AHDI Lounge
AHDI LoungeJust For Fun: What Makes English Teachers Laugh?
I saw this on Facebook today and had to share with all my fellow language nuts...er, professionals!
Enjoy!
Jay Vance, CMT, CHP
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
WHAT MAKES ENGLISH TEACHERS LAUGH?
Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners...
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina raised gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids.
Enjoy!
Jay Vance, CMT, CHP
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
WHAT MAKES ENGLISH TEACHERS LAUGH?
Every year, English teachers from across the country can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners...
1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina raised gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids.
AHDI Appoints New CEO and COO
May 1, 2012Dear AHDI volunteers,
On behalf of the National Leadership Board, we are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer:Linda G. Brady, CAE. Many of you know Linda. She joined AHDI in September 2009 as Director of Member Relations and has been leading the organization as interim CEO since October 2011. As interim CEO, Linda has played an integral role in navigating the association through a continued period of change. She’s worked closely with the National Leadership Board on strategic and business planning to ensure that our association and members are well positioned in the evolving and shifting healthcare documentation arena.
On behalf of the National Leadership Board, we are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer:Linda G. Brady, CAE. Many of you know Linda. She joined AHDI in September 2009 as Director of Member Relations and has been leading the organization as interim CEO since October 2011. As interim CEO, Linda has played an integral role in navigating the association through a continued period of change. She’s worked closely with the National Leadership Board on strategic and business planning to ensure that our association and members are well positioned in the evolving and shifting healthcare documentation arena.
Managing not-for-profit professional and trade associations has been Linda’s passion for nearly 20 years. Prior to joining AHDI, she spent eight years at the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering as Director of Membership Development and Director of Marketing. Before moving to Tampa, Florida, Linda held positions at two Washington, DC-based associations, the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the Labor Policy Association.
Linda has been an active member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) since 1998. She earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential in 2004 and has been a contributing author and editor on ASAE publications in membership development and component relations.
At the same time, we are pleased to announce Wendy Carriegan as AHDI’s Chief Operating Officer. Wendy has served as AHDI’s interim COO for the past six months. Working in partnership with Linda and the Board, Wendy has been critical in directing, managing, and leading AHDI through our recent changes. She provides expert knowledge, skill, and oversight in finance and business operations for the association. Based in AHDI’s Modesto, California, office, Wendy began her tenure with AHDI in 2002 and most recently held the position of Director of Administration. She will be celebrating her 10-year anniversary with AHDI in November!
Please join us in congratulating Linda and Wendy in their new executive leadership positions with AHDI.
Sincerely,
Sherry Doggett
AHDI President 2011-2012
What's In A Name? You Might Be Surprised
Veterans of the healthcare documentation industry know one thing for certain: Change is a constant. When faced with yet another change, we have learned to quote the great Yogi Berra-"It's like déjà vu all over again."
Many external events continue to cause change within this arena, and healthcare documentation specialists continue to evolve. If you look up the word "evolution" in the dictionary, you will find a number of possible definitions, including: "a process of change in a certain direction; unfolding," which I think accurately describes the changes occurring on an almost daily basis in our field. Our tasks and responsibilities seem to continue to unfold.
While these changes in the industry are exciting to many and unsettling to others, it is important to remember that healthcare documentation specialists have always done more than one thing. We have always been more than typists. We have always used our extensive knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, laboratory values, diagnostic tests and other information in our positions. Professionals in our industry have known for a long time that their compensation and value to the industry were seen in relation to their manual dexterity and the ability to produce a certain number of lines of documentation per day. The term medical transcriptionist became synonymous with typist, and the knowledge base of these professionals often was overlooked.
I hope you'll take some time to read this excellent article in its entirety.
Jay Vance, CMT, CHP
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
Phoenix Cardiac Surgery: HIPAA The Hard Way
From managemypractice.com comes a very worthwhile article entitled, "What Can We Learn About HIPAA From Phoenix Cardiac Surgery?" The piece was written in response to the revelation this week that Phoenix Cardiac Surgery in Arizona had agreed to pay a $100,000 fine for HIPAA violations. What I find particularly significant about this incident is that the specific breach--posting the names of patients in a publicly accessible web-based calendar--was merely representative of an overall failure on the part of the medical practice to grasp the need for a comprehensive HIPAA compliance plan. The fine wasn't just about posting patient names online, as the article points out:
“This case is significant because it highlights a multi-year, continuing failure on the part of this provider to comply with the requirements of the Privacy and Security Rules,” said Leon Rodriguez, director of OCR. “We hope that health care providers pay careful attention to this resolution agreement and understand that the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules have been in place for many years, and OCR expects full compliance no matter the size of a covered entity.”
OCRs investigation also revealed the following issues:
OCRs investigation also revealed the following issues:
- Phoenix Cardiac Surgery failed to implement adequate policies and procedures to appropriately safeguard patient information;
- Phoenix Cardiac Surgery failed to document that it trained any employees on its policies and procedures on the Privacy and Security Rules;
- Phoenix Cardiac Surgery failed to identify a security official and conduct a risk analysis; and
- Phoenix Cardiac Surgery failed to obtain business associate agreements with Internet-based email and calendar services where the provision of the service included storage of and access to its ePHI.
I find the last phrase of the quote from Leon Rodriguez extremely telling: "OCR expects full compliance no matter the size of a covered entity." (Keep in mind that since HITECH was passed in 2009, you can substitute "business associate" for "covered entity" because BAs are now just as liable as CEs under HIPAA.) The dates of the HIPAA violations referred to in the settlement documents--2005 to 2009--lead me to believe the investigation into Phoenix Cardiac Surgery was the result of a complaint being filed rather than as a part of OCR's recent HIPAA enforcement push. And while it's true that our industry doesn't deal directly with patients for the most part, that doesn't mean we're insulated from their scrutiny. For example, unencrypted dictation or transcription files stored on FTP sites could potentially be discovered and indexed by search engines, so that a patient Googling their own name might find their medical records displayed for all the world to see.
I would highly recommend taking the time to read the settlement documents linked above to get a good overview of what OCR is looking for with regard to HIPAA compliance. In a nutshell, the Corrective Action Plan agreed to by Phoenix Cardiac Surgery consists of the following:
- Develop, maintain, distribute, and implement written policies and procedures addressing HIPAA compliance.
- Carry out a risk assessment.
