Tools of the Trade: Scanner Pen

[happyhappyhappa]

Happy Friday, SDN Friends!
I hope that you are having a fantastic day!

My current practicum site and internship placement for next year is in a neuropsych setting, and I have poured the better part of my week working on a neuropsych evaluation.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think neuropsych reports are super fun, but the most UNFUN thing in the world to me is reporting my review of volumes of medical records.
This current patient came with 3 boxes full of records, and typing my review of each visit has resulted in the consumption of 2 boxes of thin mints and a (shamefully large) bag of Angie's Sweet and Spicy Popcorn.

Noting my distress and rather down mood, my wonderful mother suggested that I look into a pen scanner that will allow me to scan important passages of the record into a Word Document, where I can edit it.
(Genius, huh?)
Better yet, she told me that she would be happy to purchase it for me as an early birthday gift.
I was wondering if anyone has experience with these pen scanners and could suggest a good one.
Also, I can't think of any legal or ethical violations (I normally just quote the medical doctor, anyway), but are there any pitfalls that I should be aware of?

I am also wondering- what other toys or tools have you discovered that make your life as Psychologists (or Psychologists to Be) easier?
If money were no object, what gift would you give yourself?

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[MBellows]

I am also wondering- what other toys or tools have you discovered that make your life as Psychologists (or Psychologists to Be) easier?
If money were no object, what gift would you give yourself?

Heh. Our practice utilizes a great tool, social history writers.

 

[VAneurodoc]

Happy Friday, SDN Friends!
I hope that you are having a fantastic day!

My current practicum site and internship placement for next year is in a neuropsych setting, and I have poured the better part of my week working on a neuropsych evaluation.
Now, don't get me wrong, I think neuropsych reports are super fun, but the most UNFUN thing in the world to me is reporting my review of volumes of medical records.
This current patient came with 3 boxes full of records, and typing my review of each visit has resulted in the consumption of 2 boxes of thin mints and a (shamefully large) bag of Angie's Sweet and Spicy Popcorn.

Noting my distress and rather down mood, my wonderful mother suggested that I look into a pen scanner that will allow me to scan important passages of the record into a Word Document, where I can edit it.
(Genius, huh?)
Better yet, she told me that she would be happy to purchase it for me as an early birthday gift.
I was wondering if anyone has experience with these pen scanners and could suggest a good one.
Also, I can't think of any legal or ethical violations (I normally just quote the medical doctor, anyway), but are there any pitfalls that I should be aware of?

I am also wondering- what other toys or tools have you discovered that make your life as Psychologists (or Psychologists to Be) easier?
If money were no object, what gift would you give yourself?

I typically have to complete large volume record reviews for my forensic cases. Dictation software such as Dragon Naturally Speaking is the way to go. Depending on your internship setting you may find a significant reduction in records. I would only expect 3 boxes in a forensic eval.

 

[MBellows]

Dragon Naturally Speaking is the way to go.

If you go this route, double check your entire report for grammar. DNS is really bad with phonologically similar words that may not show up on grammar check but that are somewhat embarrassing to have in a report. I'm sure you know this, just pointing it out for OP.

 

[VAneurodoc]

If you go this route, double check your entire report for grammar. DNS is really bad with phonologically similar words that may not show up on grammar check but that are somewhat embarrassing to have in a report. I'm sure you know this, just pointing it out for OP.

Great recommendation. For me, I have to do much more proofreading of my non-dictated reports since I am a terrible typist. My current Dragon version is about 90-95% accurate and saves me a lot of time.

 

[Neuropsych2be]

If you do use DNS, it has the ability to scan and adapt itself to different types of documents to improve accuracy. So if you are doing neuropsych reports, create a user file johnsmithneuropsych and have the program scan reports you done by hand. The program will adpt itself to that style of report and the result is greater accuracy. Use that user only for your neuropsych reports. If you are doing psycho educational reports create janedoweducation as a user file and have the program scan previous psychoeducational reports you have written for the site. One strength of Dragon is how it can learn a particular style and vocabulary. Dragon tends to break down (badly) when you try to use use one userfile to dictate in a wide variety of styles and contexts. You can get around that by creating different user files for different types and sttyles of dictation. Its a huge time saver for me since I am a slow and bad typist. I have nerve damage that impacts my fine motor control and Dragon has been a life saver.