Mastering the EHR Course

The Mastering the Electronic Health Record (EHR) course is a 10-week intermediate preparatory course consisting of weekly review, assignments, exercises, and quizzes to test your understanding of the material presented. Course-takers will have an understanding of the learning outcomes for each chapter, implore skill-building techniques through exercises designed to navigate you through the EHR program, learn about current topics in health care, and develop critical-thinking skills through comprehension of applied concepts of using an EHR and testing those skills through the online exercises and activities provided.

Register now for the upcoming course.

2014 Conference: January Super Early-Bird Special

Healthcare Documentation Integrity Conference
July 23-26, 2014
The M Resort ♦ Las Vegas, NV

Unleash your passion for capturing America's healthcare stories.
Feed your desire to learn.
Ignite your confidence. Chase your dreams.

Think of attending AHDI’s Conference as your own mini sabbatical—carving out "me" time to nurture your mind, explore what’s changed, and learn what lies ahead. A place where great minds think alike, uniting you with fellow healthcare documentation specialists who share your commitment to excellence in documenting patient care.

7 Reasons to Attend

1. Learn about trends in healthcare documentation to augment your career planning.
2. Meet with recruiters about employment opportunities and gain insight into the changing dynamics of the job market.

3. Boost your job performance by strengthening your knowledge across the clinical medicine specialties.
4. Engage in discussions on important issues affecting MTs and formulate solutions by brainstorming with fellow attendees.
5. Visit with exhibitors to see the latest tools, technology, and services to improve your efficiency, grow your business, and spark your creativity.
6. Celebrate the profession and make new friends at social events during the conference.
7. Continue your commitment to lifelong learning and earn continuing education credits to support your certification.

Visit the website to see the schedule at a glance, current list of sponsors and exhibitors, and to download the justification kit.

Register by January 31 to save more than 20% off the regular registration rate.

AHDI and AHIMA Announce New Skills For a New Era

Survey Finds Electronic Health Records Key to Transcriptionists’ New Career Paths

New speech and language processing technologies have dramatically changed the traditional work of medical transcriptionists, the health information professionals who prepare the records of patients’ health stories from clinicians’ dictations.

“The skills of a transcriptionist—to listen and be detailed- and research-oriented, with a familiarity of medical terminology and disease process—are still in critical need in HIM departments during this time of healthcare transformation,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “The transcriptionists that can demonstrate agility by moving into a new position can carve out a valuable niche for themselves.” Read the full press release.

Introduction to the EHR Playbook--Webinar

The EHR is shaking up medical transcription departments around the country. As a manager, supervisor, or small business owner, it's imperative for you to prepare and learn how to internally and externally market the value of your workforce and services. A new ebook from AHDI will be launching soon to guide you through critical steps to be "EHR ready."

Register now for the Introduction to the EHR Playbook webinar March 28, where seasoned experts from AHDI's Managers/Supervisors Alliance who authored this essential guide will discuss future roles for your healthcare documentation workforce, value added marketing, and quality assurance issues and policies.

Bonus Deal--Explore the EHR for 10% Off!

Introduction to the EHR is one of our most sought-after online courses, and this month we're giving you the chance to experience it for yourself in September at 10% off!

You will obtain hands-on experience with the EHR technology, helping you overcome your fears, teaching you to effectively utilize information technology and medical terms as they apply to electronic health records, and so much more!

Need more convincing? Download "Transitioning to the EHR," a free introductory webinar to find out first-hand what you'll learn in this great course, and sign up for the September "Introduction to the EHR today!

Experience the EHR in Action

Experience EHR in action and leave your fears of the unknown behind! Introduction to the Electronic Health Record is a 7-week course that will introduce you to the EHR in a way that you didn’t think possible — with hands-on experience. Learning your place in this ever-changing industry is key to properly placing yourself in future roles. Explore how this new technology relates to our industry and familiarize yourself with the terminology in order to increase your value in the marketplace.

This introductory course, developed and taught by the EHR Training Academy, is the perfect way to experience the EHR in action and understand how your existing skill set can be transferred to roles of the future.

AHDI Eligible Members: $100

List Price: $125

Introduction to the EHR Online Course (December/January)

December 1, 2011 – January 31, 2012

Registration closes November 15, 2011

You will receive a welcome email and instructions prior to the start of the course.

Introduction to the EHR Online Course (January/February)

January 1, 2012 – February 29, 2012

Registration closes December 15, 2011

You will receive a welcome email and instructions prior to the start of the course.

The MT's Role in Real-Time EHR Documentation at ACE 2011

Featured Breakout Session:

The MT’s Role in Real-Time EHR Documentation
Friday, August 19, 2011
9:45 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Joe Weber, MS, MBA


The future for medical transcriptionists is said to be threatened by speech recognition but much more so by EHRs. Physicians dislike point-and-click data entry, and documenting into a computer makes them far less productive, but there are strong market forces pushing them in that direction. This session introduces an innovative approach to clinical documentation within an EHR, introducing a new type of professional called a Medical Coordinator (MC) that leverages the medical language expertise of MTs. MCs listen to clinical encounters from a remote location via a secure audio-transmission system. They are intensively trained in EHR documentation, combining relevant free text for the Subjective and Objective sections with codified input for the Assessment and Plan, with the documentation appearing on monitors in the exam room. MCs can also handle the coding and other important functions. MCs actually determine how the encounter should be documented, thereby migrating into a critical role in the future of health care.