- Create and implement a risk management plan based on the risk assessment.
- Identify a security official who will be responsible for HIPAA compliance.
- Obtain written Business Associate Agreements (BAAs).
- Institute and document technical safeguards to protect PHI on electronic systems and across electronic networks, specifically including PHI on mobile devices.
- Institute and document workforce training on HIPAA compliance.
- Review workforce training annually and update as appropriate.
- Report all violations of HIPAA policies and procedures to OCR within 30 days.
I'm sure the folks at Phoenix Cardiac Surgery are decent, hardworking healthcare professionals who had no intention of putting their patients' information at risk. But in this brave new world of identity theft and aggressive HIPAA enforcement, the absence of malice isn't enough. This is yet one more wake-up call to even small operators and independent contractors in our sector that we'd better get our house in order.
Jay Vance, CMT, CHP
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
HIPAA Security Rule Video From HHS
Big Changes For ACE 2012!
These are the messages I enjoy writing—delivering good news to our members and supporters. In my last letter to you April 4, I wrote:
Extensive work has been underway to ensure AHDI flourishes in this new environment for our members—our shareholders and stakeholders. We are leaving no stone unturned as we work to strengthen AHDI’s finances and ensure we are delivering relevant and timely benefits, products, and services. Expenses have been trimmed, our product development and member benefit pipeline is being enhanced and expanded, our strategic priorities are being reevaluated and updated, and contracts are being renegotiated. We operate on a shoestring budget; however, that does not stifle progress and innovation.
To that end, we have exciting updates to share regarding AHDI's Annual Convention & Expo (ACE 2012). Our goal has been to make ACE more affordable for our members and we have been renegotiating our agreement with the JW Marriott Indianapolis, which was originally booked in 2008. The hotel has offered us unprecedented discounts and options to make ACE 2012 more affordable for both you and AHDI.
ACE 2012 attendees staying at the JW Marriott Indianapolis will receive these great perks:
- NEW! $25 daily credit per room toward food and beverages purchased at the hotel, including concession stands in the ACE exhibit hall. Our discounted group rate is $175 per night plus tax. The VIP lunches on Friday and Saturday are being replaced with lunch on your own, during which you can use your daily credit toward food purchased within the hotel.
- NEW! Free Internet access in your hotel room for your entire stay (regular rate: $12.95 per day).
- $8 off the daily onsite parking rate (regular rate: $28.00 per day).
- Entry into the raffles previously advertised as part of the ACE VIP Program.
Because we have received these concessions from the hotel and modified the food events for the convention, AHDI wants to pass our savings on to you by lowering our registration fees by $75 and extending the early-bird rate until August 6, 2012. If you have already registered for ACE 2012, you will receive a refund for the difference. Our new registration fees for ACE 2012 are:
- Student, Associate Student & Post-graduate Members – $225
Individual Professional Members – $285
Associate Members – $395
List Price – $525
- Register online (click now to see the added bonus for registering early)
The program will kick off Wednesday evening with a welcome reception in the exhibit hall. Educational sessions will be held Thursday – Saturday. There will be close to 40 sessions to choose from and you can view the revised schedule of events online. Please note that the change in schedule also includes moving the awards ceremony to Thursday, August 9, and there will no longer be a banquet on Saturday evening.
As part of our renegotiations, the hotel has agreed to setup concession stands for lunch on Thursday and breakfast on Friday in the exhibit hall, where you can use your $25 daily credit received from staying at the JW Marriott. This new format is part of reducing the master account liability for AHDI while giving attendees added flexibility in their food selections.
We recognize that you may be able to find a lower hotel rate nearby; however, this hurts AHDI financially if we do not fill our contracted room block. If you would like to find a roommate, there's a group setup on ACE365.org called "Attendee Resources Group."
We understand that as you've been reading this, you may have questions. We've started a list of frequently asked questions to help provide a place where you can get quick answers. And, as always, you can contact our staff anytime toll free: 1-800-982-2182 (direct: 1-209-527-9620) or by email: ahdi@ahdionline.org.
This will be the event of the year you won't want to miss. We hope you will join us for ACE 2012 in Indianapolis!
Sincerely yours,
Linda G. Brady, CAE
Interim CEO
PS: Watch your email inbox for details regarding ACE 2013! We will be in Orlando, FL, where we'll celebrate AHDI's 35th anniversary!
As part of our renegotiations, the hotel has agreed to setup concession stands for lunch on Thursday and breakfast on Friday in the exhibit hall, where you can use your $25 daily credit received from staying at the JW Marriott. This new format is part of reducing the master account liability for AHDI while giving attendees added flexibility in their food selections.
We recognize that you may be able to find a lower hotel rate nearby; however, this hurts AHDI financially if we do not fill our contracted room block. If you would like to find a roommate, there's a group setup on ACE365.org called "Attendee Resources Group."
We understand that as you've been reading this, you may have questions. We've started a list of frequently asked questions to help provide a place where you can get quick answers. And, as always, you can contact our staff anytime toll free: 1-800-982-2182 (direct: 1-209-527-9620) or by email: ahdi@ahdionline.org.
This will be the event of the year you won't want to miss. We hope you will join us for ACE 2012 in Indianapolis!
Sincerely yours,
Linda G. Brady, CAE
Interim CEO
PS: Watch your email inbox for details regarding ACE 2013! We will be in Orlando, FL, where we'll celebrate AHDI's 35th anniversary!
Survey: AHDI Credential Renaming
The AHDI Credentialing Development Team (CDT) is the governing body responsible for policy development and oversight of all AHDI credentialing programs. The CDT operates independently of the National Leadership Board.
In response to the recent rebranding of the medical transcription practitioner to Healthcare Documentation Specialist (HDS), the CDT is exploring new names for the credentials Certified Medical Transcriptionist and Registered Medical Transcriptionist. We are seeking your input on the renaming of the credential.
Jay Vance recently wrote, "One of the driving motivations behind AHDI's move to "rebrand" medical transcriptionists as Healthcare Documentation Specialists is the critical need to remind the broader medical field that our practitioners are indeed an important part of the overall healthcare documentation process." To this end, it is important that our credential names indicate the level of expertise reflected in the attainment of each credential, and in a broader sense, convey the specialized knowledge and expertise required for the accurate capture of each patient's Health Story. In addition, the credential names should encompass traditional and emerging roles, including transcriptionists, quality assurance specialists, speech recognition editors, team leaders, analysts, encoders, abstractors, trainers, and educators.
