What We've Been Up to Since Advocacy Summit

AHDI and CDIA members on Capitol Hill in May were eager to get the support of our nation’s leaders around the importance of a comprehensive, accurate health story. In addition to sharing our collateral materials around Capturing America’s Healthcare Story, advocates on the Hill sought specific support from legislators. Members of Congress were asked to submit a letter to Dr. Mostashari, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, with the request that ONC take the patient narrative into account in developing standards for EHR systems. Over 74 legislative offices indicated an interest in providing this level of support, all of whom have now been provided a draft letter for review and signature, and early feedback is very promising. We’re excited to announce that Congressman Bob Filner, 51st District, California, was the first to submit a letter to ONC in support of our message:

Filner Letter to Farzad Mostashari, MD, ScM

Congratulations to the AHDI/CDIA members from California whose advocacy efforts with this office led to such an immediate statement of support.

Legislative Tracking
AHDI/CDIA advocacy staff is diligently tracking all outgoing and inbound emails and phone calls to ensure that consistent communication with these legislative offices continues. Keeping our organizations and key messages on the "radar" of legislative contacts is an important part of what we are doing in followup to our Advocacy Summit. To that end, we are now using Basecamp, a web access project management platform, to track all legislative contacts and will be coordinating these efforts with the Legislative Leaders for each state.

Legislative Issues Group (LIG):
Now the Advocacy Alliance!
Given the strong participation of our new Legislative Leaders Program, we are migrating our Legislative Issues Group to an alliance format. The new Advocacy Alliance will be open to anyone in either AHDI or CDIA who wants to stay connected to advocacy information or engage in advocacy dialogue. You do not have to be a Legislative Leader or an active advocate to join or participate in discussions. Regular monthly meetings will now be held by the Legislative Leaders Program (see below) and the leaders who chair that steering committee:

AHDI Chair: Sheryl Williams, CMT, AHDI-F
CDIA Chair: Steve Gaus
Board Liaison: Karen L. Fox-Acosta, CMT, AHDI-F
Staff Liaison: Lea M. Sims, CMT, AHDI-F

Legislative Leader Program
On the heels of Advocacy Summit, interest and participation in the Legislative Leader Program is growing. If your state does not currently have a Legislative Leader assigned and you have an interest in fulfilling this role, check out our Become an Advocate page for more information about the role as well as resources available for those who participate and contact Miranda Chalabi (mchalabi@ahdionline.org) to get connected to the program. Look for information about our Legislative Tracking Training webinars for Legislative Leaders in the next week or two.

Not Too Late to Follow Up!
If you participated in legislative visits at the Advocacy Summit and have not yet sent a followup/thank-you letter to your legislator or legislative aide, please do so as soon as you can. A personal followup from a constituent is an important part of establishing long-term, productive relationships with our legislative offices. If you need some help drafting your followup, use the template below:

Advocacy Summit Followup Letter to Legislators

District Connections
Meeting with your Senators and Representatives when they return to their districts will be critical to spending more one-on-one time with those officials and connecting our advocacy messages to what’s going on in your local area. Check out the dates for Senate and House recess coming up soon:

Senate Recess Dates
July 4-10, 2011
August 8 – September 5, 2011
September 26 – October 2, 2011

House Recess Dates
June 27 – July 5, 2011
July 18-24, 2011
August 8 – September 5, 2011
September 26 – October 2, 2011

Begin making plans now to secure face time with your legislator during these recess periods.

Featured Breakout Sessions at ACE 2011

What Every MT Should Know About Privacy & Security Rules and Requirements
Friday, August 19, 2011
2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Barbara Perrett, RHIA, CCS, CHP, CHC

This session will update your knowledge of the privacy rule and the HITECH Act’s more stringent requirements for enforcement. You will gain the knowledge to be prepared to meet privacy rule requirements. Government regulations often seem like an alphabet soup: HIPAA, PHI, TPO, NPI, BAA, HITECH. What are the distinctions between Privacy/Confidentiality; Passwords/Encryption; Breach/HIPAA violation; Business Associate/Business Associate Agreement? Can you define these terms? Should you care about them? Do you know how or if they impact you? Do you need a BAA? What are the penalties? What is included in the HIPAA Privacy Rule, Security Rule, and the additional elements in the HITECH act? Having the knowledge about privacy regulations in health care is critical with the increasing government emphasis on enforcement. Come hear the answers to these questions and more as Barbara helps you to navigate the sea of government privacy regulations and to learn how to protect yourself.

Barbara Perrett, RHIA, CCS, CHP, CHC, is a corporate ethics & compliance consultant for University Physicians Healthcare in Tucson, Arizona. She has previous compliance experience with University Medical Center and was the compliance and privacy officer at Tucson Medical Center. Her credentials are in management, coding, privacy, and compliance. She has 25 years’ experience in acute care and rehabilitation hospitals in Georgia and Arizona as director of health information management. Barbara served as the regional HIM advisor for 13 rehab hospitals in the western U.S. She was also the HIM consultant for 5 renal dialysis centers in Atlanta, writing policies and procedures and monitoring compliance with documentation regulations. Barbara has been a speaker for state HIM conventions in two states, a national audio conference for HCPro, and two World Research Group seminars. Her innovative solutions to health information management issues have been published in a number of healthcare newsletters.

