Last Issue of Vitals

After 5 years in virtual circulation, Vitals is being retired to make room for a dynamic and trendy new newsletter published by MTIA and hosted by news aggregate service provider MultiBrief. AHDI and MTIA members will begin receiving this new weekly eBrief publication that launched in early December, replacing Vitals in January. The MTIA Health eBrief newsletter will continue to bring you the latest industry news and trends, information on regulatory issues, privacy and security updates, mergers and acquisitions announcements, emerging technology updates, and much more that is relevant to the healthcare documentation sector as well as details of AHDI and MTIA events and joint initiatives. Nonmembers can freely subscribe to this weekly newsletter, and members are encouraged to share it with others in the sector. Click here to subscribe and to read archived issues.

We would like to thank our Vitals readership and hope you will enjoy reading the new MTIA Health eBrief each Wednesday, beginning in January.

Advancing the Profession: New AHDI Fellow!

AHDI would like to congratulate the following individual who has met the requirements to be deemed an AHDI Fellow.

Sandi Webb, CMT, AHDI-F

If you have given your time and energy to advancing the profession through industry and association service, you may qualify for the designation of AHDI Fellow. Download and review the application. For questions regarding this designation, contact Tina Wilson at twilson@ahdionline.org.

New MT Education Program Approval Manual Introduced

The MT Education Program Approval Manual committee is pleased to announce the launch of our 2011 edition of the Manual. Schools seeking approval from the Approval Committee for Certification Programs (ACCP) will find a streamlined process for application beginning in January 2011. Schools applying to renew approval should take note of new language tightening up licensing requirements, specifying appropriate roles for instructors, and establishing a revised scheduling for application receipt and review. We feel that these and other granular changes have simplified, clarified, and strengthened the education program approval process, and we look forward to continuing to work with high-caliber MT education institutions, supporting quality education programs in 2011 and beyond.

Schools currently involved in the approval process will continue to be reviewed and scheduled under the 2010 manual through the remainder of their application documentation and ACCP submission.

For more information, click here to review the new manual and other MT Education Program Approval information. Your comments and questions are welcome; email Rebecca McSwain, professional programs associate, at rmcswain@ahdionline.org.

Sign the Petition Letter

AHDI/MTIA staff, volunteers, and Dewey Square Group have created a petition letter summarizing the critical nature of our profession and the role we play in ensuring patient safety. We are collecting as many electronic signatures as possible, in support of this letter and plan to present it to all the appropriate legislators in 2011. If enough signatures are obtained, we will present it to the Secretary of Health and Human Services as well as the President of the United States. Please take a moment to read this letter and sign it electronically. You may pass this along to your friends, family, colleagues or anyone else who cares about patient safety.

AHDI Seeks Editorial Expertise

The AHDI publications department is looking for skilled, experienced writers and editors to serve on the Research and Development Team for 2011. This volunteer task force works closely with the director of professional programs and senior communications coordinator. We currently need those willing to: (a) generate relevant and timely content for association publications, (b) serve in an engaged journalism role for industry interviews and investigative reporting, (c) generate CE quizzes for credit-worthy publication feature articles, and (d) serve as a reviewer/proofreader for Plexus magazine. If you have strong writing/editing skills and an interest in serving the association on this team, please contact Kristin Wall (kwall@ahdionline.org) for more information.

Advocacy Summit 2011--Your Support is Needed

Many of our nation’s legislators are completely unaware of our important contribution as healthcare documentation professionals in terms of ensuring patient safety. Advocacy Summit 2011 will provide you with an opportunity to speak with key legislative officials and their staff about our industry’s critical role in health care. There couldn’t be a more important event for you to attend, and those who have participated have had some amazing experiences…

"For too long, MTs have taken a backseat to issues relating to their profession and future. We are great at telling ourselves how valuable we are, but we fail to get the word out to other healthcare professionals and legislators. I am not a political person but definitely felt this was something I could tackle with the right information. DSG provided that guidance and made the entire experience wonderful." - Sandy Shumaker, CMT, AHDI-F, business owner

We hope to see you there! Find out more about Advocacy Summit 2011

Certification: New Competencies. New Exams. New Options.

AHDI is excited to announce the launch of our revised credentialing program. Our credentialing development team (CDT) and staff have been working diligently for the last year to provide this sector with exams and test taker options that will move our industry toward the goal of transitioning our workforce to a fully credentialed status. We are pleased to offer the industry the following revised programmatic outcomes:

New! Exam Blue Prints – Both the RMT and CMT exam blue prints have been updated to remove duplication of objectives, clarify competencies and objectives based on our 2010 Job Task Analysis, and add competencies related to computer technology, health IT, and SRT editing, per the evolving needs of our marketplace.

New! Exams – The RMT and CMT exams have been completely rewritten, and all previously administered test items have been retired from exam circulation. Candidates will encounter items written specifically to comply with the competency objectives on the new exam blue prints.

New! Policy Change – As of January 1, 2011, the RMT credential will become a required prerequisite for access to the CMT examination. Candidates seeking access to the Level 2 CMT content will now be required to demonstrate Level 1 competency for CMT eligibility.

New! Exam Option – Candidates seeking access to the Level 2 CMT exam who do not already possess a current RMT credential will be required to either (a) take the RMT exam and come back later to take the CMT, or (b) take the new Credential Qualifying Exam (CQE) to have access to both Level 1 RMT and Level 2 CMT content in a single exam session.

New! Testing Provider – AHDI will launch these new exams with Kryterion, a full-service test deployment and delivery company that offers secure, proctored examinations at both on-site testing centers and online via live, webcam-monitored testing sessions. Candidates who can ensure hardware/software compatibility and consistent, high-speed internet connection will have the option of taking AHDI examinations online starting in January.

As you might expect, the enormity and complexity of these changes has meant a complete overhaul of AHDI credentialing guides, web pages, and resource information. We are excited to announce that this information is now available for your review and preparation. Refer to the list in the column to the right for quick access to these resources, but it will be important to start by downloading our updated candidate guide below.

AHDI Credentialing Candidate Guide

The guide houses all the information a potential candidate for examination would need to know about our credentialing process, including:

• Why Credentials?
• RMT (Purpose, Blue Prints, Eligibility, Sample Questions, & FAQs)
• CMT (Purpose, Blue Prints, Eligibility, Sample Questions, & FAQs)
• CQE (Purpose and Eligibility)
• Registration and Payment
• Exam Preparation
• Kryterion Online Proctoring (OLP)
• Kryterion On-site Testing
• Recertification

Questions or clarification about any of this information can be forwarded to credentialing@ahdionline.org.

Representatives from Verizon Medical Data Exchange Join the Direct Project Implementation Group

The Verizon Medical Data Exchange, formed initially with the Clinical Documentation Industry Association (formerly MTIA), has joined the Office of the National Coordinator’s Direct Project Implementation Group. The Direct Project brings together multiple stakeholder groups, including providers, technology vendors, and the standards community, to create a set of standards and services that enable simple, directed, routed scalable transport over the Internet to be used for meaningful exchange between participants in support of meaningful use. Learn more about this initiative by going to their website www.directproject.org. The Direct Project is another opportunity that will continue keeping the clinical documentation sector involved on the Federal roadmap for health information exchange. Click http://mtia.com/mdevideo.cfm for more information on the Medical Data Exchange or contact mdex@icsalabs.com to learn how your business can join the Exchange.