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"Venostasis with left lower lobe cellulitis." (Should be leg.)
Connie Calvert, RHIA, CCS
Ridgeland, SC


From an ENT clinic, the transcription reads: "I had her go through the various bowel and consonant sounds with speech therapy."
Shelley Keebler, CCA
Tecumseh, NE

As a final diagnosis, the transcriptionist typed OBCD. The coders were having difficulty finding a code for this until someone read the chart and discovered the patient was grossly overweight and the diagnosis should have read "obesity."
Georgina Sampson
Maple Grove, MN

After struggling with an extremely difficult ESL dictator for a very long 7-minute dictation, the physician stated, "Oh, I'm sorry. The patient is dead. So, no, the patient did not improve. He worsened and died." So what to do with that long list of final diagnoses where he said that the patient's hypertension was stable and that his pneumonia was improved? Send it off to quality! That will teach him to keep his dictation current-the report was dictated months after the hospitalization happened. Not sure I would call this funny; certainly, only an MT could appreciate it.
Becky Randall
Perrysburg, OH

Dictation: "Thank you for allowing me to participate in the care of this pleasant patient."
SR: "Thank you for allowing me to escape from this particular patient."
Thelma Cripps
Conroe, TX


The history and physical on this female patient indicates, "History: COPD, breast cancer left side, osteopenis, migraines." Interesting.
Jennifer Breeden, CCS, and Karen Kopek, RHIT, CCS 
Charlottesville, VA 

"She sometimes gets slurred vision because of a problem with her tongue."
Kecia S.
Greenville, KY

"The infant's Neolithic course has been uncomplicated." (The overtired doctor meant to say "neonatal.")
Sue Budd
Monticello, UT

My favorite blooper was when a resident meant to say "peripheral blood smear" and he actually said "peripheral butt smear" instead!
Angela Foster, CCS-P
St. Louis

H&P: "Review of Systems: Patient admits to occasional headaches, hypertension, arthritis, exertional shortness of breath now especially if it is cold and windy out when she is walking in dentures."
Wanda Millahn, CCS
Ithaca, NY