When evaluating your responses, please consider the following descriptions:
In response to the recent rebranding of the medical transcription practitioner to Healthcare Documentation Specialist (HDS), the CDT is exploring new names for the credentials Certified Medical Transcriptionist and Registered Medical Transcriptionist. We are seeking your input on the renaming of the credential.
Jay Vance recently wrote, "One of the driving motivations behind AHDI's move to "rebrand" medical transcriptionists as Healthcare Documentation Specialists is the critical need to remind the broader medical field that our practitioners are indeed an important part of the overall healthcare documentation process." To this end, it is important that our credential names indicate the level of expertise reflected in the attainment of each credential, and in a broader sense, convey the specialized knowledge and expertise required for the accurate capture of each patient's Health Story. In addition, the credential names should encompass traditional and emerging roles, including transcriptionists, quality assurance specialists, speech recognition editors, team leaders, analysts, encoders, abstractors, trainers, and educators.
When evaluating your responses, please consider the following descriptions:
The RMT exam is designed to assess competency in medical transcription by determining if a candidate has the core knowledge and skills needed to practice medical transcription effectively in today's healthcare environment.
The CMT exam is designed to assess competency in medical transcription by determining if a candidate has the core knowledge and skills needed to practice medical transcription effectively in a multispecialty acute-care facility, where variable specialties, document types, and difficulty of dictation necessitate an advanced level of clinical knowledge and interpretive ability.
The CMT exam is designed to assess competency in medical transcription by determining if a candidate has the core knowledge and skills needed to practice medical transcription effectively in a multispecialty acute-care facility, where variable specialties, document types, and difficulty of dictation necessitate an advanced level of clinical knowledge and interpretive ability.
You may also want to refer to AHDI's Model Job Descriptions.
Take the survey now. Survey will be open April 17 through May 1
Take the survey now. Survey will be open April 17 through May 1
Tina Wilson
Programs Coordinator
Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)
Programs Coordinator
Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)
Visit us at: www.ahdionline.org
AHDI Celebrates National Volunteer Week
AHDI National Leadership Board Report - April 2012
This message brings spring greetings to you from your National Leadership Board, which last met April 12. This publication is one of the NLB’s opportunities to share with you, the individual member, what work and decisions are made by this board.
ACE Updates: Highlights from this meeting were exciting updates to the plans for both the 2012 and 2013 Annual Conventions and Exhibitions (ACE). This year’s event will be in Indianapolis August 8-11, and specific new details and deals will be broadcast to members within the next few days. As well, hotel and precise date negotiations are almost completed for ACE 2013, which will be held in Orlando, Florida (exact dates to be announced soon). Stay tuned to www.ACE365.org for more details and future updates.
New Practices/Projects: A discussion was held about the relatively new workflow solution that involves partial dictation/narrative in the EHR. Doggett reported great success at her facility with their healthcare system, with healthcare providers being allowed to dictate and have transcribed certain portions of the records, satisfying both their desire for narrative information capture and the need for using time-saving technologies. The board will look for ways to capture stories around this topic that display the continuing important role healthcare documentation specialists play. The Future Roles Survey is pending board review, and more discussion will be held around future articles on the topic of dictation practices.
Finances: In financial matters, Treasurer Bonnie Monico, CMT, AHDI-F, reviewed the year-end 2011 compilation report and presented the NLB with a revised financial budget. The Board approved the revised budget that accommodates the loss of revenue from CDIA for administrative support (that organization recently ceased operations) but further included new revenue streams and adjustments. A full accounting will be provided to members in a future issue of Plexus, as well as on the website and at the annual business meeting at ACE.
Interim CEO Linda Brady emphasized that while the organization still has financial challenges, as does almost every organization in this time of financial upheaval, there are many positives to report and AHDI does not anticipate any type of closure either in the short-term or long-term.
Doggett commented on the commitment needed by members to continue their participation in AHDI for the success of the profession, practitioners, and students.
Board Positions and Officers: President Sherry Doggett has accepted the resignation of Lisa Tunzi, CMT, AHDI-F, as a director-at-large on the board and the board will move as per bylaws direct to fill her term. The board thanks Lisa for her years of service to the association and will look forward to her participation on another level. Since Lisa also served as secretary to the NLB, an election was held and Susan Lucci, RHIT, CHPS, CMT, AHDI-F, was elected to the position for the remainder of the officer term, which extends to September 1, 2012.
To Be Continued: Work continues in subgroups of the NLB to
- Examine our strategic priorities and align them with financial resources.
- Examine the appropriateness of our involvement in Meaningful Use, Stage 2, comments.
- Review and update where needed governance policies for the NLB; the Bylaws committee will also be performing a review.
Next: The NLB meets the second Thursday of each month via webinar. The next meeting will be held May 10. Gallery members are welcome. Contact Miranda Chalabi (mchalabi@ahdionline.org) to request the webinar link.
Medical Transcription: An Important Part Of Health Information Management
Elisabeth Altieri has written a fabulous article at For The Record magazine entitled, "MTs Have Skills, So Let's Use Them." The premise of the article is that medical transcription is NOT the "ugly stepchild" of health information management (HIM) as some folks outside the field (and maybe some INSIDE) would have us believe. Altieri points out that even though medical transcriptionists were among the first healthcare documentation professionals to make the jump to an electronic environment, nowadays it seems that MTs and the functions they perform are often considered relics of the past.
Here are some excerpts of the article. I hope you'll take a few moments to read it in its entirety.
While medical transcription is a unique skill in the HIM world, it is not as unique as it is currently being characterized. It is still in the family of HIM functions, incorporating many of the same skills of other HIM responsibilities. Unfortunately, as the future of medical transcription becomes increasingly uncertain, there appears to be a greater emphasis on the differences rather than the similarities between transcription and other HIM roles.
This misperception of the medical transcription skill set is a critical issue because it can translate into fewer opportunities for medical transcriptionists (MTs) trying to transition into other health information careers.
Today’s MTs are often accused of being stuck in the past (despite being computerized 20 years before their HIM colleagues), but we nevertheless have legitimate concerns about the quality of legal medical documentation now that it is increasingly reliant on voice recognition and other automated modalities. Oddly enough, MTs—the medical language specialists—are often excluded from discussions about quality documentation even though the issue could be addressed by processes that would better utilize the medical transcription skill set.
