I recently spoke with someone who has been transcribing for 30 years, and she talked about having started with a typewriter! I can't even imagine doing this job on a typewriter, though that's how I learned to type as well. Anyway, it got me thinking about real productivity. I sometimes wonder whether all the tweaking I do with IT (and now Active Words too) is worth the time it takes, so I finally did a test and thought I'd share the results.

I transcribed the same 5-minute report under three different circumstances. I chose the report (one from yesterday) based on having pretty much every standard paragraph in a discharge summary and especially having labs, which tend to slow me down. In test #1, I didn't use Instant Text at all. I actually felt very clumsy and started to type some of my most commonly used shorts automatically, but I managed to stop that after a paragraph or so. In test #2, I used Instant Text at about my normal level, but I didn't add any new abbreviations at all. I didn't try to go for maximum IT usage--just reasonable IT usage. In test #3, I used IT and aimed for maximum usage, and I added abbreviations on the fly with the timer still running where ever I came to a phrase that I might use again.

Here are the results:

Test 1 with no IT: Total minutes to transcribe-12:29, WPM-38, LPH-273, IT Productivity Increase-0%,
Test 2 with IT at normal level: Total minutes to transcribe-10:22, WPM-46, LPH-332, IT Productivity Increase-58%
Test 3 with IT at max with new shorts: Total minutes to transcribe-15:17, WPM-31, LPH-223, IT Productivity Increase-93%

Here are my conclusions:
1. Some things surprised me. For example, I type a lot faster than 46 wpm if I'm just typing, but some of that was waiting for the dictator.
2. Test 2 shows me that the approximate 60 lph increase with IT is definitely worth it, but the process of forever entering new abbreviations sure slows that down a lot--so much that, in some sense, it's not worth it. I think the reality is probably somewhere between test 2 and test 3 since I do constantly enter new shorts, but I do it far more at the beginning of each work day when I have more energy and tend to stop entering so much as the day wears on and I do too. There's also the fact that IT will certainly save wear and tear on the wrists as the years go by as well as the brain.
3. I also discovered that I didn't actually know how to spell a couple of the drugs that I always grab from IT. Hm.
4. I absolutely never transcribe this fast in real life over the course of a day, so what's happening to the rest of the time? Maybe I should just go

Interesting post. Sometimes I think not to add something on the fly, then it turns out the dictator will use it 5 times further on in the report. Sometimes, I think I've been transcribing for years w/o that in IT - why waste time adding it now?

Thank you for taking the time to "investigate" this. Something to keep in mind. Maybe in the mornings when I'm totally fresh, I should type and not add anything. Take advantage of the fresh brain and fresh fingers and just go. Later as I slow down, maybe start adding things. Or maybe vice versa, I'll just have to play with it and see which way works best for me.

I replied on the first post you made. There are 3 separate listings for this post.

Thanks Georgia. I'm so sorry for the multiple posts. I can't figure out a way to delete them. I kept getting a "page cannot be displayed error" when I tried to post, but it turns out they were posting anyway. Harrie? Can the extra copies be deleted?

Thank you for making this experiment. I guess there is no doubt that an expander helps to get the lines done faster and with less stress on our hands. But as you say, you are not only spending time typing and expanding, but adding to your glossaries.

I know it is very tempting to add on-the-fly and I would never say: "Don't do it!" :-)

Have you tried to use the Enrich feature? It is a quick way to get the new words and phrases into your glossary when you don't have the patience to wait to have enough text to compile.

Compiling glossaries is the best way to save more of the time you spend adding manually. And the bonus will be the continuations.

Marianne

I still add on the fly, but I also add to the Enrich glossary. The Enrich or E101 as I call it, will get the whole sentence and then I edit that down to what I want. The continuations come with it. Every six months, I do a compilation of the previous six months work. By the time I have that edited down to what I want and add it, I have already added a large number of shorter phrases to my glossary by including the E101 and any other Enrich glossaries I may have ready. In this manner I gain the continuations, which greatly help with speed.

Just my two cents worth.

J

Although these are interesting numbers, I note that they are totally based on speed. If I were to transcribe my dictations with a total focus on speed, I'd not only get done faster, but I could easily prove that my expander increases my speed a fair amount; I can insert the text as fast as they dictate, without worry about typos. In fact, I'm often waiting for them to decide what to say before I hit the insert key.

Expanders also ensure accuracy -- once added (after making sure of spelling), medications and terms are always spelled correctly. As I have the luxury of a job where I can focus on accuracy and fixing grammatical and sentence construction errors, some of my time goes there, as well.

Then finally, let's add in the decreased wear and tear on one's hands and wrists -- after working on computers for over 30 years, that is a very important consideration for me. It should be an important consideration for those just beginning, as well.

Autumn, you're right, and my everyday work doesn't go like that at all. I actually spend a considerable amount of time researching some new (to me) term or proving that what I think I hear is accurate, so my experiment certainly has its limits, but it was interesting to see that IT is definitely worth it, and the reasons you mention are certainly part of what makes it worthwhile.

Marianne, I actually quit using the Enrich feature and even compilations in IT. I still get good continuations, though I have no idea how that works, but I would often have my advisories filling up with things I'd never use with the compilations. Maybe I'm missing something there.