Guidelines with Blood Pressure

· Blood pressure is reported in millimeters of mercury (mmHg). But in transcription the doctor only dictates the values. In such scenario one should not use the units “mmHg”:

For example:

The blood pressure is 120/80. (In this case, since the units are not dictated, they are not transcribed.)

· When the unit “millimeter of mercury (mmHg)” is dictated, it should be transcribed without a space.

For example:

The blood pressure is 120/80 mmHg.

· A virgule is used to separate the systolic and diastolic readings of blood pressure. Usually the dictator dictates blood pressure as 120 over 80 and it is transcribed as 120/80.

· All the lab values are expressed in Arabic numerals. Remember never use commas to separate the lab value from its test. They are never to be separated.

For example:

Correct: hematocrit 36.8, white count 4.8, platelets 240,000.

Incorrect: hematocrit, 36.8, white count, 4.8, platelets, 240,000.

· When a series of lab tests and their values are mentioned, the tests that are related to each other should be separated by commas and the tests not related to each other should be separated by periods.

For example:

WBC 5.1, hemoglobin 11.2, hematocrit 33.8, platelet count 240,000. Sodium 139, potassium 4.2, and bicarbonate 22.

· When there are internal commas in one entity then separate the series with semicolons.

For example:

CBC showed WBC 5.1 with 51 segs, 9 bands, 31 lymphs, 11 monos, 4eos, 3basos; hemoglobin 11.2; hematocrit 33.8; and platelets 240,000.