to writing medico-legal reports, medical transcribers form a crucial part of the medical field. However, one wrong move on the part of the medical transcriber and you end up with a malpractice lawsuit for compromising on the health of your patients.

As a medical practitioner, it’s helpful for you to be aware of some of the common medical transcription errors that can occur. This way, you can prevent any grave consequences by nipping these medical errors in the bud.

Numerical Errors

Numbers are one of the most crucial details in the healthcare industry. Because, how else are you going to determine the correct quantity of the dosage as a practitioner without the availability of numbers?

As a medical practitioner, you might be aware of the onus that lies on determining the correct numeric values. Even the slightest mistake on the part of the transcriber from 30 ml to 3 ml and you end up with a lawsuit and a patient with worsening health! Therefore, make sure to repeat the numerical amount to the transcriber. This way any chances of numerical error occurring would be eliminated.

Similar Sounding Words

A proper medical treatment lies at the core of accurate diagnosis. This is because proper diagnosis enables you as a medical practitioner to prescribe the right course of treatment for your patients. But the accuracy of your diagnosis can easily be thrown out of the window, with similar sounding words.

Therefore, when words such as “appose/oppose” or “apophysis/epiphysis,” etc. are read out without clarification, there’s a possibility of them being recorded wrongly by the transcriber. And when that happens, you can end up with either a failed or delayed medical diagnosis on your part as a practitioner. To avoid inaccurate transcription, make sure to clarify which word you’re referring to the transcriber.

Grammatical and Spelling Errors

Grammatical and spelling errors are usually common when discussing medication and equipment brand names. Even small errors like incorrect hyphenation and capitalization can lead to major consequences for you as a practitioner.

So, for instance, even if you pronounce a word correctly, there’s a possibility that the transcriber might jot it down wrong. This usually happens if the transcriber’s medical knowledge is not as dependable.

This results in incorrect words being jot down regarding the medication’s brand names, etc. All of this can eventually lead to treatments that a patient doesn’t even need in the first place! You can avoid this by taking a moment to specify to the transcriber what you mean, so as to ensure you’re on the same page.

To avoid the consequences of incorrect medical transcription, get in touch with Spectra Scribe. We offer high-quality IME medical transcription services to clients in Canada and ensure no transcription error is taken lightly.

For more details on our IME transcription services, contact us today.