Centralised Digital Dictating System
Medical Transcription Services (MTS, located on the 1st floor,
SEB) types outpatient dictation into letters for sending to
external customers e.g. GP's and referrers, for internal clinicians
and for the medical record.
The Centralised Digital Dictation system ("Emdat") is how the
dictation is recorded.
Ozescribe, a third party supplier of transcription services,
also types outpatient correspondence for RCH and is the
Australian distributor of Emdat.
Please contact Ozescribe on 9038 8565 or at tech@ozescribe.com.au for
further technical information or clarification of the
instructions below. The nature of this process means it is vital
that all dictaters have a current email address - either a
".rch" or another regularly used address - please contact Ozescribe
if your address changes so that communication can continue
efficiently. If you are leaving RCH or rotating to a different
Hospital, please ensure your dictation has been verified as soon as
possible after typing so that it can be sent out and that you
notify Ozescribe. If you have any questions out of hours, please
email Ozescribe at tech@ozescribe.com.au and
you will be responded to on the next business day.
Please note that access to the Digital Dictation system is
limited to medical staff and any exceptions to this rule must be
approved by Kathy Cassin, Manager HIS on x. 6106 or kathy.cassin@rch.org.au
The Team
These are the RCH Medical Transcriptionists who turn your voice
into hard copy documents;
Joan Alsford, Anne Bridle, Maree Fitzgerald (Supervisor),
Annette Gibbard, Lynne Heller, Honor Parker, Halyna Williams
and the Ozescribe staff (all based in Australia).
Dictation instructions
Pick up the telephone and dial (03) 9345 4444
(internal extension) (if this number is busy, you may
be redirected to another number in which case you can dictate as
normal but you will have to dictate your own name on
commencement.)
Enter a document type and press #
Enter the 7 digit UR number and press #
Press 2 to record, 4 to pause/stop and 5 to finish the report
and start another.
Please note, a full instruction manual will have been provided
to you, the "Quick start guide to OzeView", when you commenced
dictating.
Full instructions can also be found on your InQuiry page (once
you have logged in) under "InTouch telephone
instructions".
Please note that the RCH MTS and Ozescribe staff have a
difficult job to do. In order to improve efficiency (so that
letters get back to you and to our customers quicker) please
identify yourself
confirm the patient name
speak clearly and at a normal speaking pace
do not eat, yawn or mumble
speak into the receiver and
generally make the dictation easy to listen to.
Please try to avoid repetition and keep the dictation succinct,
our customers are much more likely to read correspondence that is
short and concise compared to rambling.
It is possible to make the correspondence "stat" however please
use this minimally as abuse of this function defeats its
purpose.
Internal referrals requiring printing
Even though all internal mail is now delivered electronically, if
you want to send a referral letter to another doctor located within
the hospital in printed format - YOU CAN!
HOW?
1. Dial 4444 as per normal to dictate your file
2. Enter your user ID
3. Enter the patient UR
THEN...
4. ENTER 333 when asked for the DOCUMENT TYPE
If you do this, they will receive a hard copy of the letter as well
as an internal electronic copy.
REMEMBER - the above is for an INTERNAL REFERRAL only NOT a regular
CC.
The Golden Rules for Dictaters
It is the intent of this service to provide an efficient
turnaround time for correspondence. This relies on four processes
being completed in a timely manner: Typing is done quickly after
dictation, dictating staff verify and update correspondence
quickly after typing is complete, correspondence is printed and
sent in a minimum number of working days and correspondence is
filed in the medical record as soon as possible after it is
received.
In order to minimise the length of time between dictation and
the correspondence being received or filed in the record, dictating
clinicians are asked to comply with the following rules of use:
Dictate clearly the recipient's (especially referring doctors)
name and address. The transcriptionist does not
have that information on hand when typing.
The correspondence should be as succinct as possible.
Letters containing phrases such as "As you already know...." only
hold up the process.
As outlined in detail below (RCH Workflow Protocol), once
typed, correspondence should be verified as soon as possible.
Delays of weeks are not deemed to be acceptable.
Be prepared with the information required for
efficient dictation prior to commencement.
Help us to help you to give good service to our
customers.
Once you have dictated
Once dictated, correspondence is typed on a strict "first in,
first out" basis, unless it has been flagged as a "stat". The
letter will then be available in OzeView for you to review. You
will be able to correct any errors or make alterations immediately
and once this is completed, the letter will be available for
sending to the recipients, both internally and externally.
It is vital that this verification process takes places in
a timely manner so that letters can be sent out as soon as
possible.
You will be able to review your correspondence from anywhere in
the world that has internet access. Unfortunately, Apple Mac's that
do not contain a dual operating system will not be able to gain
internet access for review. We apologise for this
inconvenience.
Internal "cc's" will not be printed any
more but will instead be made available to all dictating
clinicians via OzeView. This will reduce paper wastage and increase
efficiency.
There is no need for a copy to be printed and sent to
Health Information Services as this has already been sent
from MTS.
By signing off letters in a timely manner this improves the
total turnaround time for correspondence being sent to our
customers. If correspondence has not been reviewed in a timely
manner, the Head of Department is notified and one week later
printed and filed in the medical record as "not signed and not
posted".
RCH Workflow Protocol
Your transcriptions will be available online for sign
off as soon as possible after dictation. The following
process will then apply.
1. Letters will be allowed to age in physicians review folder
for a maximum of three weeks.
2. Heads of Departments will be notified of any unsigned
transcriptions when they reach three weeks old.
3. Letters will be allowed one further week to age.
4. After one month, the letter will be treated as "delinquent
and not signed".
5. Letters not signed will be printed and sent by internal mail
to the author, with a copy to your Head of Department. They will
also be printed and stamped "not signed and not posted" and placed
in the patient medical record only.
These delinquent letters will bear a preliminary watermark and
cannot be signed and posted manually. If you want them returned for
your signature and to be posted to the associate/s they are
addressed to, you will need to contact Ozescribe on tech@ozescribe.com.au or
9038 8565 with the patient name and UR number.
It is the aim of MTS to have all letters transcribed,
reviewed, edited and posted within one week of upload.
Links
www.ozescribe.com.au
www.emdat.com.au
Note
Please note that in this document, the words "letter" and
"correspondence" has been used interchangeably.