And how many former MTs are included in medical informatics departments, dedicated to checking for quality documentation in EHRs?
One of the driving motivations behind AHDI's move to "rebrand" medical transcriptionists as healthcare documentation specialists is the critical need to remind the broader medical field that our practitioners are indeed an important part of the overall healthcare documentation process. We must not allow ourselves to be relegated to the basement, out of sight and out of mind!
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
Here are some excerpts of the article. I hope you'll take a few moments to read it in its entirety.
While medical transcription is a unique skill in the HIM world, it is not as unique as it is currently being characterized. It is still in the family of HIM functions, incorporating many of the same skills of other HIM responsibilities. Unfortunately, as the future of medical transcription becomes increasingly uncertain, there appears to be a greater emphasis on the differences rather than the similarities between transcription and other HIM roles.
This misperception of the medical transcription skill set is a critical issue because it can translate into fewer opportunities for medical transcriptionists (MTs) trying to transition into other health information careers.
Today’s MTs are often accused of being stuck in the past (despite being computerized 20 years before their HIM colleagues), but we nevertheless have legitimate concerns about the quality of legal medical documentation now that it is increasingly reliant on voice recognition and other automated modalities. Oddly enough, MTs—the medical language specialists—are often excluded from discussions about quality documentation even though the issue could be addressed by processes that would better utilize the medical transcription skill set.
And how many former MTs are included in medical informatics departments, dedicated to checking for quality documentation in EHRs?
One of the driving motivations behind AHDI's move to "rebrand" medical transcriptionists as healthcare documentation specialists is the critical need to remind the broader medical field that our practitioners are indeed an important part of the overall healthcare documentation process. We must not allow ourselves to be relegated to the basement, out of sight and out of mind!
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
CDIA Shut Down, Is AHDI Next?
April 4, 2012
With last month's announcement of CDIA closing, I've been asked if AHDI will be next to shut down. This is not an easy topic but openly addressing it is important. The AHDI staff managed the operations of CDIA and they were our strategic partner for more than five years. This news certainly hit close to home, but I'm writing you today to assure you that AHDI remains a viable and vibrant organization.
The consolidation among healthcare documentation service providers was most likely the leading cause of CDIA shutting down. With only corporate members, CDIA's membership base continued to shrink with the news of every merger/acquisition in our industry. It may not come as a surprise that this is also impacting AHDI financially, although our association is structured much differently than CDIA in at least three key areas that gives us a strong foundation:
With last month's announcement of CDIA closing, I've been asked if AHDI will be next to shut down. This is not an easy topic but openly addressing it is important. The AHDI staff managed the operations of CDIA and they were our strategic partner for more than five years. This news certainly hit close to home, but I'm writing you today to assure you that AHDI remains a viable and vibrant organization.
The consolidation among healthcare documentation service providers was most likely the leading cause of CDIA shutting down. With only corporate members, CDIA's membership base continued to shrink with the news of every merger/acquisition in our industry. It may not come as a surprise that this is also impacting AHDI financially, although our association is structured much differently than CDIA in at least three key areas that gives us a strong foundation:
- AHDI is an organization with breadth and depth. We have member communities at the local, state, and regional levels; web-based groups; and special interest alliances. Our grassroots components strengthen our organization by building a tighter-knit network of practitioners, educators, students, and business managers and executives.
- The diversity of our members strengthens AHDI. AHDI has individual, corporate, and educational members. Many of our members enter the organization in a non-traditional way—through a subscription of Benchmark KB—that has greatly expanded the visibility and awareness of AHDI.
- AHDI has a variety of revenue streams, so when one or more areas are negatively impacted, the well does not go completely dry. New products and benefits continue to be developed to fill these voids.
Although we are a not-for-profit association, there is still a need to operate using sound business principles to keep our organization running. "Business as usual" will not work for any organization in the current climate. While there's no guarantee the economy, changing landscape of health care, or some other unforeseen external factor will never impact the viability of AHDI, we continue to proactively scan our environment to anticipate future trends and challenges to stay ahead of them. We must continue to build up our association; and every day I am witness to our firmly committed and driven National Leadership Board, volunteers, members, and staff doing just this. We need you to continue to be a vocal advocate and supporter of AHDI.
Extensive work is underway to ensure AHDI flourishes in this new environment for our members—our stakeholders. We are leaving no stone unturned as we work to strengthen AHDI's finances and ensure we are delivering relevant and timely benefits, products, and services. Expenses have been trimmed, our product development and member benefit pipeline is being enhanced and expanded, our strategic priorities are being reevaluated and updated, and contracts are being renegotiated. But tight budgets are not stifling progress and innovation; I see it bringing about greater creativity.
The power of you and our entire membership will keep AHDI going for decades to come. The next generation of healthcare documentation specialists is counting on us. You have our promise that we will continue to stand by you, to be your advocate and supporter.
Sincerely yours,
Extensive work is underway to ensure AHDI flourishes in this new environment for our members—our stakeholders. We are leaving no stone unturned as we work to strengthen AHDI's finances and ensure we are delivering relevant and timely benefits, products, and services. Expenses have been trimmed, our product development and member benefit pipeline is being enhanced and expanded, our strategic priorities are being reevaluated and updated, and contracts are being renegotiated. But tight budgets are not stifling progress and innovation; I see it bringing about greater creativity.
The power of you and our entire membership will keep AHDI going for decades to come. The next generation of healthcare documentation specialists is counting on us. You have our promise that we will continue to stand by you, to be your advocate and supporter.
Sincerely yours,
AHDI Member Benefit Sneak Peek: PLEXUS Magazine
As I was reading through the latest edition of PLEXUS magazine, AHDI's excellent member print publication, I came across an intriguing article in the "Tech Talk" section by regular contributor Kenneth Schafer. The article is entitled, "The Economics of Offshoring" and offers a very balanced and thoughtful look at this controversial facet of the healthcare documentation industry. I was so impressed by the article, in fact, that I suggested to our AHDI staff that we make it publicly available. The motivation for doing so is twofold. First, the content of this particular column is extremely relevant, and secondly, we'd like to give folks who don't currently belong to AHDI a taste of some of the benefits of membership. So without further ado, here's a sneak peek!