Joe Weber is CEO of Valadoc, The Medical Coordinator Company. During his 40 years in the healthcare industry, Joe has been engaged in medical research, hospital administration, biotechnology, consulting, and marketing – with a heavy focus since the 1980s in dictation, transcription, speech recognition, and natural-language technologies. Joe has published and presented extensively on a variety of topics, mostly related to clinical documentation, is the holder of 3 U.S. patents, one of which was for Smartype. He is a founding member of the prestigious Davies EHR Excellence Award Program of HIMSS and has served on the board of directors of the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA).

Register before the early-bird deadline (June 20, 2011) to secure the lowest registration rate available!

View the Interactive Schedule

Visit ACE365—Your ACE 2011 Headquarters

EHR Readiness Tool Kit

Are you an MT preparing for emerging and evolving roles in the EHR? Did you know that AHDI has an EHR Readiness Tool Kit to assist you in promoting the value of your services as EHR facilitators? This tool kit is designed to orient healthcare documentation workers to the electronic health record, what it means to healthcare organizations seeking to adopt an EHR, and what an MT needs to know in order to prepare for that transition as a member of the health information management team. Each downloadable file will provide MTs with information, resources, and expert opinions on how to navigate this transition.

We also recently added a one-page flyer that is designed to assist MTs in promoting the value of their services as EHR facilitators. An MT who has utilized the tool kit to prepare for EHR integration can be of significant contributory value to a physician or clinic that is looking at the challenges of adoption. The MTs as EHR Facilitators flyer can be downloaded, duplicated, and distributed to clients, employers, and colleagues to promote this emerging role for MTs.

Health Story Project Founder Lands Contract with ONC

Alschuler Associates, a founding partner and executive committee member of The Health Story Project, was recently awarded a contract (in partnership with Deloitte, LLC) with the Office for the National Coordinator (ONC) to support standards development and harmonization of EHR adoption/integration. The selection of a Health Story Project administrator in this role is important news to the healthcare documentation sector at a time when having advocates for codified narrative in the EHR is so critical to this sector’s messaging about preservation of the patient story. Alschuler will be uniquely positioned to impact dialogue around certification of EHRs and the integration of narrative reporting in the adoption strategy of providers seeking solutions that meet meaningful use criteria. AHDI extends its congratulations to Liora Alschuler for this accomplishment.

Associations Promote Start-to-Finish Quality Standards

On the heels of the recently announced final rules for meaningful use of EHR systems, implementable standards for improving the quality of the healthcare documentation process have been released this week by AHDI in collaboration with AHIMA. The two associations are sending a message to the sector that accuracy in the capture process will be critical to making sure high-integrity information is consumed and repurposed in the EHR. Leaders from both associations, as well as contributors from MTIA, collaborated to produce Healthcare Documentation Quality Assessment and Management Practices, a resource for establishing a comprehensive transcription QA program for healthcare organizations. In addition, the association will be releasing the newly revised Dictation Best Practices Tool Kit, designed to assist healthcare facilities in improving dictation practices, thereby addressing quality from the document creation point to ensure quality reporting outcomes. The tool kit has been reviewed and endorsed by AHIMA and is being distributed through both association websites. AHDI promoted these new standards this week at its 32nd Annual Convention and Expo, August 4-7, 2010, in Austin, Texas. Read the full press release here.

Kaiser Completes EHR Implementation

Three Kaiser Permanente hospitals in northern California recently completed implementation of electronic health records, completing the organization's enterprise-wide inpatient and ambulatory adoption of EHRs that started with the first implementation in 2004.

As part of the initiative, Kaiser went live with personal health records software in 2007, and more than 3 million members logged in 27 million times in 2009 alone, according to the Oakland, Calif.-based organization. Outpatient EHR implementation in 431 facilities was complete in April 2008.

Twenty-four of Kaiser’s 36 hospitals have attained Stage 7, the highest level, on the HIMSS Analytics scale to measure IT adoption. Kaiser expects many, if not all, of the remaining hospitals to reach Stage 7 during 2010. Kaiser’s core EHR vendor is Epic Systems Corp., Verona, Wis. From Health Data Management.

EHR Regulations May Discourage IT Adoption: AHA

The American Hospital Association says the regulations proposed by federal administrators to use stimulus payments to encourage widespread adoption of electronic health-record systems may actually discourage many providers from even trying to use the technology.

The government’s proposed list of 23 measures to demonstrate so-called "meaningful use" of EHR systems is so daunting that even hospitals that already have long-established systems may not qualify for stimulus payments because regulators have proposed hospitals meet every criteria before they become eligible to receive the federal grants, according to the AHA. Read more at Modern Healthcare.

