So please, post 'em! (For those who aren't required to put "every day" or "twice a day" - you know!

I use Instant Text and I use the single letters b for b.i.d., t for t.i.d., and q for q.i.d. I have abbreviations for p.o. q.d. and the rest too, but I'd like to know yours and your variations on this theme. If I used SH currently, I think I'd do something like \ (not exactly in common use). So:

\ = p.o. q.d.
\\ = p.o. b.i.d.
\\\ = p.o. t.i.d.
\\\\ = p.o. q.i.d.

Or maybe just \1, \2, \3, \4

I don't know, I've just been thinking about it! I'd like to see examples of what other MTs do.

I never even thought of doing shorthand abbreviates like that. What a great time saver, Harrie. Thanks!!!

I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate all the tips I have picked up on this board.

Barbara

Yeah, but I have a feeling some folks out there have even better ideas!

Thanks, Barbara! We appreciate the way you give back here, too. Lots.

OMG!!!!! Harrie. A great big howdie-doodie, wowsie-woosie, happy, happy dance, welcome back. It's just so darn good to hear from you again. The old place just ain't been the same without you.

Marti

Oh, Marti...LOL. Thank you!

This is one area where I just kept it simple:

mpot = mg p.o. t.i.d.
poth = p.o. t.i.d. (the h is there because you never know when some doc will start discussing the patient's use of a chamber pot or the mechanics of having had the spaghetti pot fall on his foot....)
tid = t.i.d.
but bidh = b.i.d (because again you never know when your patient will get in a fight because he bid two no trump when his partner was looking for four clubs)

later on I did this:
/mpot = mg p.o. t.i.d., but the slash puts in a hard space and keeps the dose and mg together.

and so on. easy to type, easy to remember when you put in a whole bunch of them at once (which I did because of reports for a nephrologist whose patients were all on about a jillion different meds -- getting rid of all those periods not only sped things up a WHOLE lot, but also took a lot of stress off my right hand!). I think /1 etc would have been too hard for my aging brain to remember when my SH was just starting to burgeon.

Incidentally, when coding the hard space and hard hyphen as ALT 0160 and ALT 0163 respectively in SH, you don`t have to use the tags feature for the ALT -- just type the code directly into the Text To Type box.

And, Harrie, it is so great to see you again! We have SO missed you!

spiff

i use po for p.o.
bid for b.i.d.

should I stop before you slap me? Yeah. I better.

I'm glad I was missed, spiff! LOL! Always a good sign!

Hey, that's neat info about the ALT codes and SH; I'm going to put that right into the Shorthand forum. Thanks!

I love your method. I don't know if I could adapt, having most of my drugs with the dosage and mg (or other) already in the abbreviation. However, many I do not, just the name of the drug. I want to change things around for myself. I'm thinking on it. Might just do it today. I'm actually leaning towards just using send keys in AHK for this.

Chad, I'm not gonna slap you! <grin> Not until you make me, that is! Fact is, I see nothing wrong with it.

Chad we think along the same lines! But I use a double letter at end if I want the abbreviation to expand out with periods....

bidd = b.i.d.
poqidd = p.o. q.i.d.

Then if I have a doctor that does not like periods I just type
bid
po qid

So there you have it....not very scientific!

Seems pretty scientific to me, how else to distinquish? Glad I don't even have to consider different docs wanting those different ways, what a pain!

Hi everyone,

Welcome back Harrie, you were truly missed!

I, too, use bid for b.i.d., tid for t.i.d., etc....

I also use bidd for twice a day and biddy for twice daily. The same for tidd for three times a day and tiddy for three times daily, qidd for four times a day and qiddy for four times daily. The pobid for p.o. b.i.d., etc., sounds like a good addition idea too.

biddy, tiddy and qiddy -- love it! I KNEW there must be something easier than 3td.
Brainstorming is a Good Thing

spiff

Carol,
There is nothing wrong with your 3td either.... in fact, I use "oad" for once a day, "2day" for 2 times a day, "3day" for 3 times a day, etc. Whatever works for you is great!

I also use the simple bid for b.i.d. etc. tad for twice a day. oad for once a day blah, blah

Newbie here...

Cheryl Flanders told me to stop in and ask questions anytime, but for now I just came by to copy and paste some of your shortcuts...

Anyhow, I figured I'd say thanks...

and try out some of your neat Emoticons...

I'll be back, but for now See Ya...

Greetings, Ken I am Holly, the Perennially Fashionably Late, obviously

The only thing I have to contribute here is my Word AutoCorrect for deleting my accidental hyphens in dosages. I have Shorthand entries for 5-mg, 10-mg, etc., and of course I sometimes miss my space bar and type 5-mg when I want 5 mg, so I use this Word AutoCorrect: -mg - = mg. How this plays out is 5-mg - becomes 5 mg. I'd be embarrassed to tell you how often I use that one.

I'm still learning my way around transcripton and Shorthand.

I use po for p.o. and tid for t.i.d. So I just type po<space>tid<comma or space> to get p.o. t.i.d., or p.o. t.i.d.

I also have entries for every usual interval like q4 for q.4 h. because of that recommended format of periods and spaces that I can never remember without looking.

I have a lot of entries for drugs that have the dose included like asp325 for aspirin 325 mg.

I do like the idea of putting the hard space between the dose and form to keep them together - it's better than having to go back and add it when the form wraps to the next line. Although it will take awhile to update ALL of my entries in SH. Thanks for the great suggestion, though.

And I'm also adding tidy for three times a day. That's one of my most comment mistakes is hearing twice a day and typing b.i.d. (years of nursing cause that linkage in my brain). So being able to change it to "twice a day" by just adding a "y" is a VERY good thing. It saves me having to go back and change something - AND seeing the second option in the suggestion window will help me remember that if I HEART "a day" I need to transcribe it.

Thanks for the great ideas.