Let me say at the outset that very few people appreciate medical transcriptionists as much as I do. In addition to performing every other transcription job imaginable, I’ve actually been a working MT, paid on production as an independent contractor, with the attendant advantages and difficulties that accompany that position. It is because I value the skill set and the practitioners so highly that I’ve watched the offshoring debate with such interest. Of the three forces influencing the futures of our transcription professionals (speech recognition, EMRs, and offshoring), by far the most polarizing is the offshoring of medical transcription.
Perhaps because it is so polarizing—or maybe because there is a degree to which offshoring is old news—I have avoided writing about the issue in any depth. However, I recently had the opportunity to watch a hospital reverse its position on offshore transcription. Observing the circumstances surrounding the decision to allow the offshoring of work has caused me to further solidify my own opinions about market drivers in our industry.
Perhaps because it is so polarizing—or maybe because there is a degree to which offshoring is old news—I have avoided writing about the issue in any depth. However, I recently had the opportunity to watch a hospital reverse its position on offshore transcription. Observing the circumstances surrounding the decision to allow the offshoring of work has caused me to further solidify my own opinions about market drivers in our industry.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
Call for Volunteers to Review Rules for Meaningful Use Stage 2
Dear Colleagues:
I am putting together a team of volunteers for a short-term project to review the recently released MU2 proposed rules from ONC. Our goal is to identify areas in the proposed rules that directly or indirectly affect our profession and then provide a summary of findings to the Advocacy and Alliance steering committee, the AHDI board and ultimately our members through Membership Matters. The outcome of the project will also help generate an open-comment letter template with plans to have our leadership, component leaders, members and colleagues submit to ONC during the open comment period which ends in early May. The project duration is starting now and will probably run through the end of April.
My email is listed below. Please contact me to volunteer and/or inquire about the project.
Karen L. Fox-Acosta, CMT, AHDI-F
AHDI President Elect 2011-2012
karen.fox@foxtx.net
I am putting together a team of volunteers for a short-term project to review the recently released MU2 proposed rules from ONC. Our goal is to identify areas in the proposed rules that directly or indirectly affect our profession and then provide a summary of findings to the Advocacy and Alliance steering committee, the AHDI board and ultimately our members through Membership Matters. The outcome of the project will also help generate an open-comment letter template with plans to have our leadership, component leaders, members and colleagues submit to ONC during the open comment period which ends in early May. The project duration is starting now and will probably run through the end of April.
My email is listed below. Please contact me to volunteer and/or inquire about the project.
Karen L. Fox-Acosta, CMT, AHDI-F
AHDI President Elect 2011-2012
karen.fox@foxtx.net
A Mergers & Acquisitions Expert Weighs In On The Medical Transcription Industry
I recently came across an interesting blog post by a fellow named John Suender, President of Suender M&A Advisers. I should point out that Mr. Suender specializes in M&A in the medical transcription/healthcare documentation industry, so clearly he has a point of view. That being said, his insights are worth considering.
Quoting from his article:
What has amazed me over the years is how the industry has survived all of the "insurmountable threats" that it has confronted. In 1994, people were asking why our company would invest in a medical transcription business. Didn't we know that voice recognition was going to render the business obsolete in just a matter of years, if not months? Didn't we know that all of the transcription work was going overseas? Even back then, electronic medical record (EMR) salespeople were telling their clients that they could eliminate all transcription costs if they only adopted their EMR.
At HIMSS 2012 one of the remarkable things I noticed was an apparent tone of cooperation between MTSO and EMR vendors. The MTSOs have accepted the fact that EMRs are here to stay. Importantly, capturing discrete data remains necessary for the improvement of healthcare delivery. The EMR vendors have also accepted the fact that MTSOs have a very important role to play when it comes to successful EMR adoption. By allowing physicians to use dictation to capture certain sections of the patient encounter, physician productivity is maintained and EMR adoption is accelerated. This helps healthcare providers achieve meaningful use of the EMR, which is a requirement for government incentive payments, and warrants the return on investment.
I like to analogize an EMR to a deflated basketball. It's of little use unless it is inflated - in this case with discrete data. MTSOs are, and always have been, experts at getting that done. They do it faster, better and cheaper than their clients. They understand the challenges that clients face every day when it comes to capturing clinical information and automating the work flow. Things are changing – but MTSOs are right at the pivot point with their clients and should be well positioned to continue to participate in clinical documentation capture and workflow. Of course, they have to be able to adapt to the change, but they have successfully done so in the past.
While I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Suender's assessment of the durability of medical transcription service providers, it's also important to point out that it is the hard-working healthcare documentation professionals who make it all happen. With all the consolidation and "corporatization" going on in our sector, one of the most important functions of AHDI, as I see it, is to advocate for the practitioner, not just for the profession. There is no profession without the professionals.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
Quoting from his article:
What has amazed me over the years is how the industry has survived all of the "insurmountable threats" that it has confronted. In 1994, people were asking why our company would invest in a medical transcription business. Didn't we know that voice recognition was going to render the business obsolete in just a matter of years, if not months? Didn't we know that all of the transcription work was going overseas? Even back then, electronic medical record (EMR) salespeople were telling their clients that they could eliminate all transcription costs if they only adopted their EMR.
At HIMSS 2012 one of the remarkable things I noticed was an apparent tone of cooperation between MTSO and EMR vendors. The MTSOs have accepted the fact that EMRs are here to stay. Importantly, capturing discrete data remains necessary for the improvement of healthcare delivery. The EMR vendors have also accepted the fact that MTSOs have a very important role to play when it comes to successful EMR adoption. By allowing physicians to use dictation to capture certain sections of the patient encounter, physician productivity is maintained and EMR adoption is accelerated. This helps healthcare providers achieve meaningful use of the EMR, which is a requirement for government incentive payments, and warrants the return on investment.
I like to analogize an EMR to a deflated basketball. It's of little use unless it is inflated - in this case with discrete data. MTSOs are, and always have been, experts at getting that done. They do it faster, better and cheaper than their clients. They understand the challenges that clients face every day when it comes to capturing clinical information and automating the work flow. Things are changing – but MTSOs are right at the pivot point with their clients and should be well positioned to continue to participate in clinical documentation capture and workflow. Of course, they have to be able to adapt to the change, but they have successfully done so in the past.
