Preparing the Transcription File

Begin by preparing an appropriate file to import. Use any word processor or Notepad, which is provided free with the Windows operating system.

To ensure proper import of data, the header (first) line of each patient’s transcription should look like this: SS#:091-20-4010 DOI:3/1/04 DOS:3/2/04 MD:PAINE

where SS# is the Patient ID (which must contain the data in the Patient ID field), DOI is the Date of Injury, DOS is the Date of Service, and MD is the Staff ID on the Treatment record in SYSTOC, and BY is the SYSTOC login ID of the person doing the transcription. The BY field is optional; use it if you wish to track the user ID of the actual person doing the transcription (it can be a user from the NORIGHTS group). Otherwise, you will see the default “IMPORT” user in the Treatment History Report.

Notice there is no space between the colon (:) and the data following.

There is no set spacing between data elements, although a minimum of one space is required, and you cannot use the Tab key.

The lines after the header contain whatever you wish to say in the transcription. The last line for each patient must be <EOT> (End of Transcription) on a line by itself. You may have multiple patients in one file. The example below shows a properly formatted transcription for a single patient. If there were more patients, the next one simply begins after the <EOT> line of the previous one.

Example Patient Data to Import

SS#:091-20-4010 DOI:3/1/04 DOS:3/2/04 MD:PAINE
PATIENT: Lauretta Jones
DATE: 3/26/08
DATE of INJURY: 3/1/08
SUBJECTIVE: Patient returns for follow-up. States she is doing better.
OBJECTIVE: Exam reveals a little tenderness on the right greater than the left.
ASSESSMENT: Bilateral Tendinitis, resolving.
PLAN: We’ll continue the same restrictions for now. Will see patient back in a week.
<EOT>

The file containing all the patient transcriptions must be named properly for the import. The first part of the name must be TRN and the file type must be ASC. A useful convention is to include the date in the filename. A properly formatted name might be TRN033102.ASC for a file created March 31, 2002.

To save the files with the correct file type in Microsoft Word:

In the File menu, select Save As.
In the Save as type drop-down box, choose Plain Text (*.txt).
Type the name of the file and click Save.
In the File Conversion window, choose MS-DOS and click OK.

Navigate to the .txt file and change the file extension to .asc.

Note: Do not simply add a file extension of .asc to the existing .txt file name. You must remove the existing .txt file extension before adding the .asc extension.