Lisa Grabert, senior associate director for policy at the American Hospital Association, will speak at the 5th annual AHDI/MTIA Advocacy Summit on Thursday, March 25. Cynthia Brown, vice president of government affairs for the American Medical Association, will also speak at the event. For more information about the Advocacy Summit, including details on hotel and registration, please click here. If you have any questions about the event, contact Greg Doggett at (859) 512-3284 or gdoggett@ahdionline.org.

Reid Drops Health IT Provision From Senate Job-Creation Bill

Health IT advocates and stakeholders from the health care industry have pledged to lobby to reinstate into a Senate jobs bill an amendment that would have made hospital-based physicians who provide outpatient care eligible to receive incentive payments for electronic health record usage under the HITECH Act, Modern Healthcare reports. The EHR incentive payments were included in the federal economic stimulus package last year. Read the full iHealthBeat story.

Webinar: The Consequences of "Meaningful Use" and EHR Certification for the Medical Transcription Sector

With great anticipation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services recently released proposed regulations on "meaningful use" and EHR certification. Physicians and healthcare enterprises would have to meet these regulations to qualify for billions of dollars in federal financial incentives for EHR adoption. The federal government’s efforts to spur EHR adoption have broad and sweeping consequences for medical transcription service owners and healthcare documentation professionals. During this webinar, Scott Shalett of the Dewey Square Group, the lobbying firm AHDI and MTIA have been working with since last June, and AHDI/MTIA CEO Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, will provide an overview of the consequences, what efforts are being made to position the medical transcription sector for success in the rapidly changing health IT landscape, and what you can do to support those efforts leading up to the 5th annual AHDI/MTIA Advocacy Summit from March 23 to 25 in Washington, DC. Please click here to register for this webinar.

AHDI Tool Kits—Impacting Professional Practices & Preparing for Future Roles

With the rapid evolution of emerging technologies reshaping how healthcare documentation is captured, secured, and repurposed, the need for transitional resources and practical guidelines that assist practitioners in preparing for and managing those changes has become important to both healthcare documentation professionals and the client providers for whom our industry provides its services. To that end, AHDI has developed several tool kit resources that address these evolving trends and the guidelines necessary to be "technology ready" in this sector. We encourage you to visit our AHDI Tool Kits section of the website to view all three tool kits available at your convenience. Check out these important resources below:

Dictation Best Practices (DBP)—Designed to help providers to improve dictation practices that impact "SRT readiness" and ongoing quality data capture. (Tool kit under revision; update coming soon.)

Personal Health Record Facilitator (PHR)—Designed to help MTs to transition to contributory roles assisting the general public with PHR creation and maintenance.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) —Designed to help MTs understand and prepare for emerging roles in the EHR.

The Cooperative Exchange Ensures that NHIN is Functional, Secure

The Cooperative Exchange said that the National Health Information Network (NHIN) superhighway currently exists through the inter- and intra-connectivity of its member organizations, and electronic health records (EHR) can currently be transferred between providers securely and efficiently.

The "gateways" or clearinghouses enable providers and other trading partners to establish connections with payers. The Cooperative Exchange has developed a collaborative environment among organizations that transmit a percentage of the health care electronic transactions through its member organization. Each year, claims clearinghouses and other electronic data interchange vendors electronically transmit billions of claims and related financial/administrative transactions among providers and payers. Read the full story at advanceweb.com.

Med Students Not Ready to Use EHRs: Study

Does the medical-school curriculum adequately prepare students to diagnose and treat patients using an electronic health record? That’s the question educators at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine set out to answer this year. The preliminary conclusion: probably not. As a result, the school may add course work to teach students how to incorporate the EHR into an encounter with a patient. Read more at ModernHealthcare.com.

AHDI and MTIA Co-Sponsors in Best Practices in Electronic Health Records Event

Join us February 3-5, 2010, in Boston, MA, for a gathering of healthcare professionals, providers, hospitals, healthcare systems, and state and federal health departments. This strategic business forum will highlight strategies for EMR Adopting and Use within Healthcare Organizations. This conference will show attendees how to overcome the challenges of implementing an EMR system, offer best practices in integration, streamline clinical processes, establish training guidelines for staff and personnel, and how to benchmark your success of the EMR system. To learn more or to register for this event, visit Active Communications International.

AHDI and MTIA Co-sponsors in Best Practices in Electronic Health Records Event

Join us February 3-5, 2010, in Boston, MA, for a gathering of healthcare professionals, providers, hospitals, healthcare systems, and state and federal health departments. This strategic business forum will highlight strategies for EMR Adopting and Use within Healthcare Organizations. This conference will show attendees how to overcome the challenges of implementing an EMR system, offer best practices in integration, streamline clinical processes, establish training guidelines for staff and personnel, and how to benchmark your success of the EMR system. To learn more or to register for this event, visit Active Communications International.

Medical Transcription Industry Celebrates Health IT Week

Washington, DC, November 3, 2009 – As health information managers and professionals across the country celebrate the health information & technology industry this week, the Association for Health Care Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and the Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA) announced their support for a healthcare reform package that improves electronic health records (EHRs) as well as patient safety. Read the full press release on the AHDI and MTIA websites.