While I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Suender's assessment of the durability of medical transcription service providers, it's also important to point out that it is the hard-working healthcare documentation professionals who make it all happen. With all the consolidation and "corporatization" going on in our sector, one of the most important functions of AHDI, as I see it, is to advocate for the practitioner, not just for the profession. There is no profession without the professionals.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
How Stage 2 Meaningful Use Will Benefit The Healthcare Documentation Industry
"The bottom line is you've got to start connecting with customers. Patient portals are not going to be optional, and you're going to be responsible not only for having portals but for patients using them."
So what does this have to do with us in the healthcare documentation field? In a nutshell, the more patients see of their medical records, the more those patients will become aware of the errors their medical records contain. My hope is that this will cause a groundswell of public demand for a higher level of quality in healthcare documentation. Hopefully that in turn will open up opportunities for us to engage in an honest conversation about the critical role we play in ensuring that level of quality. We need to be ready with hard data to back up our claims that front-end speech recognition and point-and-click EMR systems are inherently error prone. We must be ready to demonstrate that the knowledge and experience we bring to the process are vital, not optional, if accurate healthcare documentation is the goal.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
The Metamorphosis to Healthcare Documentation Specialists
In the latest update from AHDI’s National Leadership Board, we announced a title change for medical transcriptionists as part of the revisions to our Model Curriculum, 5th edition. The Board saw this as a ground-breaking change and opportunity to recast the MT profession as a knowledge-based workforce. It has set the stage for a new movement to rebrand our profession to one that is seen as relevant and necessary to the healthcare process—a critical role in accurately documenting patient care.
It’s important to pause a moment to recognize the volunteer members of our Model Curriculum Task Force for their visionary leadership to drive this change. They crafted bold recommendations to update the Model Curriculum, including this title change and requiring instructors of healthcare documentation to hold a CMT credential. The National Leadership Board applauds them for their work and acting as change agents within AHDI.
Crucial conversations around the future and transformation of the profession are not simple or taken lightly. Careful and thoughtful deliberation drives the decision-making process. This post will cover how this decision was reached by our National Leadership Board and the rationale given the historic nature of this change. It’s important to acknowledge the overwhelming agreement that it was time to shed the title of medical transcriptionist for one that would deliver a renewed level of respect and understanding to our often under-recognized and under-appreciated profession.
At the center of the discussions has been the debate between the terms “clinical” and “health care.” Also discussed were the differences between “specialist,” “analyst,” and “technician.” As you might imagine, these conversations sparked many knowledgeable, thoughtful, and passionate responses. When the Task Force presented their recommendations to the Board in November 2011, they were unanimously approved as presented that day, which included the title of Clinical Documentation Specialist. The rationale for using the word “clinical” was presented as follows (excerpted from the written executive summary to the Board):
"The phrase “medical transcription” has been replaced by “clinical documentation.” Where “medical transcriptionist” is referenced, we have changed the wording to “clinical documentation specialist.” From the introduction section of the curriculum, this is the explanation/rationale for this change: “The task force concluded that the expansion of medical transcription roles requires rebranding. A better fit is needed between job titles and roles. The evolving clinical documentation environment demands a new title: Clinical Documentation Specialist. This title includes medical transcription practice. All expanded roles must begin with the core knowledge and skill set of what we have always called medical transcription. The title Clinical Documentation Specialist encompasses individuals who build on the core knowledge and skills to follow varied career paths.
Many schools and programs are taking steps to enhance their approach to career preparation for students of clinical documentation. To some extent, then, the title Clinical Documentation Specialist recognizes not only new realities of the workplace but also evolving thinking among educators.
We have also noted that this change in terminology is consistent with the change in CDIA’s name to reflect that, even though we are not clinicians, the documentation we produce is indeed clinical documentation."
Many schools and programs are taking steps to enhance their approach to career preparation for students of clinical documentation. To some extent, then, the title Clinical Documentation Specialist recognizes not only new realities of the workplace but also evolving thinking among educators.
We have also noted that this change in terminology is consistent with the change in CDIA’s name to reflect that, even though we are not clinicians, the documentation we produce is indeed clinical documentation."
Following the approval, the Board continued their discussions on the title change and the implementation plans. And as difficult as it may be, they reopened the issue for further consideration as they took a close look at potential confusion between clinical documentation specialists and clinical documentation improvement specialists. The concern over potential confusion in the marketplace grew stronger as possible new acronyms for AHDI’s RMT and CMT credentials were brought into the discussion. A small group was established, comprised of Board and Task Force members, to reexamine the title, and we sought input from our strategic partner, the Clinical Documentation Industry Association.
The final results of the discussions clearly pointed to recommending the title healthcare documentation specialist. It aligns with the name of our organization and would not conflict with the credentials already established for clinical documentation improvement specialists (see ACDIS and AHIMA) when we look at potential changes to our RMT and CMT. Furthermore, the possibility of marketplace confusion could not be ignored; and “health care” and “clinical” have been used interchangeably in various settings without a clear distinction between the two.
The title change was brought back for formal reconsideration by the National Leadership Board this month. Following an open discussion, the title Healthcare Documentation Specialist was unanimously approved. Exciting times lie ahead of us as we start to spread the news of this historic change.
In the coming weeks and months, a full communication and transition plan will be developed and launched. We don’t have time to waste! A change of this scope will take time to fully implement, most likely spanning years, but every day we will take a step closer in pushing past the old stereotype that we are just typists to achieving recognition as a valued partner to the frontline clinical decision-making team.
Carpe Diem!
Sherry Doggett, AHDI President &
Linda Brady, CAE, Interim CEO
On The Lighter Side...
Saw this on Facebook today and had to share!
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
AHDI-West & AHDI Present: AHDI Corporate Advantage Program Webinars
AHDI-West & AHDI Present
CORPORATE ADVANTAGE PROGRAM
Webinar Series and ACE 2012 Presentations
There is no doubt the clinical documentation industry is changing. What does that mean for MTs, Documentation Specialists, MTSOs, industry schools or HIM Departments? Explore the critical ways to climb the mountain of success.
The Corporate Advantage Program (CAP) webinar series is designed to meet the needs of current and future business owners to remain relevant and viable in the changing healthcare industry today. The webinar speakers are experts in their field, and will share strategies and best practices covering a range of "mission critical" subjects for every business.
We will peel back the layers of the known and venture below the surface to uncover the unknown. Whether it is RFPs, HIPAA 5010, Tax Rules and Strategies, Marketing, Mergers & Acquisitions, Quality Assurance, Workforce Development or Competitive Strategies, this series will teach you how to invest in change and embrace the uncertainty of the future.
