Virgule

A virgule is a punctuation mark “/”. It is also called a diagonal, separatrix, shilling mark, stroke, slant, or forward slash.

Ø   In dates, the month, date, and year are separated by virgule, mostly in demographics.  For example:

ADMISSION DATE: 01/01/2006 (MM/DD/YYYY)

DATE TRANSCRIBED: 01/02/2006 (no space before or after virgule)

Ø   Sometimes a virgule is used to separate two terms to give choice between two entities.  For example:

      The patient will be seen by his neurologist and/or psychiatrist.

Ø   The virgule is also used to separate the numerator and denominator in fractions.  For example: 4/10

The wound measured approximately 2-1/4 inch.

Ø   In numeral expressions, virgule is also used to express “over”.  For example:

The strength was 3/5 in all 4 extremities (transcribed).

The strength was three over five in all four extremities (dictated).

Similarly, there was a grade 3/6 systolic ejection murmur over the precordium (transcribed).

There was grade three over six systolic ejection murmur over the precordium (dictated).

Ø   A virgule is used to represent the word “per” when both entities are units of measure and have a numeric quantity with them. For example:

10 gm per liter (dictated)

10 gm/L (transcribed)

Ø   A virgule is used to express terms having duality but referring to the same entity.  For example:

The patient will be seen by his hematologist/oncologist.