How to Correct and Avoid Transposition Errors

This type of issue really calls into question the validity of whatever was said by both parties involved, so it’s best to go back and check what was actually said at least one more time before publishing it online. It’s also helpful to have an editor look over your work just in case there was a brief pause that you might’ve overlooked during transcription of words. Keep in mind that it’s not necessary for every word or phrase to be included verbatim in a transcript, but if important information is being left out then it’s best to go back and repeat what was said during transcription. There are ways to avoid this dreaded equipment failure and embarrassment.

However, translation and transcription editing softwares can catch these mistakes fairly easily so there’s no reason why this should continue to be an issue down the road. This can have an impact on the income statement and indicate inconsistent and inaccurate financial incorrect records. Moreover, the incorrect information on tax forms, shareholder reports and other accounting documents can give a false perception of fraudulent activities. Transposition errors are unintentional human errors that are common when data is entered manually and referenced from other sources. To spot the errors, find the difference between the recorded amount and the correct amount.

Overview: What is a transposition error?

Garcia-Ramos and Baldominos Utrilla described MTEs as when the medication prescription did not match with what was transcribed on the nurse’s administration form [18]. In Fahimi et al., MTEs were defined as deviations in transcription of medication orders from the previous step, this could occur on an order sheet, notes, and/or documentations in the pharmacy database [11]. Finally, Lisby et al. defined MTEs as discrepancies in the names of the drugs, their formulations, routes of administration, doses, dosing regimens, omission of drugs, or addition of drugs which were not ordered or prescribed [19].

  • Analysis of the scores obtained in the second Delphi round showed that consensus was achieved to consider further 10 scenarios as MTE situations.
  • Transcribing using the brand-name or branded-generic name was justified by the panelists as a common practice instead of a MTE.
  • Therefore, defining medication errors is a step of paramount importance in analyzing the incidence and prevalence of medication errors in a particular setting.
  • Panels used in previous studies ranged in size from 10 to over 1000 [28].
  • The 5 healthcare professionals were not included in the subsequent Delphi rounds.
  • Transcription errors occur when data (words, letters, numbers, special characters) are incorrectly entered into an information system.

However, this method increases transcription effort, time and costs because it requires more human resources. We then conducted an extensive literature review to collect all potential MTE situations [5,6,7, 11, 14, 15, 19]. It is important to note also that we formulated some potential MTE situations based on other forms of medication errors like prescribing, administration, and dispensing errors [1, 4, 8,9,10, 12, 16, 17]. Potential MTE situations were transformed into scenarios and included into a questionnaire. The questionnaire was given to 5 healthcare professionals in a pilot to assess its readability and comprehensibility.

What is the difference between a transposition error and a slide?

I get through them as fast as possible because my coworker said there are powdered doughnuts in the kitchen. Transposition errors made in the trading world are sometimes called “fat-finger trades.” In one famous example, a Japanese trader accidentally ordered 1.9 billion shares in Toyota. It is important to note that you can’t perform a translation without first having properly transcribed an audio file. You should always spell out full names when they are first introduced because it helps your reader distinguish between who is who, and if you don’t do this then people might get confused about what was said without realizing it. The quickest way to fix this is to simply play the audio as you type out your transcript, so you can immediately pick up on any missing words or phrases before they become a problem down the line.

Consensus was achieved on a definition of MTEs and scenarios representing MTEs by a panel of nurses and other healthcare professionals. This study showed that it was possible to develop and achieve consensus on a definition and scenarios representing MTE situations using formal consensus techniques. Using consensual definitions might reduce methodological variations, promote congruence in error counting and reporting, and permit comparing error rates in different hospital settings. Previous studies conducted in Switzerland, Pakistan, and Iran and showed that errors occurred at the medication transcription phase [5, 7, 11]. In a previous study conducted in Pakistan, MTEs occurred in 16.9 and 13.8% of the 6583 and 5329 medications transcribed onto inpatient profiles and discharge charts, respectively [5].

Error of Transposition

We approached and interviewed 10 key contact nurses with extensive experience in medication transcription. The key contacts were asked open-ended questions to define MTEs and provide potential MTE situations. The medication process in the Palestinian healthcare system as well as in the majority of healthcare systems in the world is still handwritten and paper-based. Based on the previous definitions of MTEs found in the literature and the definitions proposed by the key contacts interviewed in this study, a definition of MTEs was rephrased and proposed.

  • Medications are then distributed and administered to the patients concerned.
  • Though the hassle of carrying around extra equipment may be a pain, losing data because of an avoidable problem would be worse.
  • Therefore, we believe nurses are more concerned with MTEs than other healthcare professionals.
  • Other users, such as medical and legal offices, also commonly experience such errors.
  • It’s easy to catch these types of errors when you’re reading over your work because they stick out like a sore thumb, but if there are too many typos and grammatical issues then it’s best to ask an editor or proofreader to check your work over.

Upon arrival of these transcripts to the pharmacy, pharmacists dispense the corresponding volumes and doses of the prescribed medications. Medications are then distributed and administered to the patients concerned. Patients to whom medications were administered might be monitored for the therapeutic action of the medication, allergy, side effects, and/or medication’s concentration in their blood. Therefore, a medication error might take place during any phase of this multi-phase process.

Solving transcription and transposition errors

All participants are thanked for their participation is the different stages of this study. An-Najah National University is acknowledged for permitting, supporting, and facilitating the study. The WER can be calculated by adding all the insertions, deletions and substitutions occurring transposition errors in a piece of text (which contains a sequence of recognized words). The number is then divided by the total number of words in the text to derive the WER percentage. The Ascent is a Motley Fool service that rates and reviews essential products for your everyday money matters.

transposition and transcription errors