As part of the Corporate Advantage Program (CAP) series, many of our webinar speakers will also present at ACE 2012 in Indianapolis, Indiana, offering workshops geared toward business owners and available with your full registration.
There really is a "Corporate Membership" advantage in staying connected to AHDI!
All webinars will be:
•AHDI-approved for 1.5 CECs (Mediolegal, MT Tools, Technology in the Workplace, and Professional Development)
•90-minute presentation, including Q&A session
•Broadcast time 12 PM PST/3 PM EST
•$15.00 (Pay by credit card or check)
•Recorded Sessions - Unable to attend? Pre-register to receive recording link following live broadcast.
The first two sessions have been scheduled:
* RFPs: What Matters, Who Looks At Them?
* Transforming Your MTSO To Compete In Today's EHR Healthcare EnvironmentFor more information and to register, please visit http://www.ahdi-west.org/misc/new-webinar-series-and-beyond/.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
Call For AHDI National Leadership Board Candidates
The AHDI National Leadership Board will have three At-Large Director positions open for 2012, with term of office beginning September 1, 2012. Here's your chance to make a difference! Outlined below is the timeline for nominations and elections (dates may be subject to change):
Mid-February - Friday, April 6, 2012: Call for candidates
Monday, April 9, 2012: Candidacy packets DUE
April 9 - April 13, 2012: Candidate interviews and selection process
Week of April 16, 2012: Final ballot announced/campaigning begins
May 2012 (date TBD): Candidate debate webinars
Monday, June 4, 2012: POLLS OPEN
Monday, June 18, 2012: POLLS CLOSE
End of June 2012: New directors announced
For more information on the requirements for National Leadership Board candidates, please visit http://www.ahdionline.org/GetConnected/Leadership/AHDIBoardofDirectors/NationalLeadershipBoardCandidacy/tabid/197/Default.aspx.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
Mid-February - Friday, April 6, 2012: Call for candidates
Monday, April 9, 2012: Candidacy packets DUE
April 9 - April 13, 2012: Candidate interviews and selection process
Week of April 16, 2012: Final ballot announced/campaigning begins
May 2012 (date TBD): Candidate debate webinars
Monday, June 4, 2012: POLLS OPEN
Monday, June 18, 2012: POLLS CLOSE
End of June 2012: New directors announced
For more information on the requirements for National Leadership Board candidates, please visit http://www.ahdionline.org/GetConnected/Leadership/AHDIBoardofDirectors/NationalLeadershipBoardCandidacy/tabid/197/Default.aspx.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
Stay Informed With AHDI National Leadership Board Meeting Summaries
The AHDI National Leadership Board has made a commitment to keeping our members informed about the issues discussed and decisions made at our meetings. Now there's a handy place where you can download summaries of past NLB meetings:
http://www.ahdionline.org/GetConnected/Leadership/AHDIBoardofDirectors/NationalLeadershipBoardCandidacy/AHDIBoardofDirectorsMeetingHighlights/tabid/296/Default.aspx
This page is only available to AHDI members, so you will be asked for your member ID and password.
I hope you'll take a few moments to look over these summaries to stay up to date on the activities of your elected AHDI representatives.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
http://www.ahdionline.org/GetConnected/Leadership/AHDIBoardofDirectors/NationalLeadershipBoardCandidacy/AHDIBoardofDirectorsMeetingHighlights/tabid/296/Default.aspx
This page is only available to AHDI members, so you will be asked for your member ID and password.
I hope you'll take a few moments to look over these summaries to stay up to date on the activities of your elected AHDI representatives.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
Creating The Future
Of course, the vast majority of us will likely never reach such heights of achievement, but every one of us has the ability to change our own future if we're willing to make the effort and take the risk. Certainly there will always be factors beyond our control which will exert some degree of influence on our lives. But the people who have made the greatest impact on their own future, not to mention that of others, tend to be those individuals who are simply unwilling to sit passively by and allow their lives to be totally controlled by external circumstances. Stephen Hawking is a man whose physical limitations would seem totally insurmountable to many of us, yet he has made an indelible mark on the world of science and scientific thought. How many other examples could we find of people who have been dealt a losing hand in life, yet have risen above their circumstances to make the world a better place for themselves and others?
"The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating." Even by doing nothing we are shaping our future. Every choice I make today will change the course of my future to one degree or another, even if I don't realize it. The easy option, of course, is the path of least resistance, what the Bible would call "the broad way." There is something seductive in allowing ourselves to fulfill the role of victim, because it makes it easier to let ourselves off the hook for "the road not taken." How tempting it is to blame our situation on what other people have done, or on circumstances beyond our control!
But we don't have to live that way. We can choose not to play the victim. I'll be the first to acknowledge that these are challenging times for those of us in the medical transcription field, and there are plenty of things to complain about if that's what we want to do. But while we bemoan our current situation and fret about what lies ahead, we're missing opportunities to shape both our present and our future for the better. For some of us those opportunities might include changing jobs, or acquiring additional training, or pursuing credentialing in our current field of endeavor. For others it may mean a change of direction into a different profession entirely. The one thing all such opportunities will have in common is the necessity of taking action rather than simply maintaining the status quo. Is change often scary, or inconvenient, or costly? Yes! If you're anything like me, you like things "a certain way" and don't like it much when your familiar routine is jeopardized. But the harsh reality is that as long as we keep doing what we've always done, we will forever get what we've always gotten. The good news is that it's never too late to decide that enough is enough.
What will your future look like, and what will you look like in the future? Choose to answer those questions yourself rather than waiting for someone else to answer them for you.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadership Board
jay.ahdi.district1@gmail.com
The Hurrier I Go, The Behinder I Get
I've been thinking along these lines lately because of what I consider to be a very disturbing and dangerous push in the healthcare documentation field to demand more work in less time. The demand for near-real time documentation of patient encounters seems to be ever increasing, with no letup in sight. One of the driving factors behind the move to electronic medical record (EMR) systems is the notion that this technology will allow medical caregivers to provide higher quality care by speeding up the documentation process.
