It is claimed that potentially life-threatening medical terminology transcription errors are creeping into medical letters that are being transcribed by secretaries in India
It is also possible that the use of computer spell checkers is leading to some words being replaced by unlikely ones. In one example, the drug “Lansoprazole”, used to treat stomach ulcers, was transcribed as the popular holiday resort “Lanzarote”.
In another case, “phlebitis (vein inflammation) left leg” was changed to “flea bite his left leg”. And a “below knee amputation” was transcribed as “baloney amputation”. One note referred to a patient’s “cute angina” instead of “acute angina”. “Euston station tube malfunction” should have read “Eustachian tube malfunction”.
The problem is that most employers in the UK today find that many young British people cannot spell medical terminology words correctly.
It is important that all staff, clinical and non-clinical are given medical terminology training so that medical terminology transcription errors do not occur in the future.