What I find interesting--and concerning--about that point of view is that the medical profession has already been forced to confront the reality that speed doesn't necessarily equate to better care. In 1999 the Institute of Medicine published a watershed study entitled, "To Err Is Human: Building A Safer Health System." The IOM concluded that between 40,000 and 98,000 lives were lost every year in the U.S. healthcare delivery system due to avoidable errors. Due in large part to that study, many hospitals have since instituted measures designed to decrease errors and improve outcomes. Interestingly, a number of those measures have required caregivers to take more time, not less, in order to ensure patient safety. A couple of examples that come to mind are surgery timeouts before operations and sponge and instrument counts afterwards. Without question these procedures slow down the pace of delivering healthcare. But clearly the cost of NOT slowing down became too high, whether that cost was measured by political pressure or multimillion-dollar malpractice lawsuits.
I have to wonder how long it's going to take before the demand for more documentation in less time--be it via transcription, speech recognition editing, or EMR--reaches a similar tipping point. I'm not sure which is going to happen first: healthcare documentation professionals finally say enough is enough, or somebody dies because of inaccurate documentation caused by trying to do too much in too short a time. I suspect the latter has already happened, we just don't have an Institute of Medicine-style white paper to prove it.
Make no mistake, I'm a capitalist through and through, and I love working for my employer, but there is a downside to the corporatization of medicine in general and the medical transcription field in particular. In America today, conventional wisdom seems to be that the job of corporate management is to wring the most productivity out of labor for the least amount of money in the shortest period of time. But if the history of our nation since the Industrial Revolution has taught us anything, it is that the quest for profitability sometimes exacts a cost in human resources that is simply too high.
Or, to quote one more old saying, "You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip." At some point we simply won't have anything more to give.
Jay Vance, CMT
AHDI Lounge Administrator/Moderator
Director, District 1
AHDI National Leadershp Board
2012 AHDI Rising Star Award Submissions Now Being Accepted
In honor of educator Marilyn Craddock, this award serves to recognize an outstanding industry student for a contemplative and informed response to the Association's annual essay contest. Each year, staff and leadership will determine an essay topic which is relevant and timely to the state of the industry. Students actively enrolled in a healthcare documentation (or related field) program will have an opportunity to submit an essay for consideration by the awards committee. Judging is based on clarity of content, organization, creativity, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. There will be no more than one winner.
2012 Essay Topic: "Driving Your Healthcare Documentation Future”
Deadline to submit your essay is April 30, 2012
Tina Wilson
Senior Programs Specialist
Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)
Senior Programs Specialist
Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)
Clinical Documentation Industry Association (CDIA)
4230 Kiernan Ave., Suite 130
Modesto, CA 95356
Phone: (209) 341-2456
Fax: (209) 527-9633
twilson@ahdionline.org
4230 Kiernan Ave., Suite 130
Modesto, CA 95356
Phone: (209) 341-2456
Fax: (209) 527-9633
twilson@ahdionline.org
2012 AHDI Integrity Awards Nominations Now Being Accepted
2012 AHDI Integrity Awards—Nominations Close April 30, 2012
With the demands and challenges facing our sector, we hear so much about recognition of our workforce and the need to acknowledge the outstanding work being done by so many across the industry and within the association. AHDI's Integrity Awards program is designed to shine a spotlight on those individuals, organizations, and volunteer groups who are truly making a difference in our industry. Not only does this recognition program impact the individuals who are nominated and chosen for these awards, but it generates visibility around best practices and drives recognition of our industry in a public way. Do you know a CMT who has a passion for credentialing and helping others get credentialed? What about an MT educator who really made a difference to you as a student? Do you belong to an AHDI component that has done something innovative and engaging this year? Is your employer creating a corporate culture that has inspired you to excel? Every one of us knows someone who has made a professional impact over the last year. Be a proactive colleague. Take the time to nominate that person or organization for one of these awards:
- Hall of Fame Award
- Employer of the Year Award
- Membership Impact Award
- Rising Star Award
- Excellence in Credentialing Award
- Innovation through Technology Award
- Educator of the Year Award
- Advocate of the Year Award
Nominations should be submitted electronically and are due no later than Friday, April 30, 2012. Nominees will be notified of nomination after committee vote and winners will be announced at the Integrity Awards Luncheon at AHDI Annual Convention and Expo in Indianapolis, IN. Visit the AHDI Integrity Awards page for more information.
Tina Wilson
Senior Programs Specialist
Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)
Senior Programs Specialist
Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI)
Clinical Documentation Industry Association (CDIA)
4230 Kiernan Ave., Suite 130
Modesto, CA 95356
Phone: (209) 341-2456
Fax: (209) 527-9633
twilson@ahdionline.org
4230 Kiernan Ave., Suite 130
Modesto, CA 95356
Phone: (209) 341-2456
Fax: (209) 527-9633
twilson@ahdionline.org
Recipe for Success
I’ve spent hours upon hours chewing on this question. At first blush, it’s appears to be a relatively simple question but frankly, for each of us, it’s a pretty complicated one.
There are the recipes handed down from generation to generation that have proven themselves through the test of time. But we cannot rely on those alone. Our environment is changing too quickly to be firmly stuck in the past. Some recipes may no longer be relevant based on our busy lives. So we continuously develop and test new recipes. You probably know these well through your own culinary experiences. Some quickly become a new family staple, making it to the dinner table on a weekly basis. Then there are the “special occasion” recipes. They’re more complex and require special preparation techniques and ingredients. The anticipation is exciting and they are worth the wait. We need recipes for various courses: appetizers, main dishes, side items, and dessert (maybe the most important?). All of these should complement each other in taste and nutrition when serving such a meal.
What about AHDI’s recipe for success? Our association exists to promote the integrity of healthcare documentation through development of an educated, prepared workforce in clinical documentation, and our recipe box needs to be diverse to meet the needs of our membership. As YOUR professional association, we constantly look for the common threads by talking to members and others within the sector, listening to the challenges being faced from the rapid changes occurring in healthcare documentation workflow and technology, scanning the landscape to identify trends and opportunities, and ultimately developing solutions.
There are already a lot of recipes in our box, e.g., the Book of Style, RMT and CMT credentials, education approval program, and Benchmark KB. There are more recipes being developed by our members and staff particularly focused on workforce development, continuing education, credentialing exam preparation, and advocacy and alliance building.
From your perspective, what other recipes can AHDI prepare for our members and are there critical ingredients we’re currently missing?
Linda G. Brady, CAE
Interim CEO
AHDI