---

Emerging Therapies in the Treatment of Low Back Pain
Saturday, August 20, 2011
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Presenter: Susan Sorosky, MD

The objectives of this lecture are to provide a background concerning low back pain, examine the disc as a pain generator in low back pain, review the diagnostic tools for discogenic low back pain, discuss the biomechanics and pathology of the intervertebral disc, review the current interventional treatments for discogenic low back pain including IDET and disc injection, and focus on the emerging therapies for low back pain including gene therapy and stem cell therapies.

Dr. Sorosky is a board-certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation specialist with additional board certification in Pain Management. She is the co-owner with her husband, Brad Sorosky, MD, of Desert Spine and Sports Physicians located in Phoenix and Mesa, Arizona. Her practice is dedicated to the nonsurgical diagnosis and treatment of spine, sports, and musculoskeletal pain and injury. She has consistently been recognized by her peers as a "Top Doc" by the Phoenix magazine for the last five years.

Register now!
View the Interactive Schedule
Visit ACE365—Your ACE 2011 Headquarters

New Merchandise Available!

Proud to be an MT? Stop by the AHDI Marketplace to see all of the great new merchandise available for MTs, credentialed MTs and Students/Postgrads. Pick up something for yourself or one of your coworkers!

ACE 2011 Early-Bird Rate Ends Soon--Register Now!

If you’re considering attending the 2011 AHDI Annual Convention & Expo (ACE) in Phoenix, don’t wait too much longer. The early-bird deadline is Monday, June 20. After that date registration prices will increase. Join your peers at ACE 2011, where we’ve designed a dynamic professional development and networking environment that will put you on the path to success. 2011 is your year to Learn, Evolve, and Shine.

View the Interactive Schedule of Events

Register Today

Visit ACE365 – Your ACE 2011 Headquarters

June Monthly Member Bonus Available Now!

You won’t want to miss this month’s member bonus benefit! We've put together four must-read articles on changing roles and best practices to empower your knowledge of the industry. Click here to view the articles. Note: Members must be logged into the AHDI website to view. Not a member? Join today!

Upcoming AHDI Webinars

June 8
Ensuring Compliance in the Medical Documentation Industry
Presenter: Scott Edelstein
Time: 1 PM PDT/4 PM EDT
Registration Close:June 7
CEC Given:1 ML

June 14
MT Intelligence: The Value of MTs in HIT Implementation
Presenter: Gary David, PhD
Time: 10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT
Registration Close: June 13
CEC Given: 1 TW

June 22
CMT and RMT: Steps to Credentialing
Presenter: Lea Sims
Time:1 PM PDT/4 PM EDT
Registration Close: June 21
CEC Given: n/a

July 6
Book of Style Boot Camp Series, Part 3: Specialty Standards & Technology
Presenter: Lea Sims
Time: 10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT
Registration Close: July 5
CEC Given: n/a

June Deal of the Month--Huge Discounts on our Ethical Standards!

For the entire month of June, we are blowing the doors off our Ethical Best Practices Standards! Not only are we offering over $25 off the price of the Resource Guide, but we’re offering Educational and Corporate members the opportunity to purchase the full manual at discounts ranging from $250 - $450 off the member price! If you have not purchased these guides, this is the time to do it. We may never have a deal this great again. Don’t let it pass you by.

The Resource Guide for Healthcare Documentation Specialists contains all content from the original Ethical Best Practices Manual for the Healthcare Documentation Sector that relates specifically to best practices for our workforce. Practice guidelines related to at-home HIPAA and regulatory compliance, compensation, employee vs. independent contractor status, and provision of services are all included in this resource guide for the working MT. Sample agreements and contracts, including business associate and noncompete/nonsolicitation agreements are included.

Note: This is a smaller supplement designed for medical transcriptionists and does not contain all contracts, guidelines, and customizable forms contained in the full Manual. MTSOs and independent contractors should refer to the full EBP Manual.

Fee: $49.99 for all AHDI members (Savings = $25.01 off regular list price)

Purchase Resource Guide!

AHDI congratulates those organizations that have incorporated the Manual of Ethical Best Practices for the Healthcare Documentation Sector into their business practices. For those who haven’t, there’s no time like the present. This vital standard includes the following:

• Best Practices Checklist
• Statement of Ethical Best Practices
• AHDI Code of Ethics
• CDIA Code of Ethics
• Best Practices in Operations
• Best Practices in Billing
• Best Practices in Compensation
• Best Practices in Marketing and Solicitation
• Employee vs. Independent Contractor Guidelines
• Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Guidelines
• Production Location Transparency Guidelines
• Sample Non-Solicitation & Non-Compete Agreement
• Best Practices in Legal and Regulatory Compliance
• Sample HIPAA Policies and Procedures
• Sample Business Associate Agreement
• Guidelines for Establishing a HIPAA-Compliant Home-Based Office
• U.S. 50-State Data Privacy Survey

Program documents included in this guide will help medical transcription companies ensure they are compliant with the new HIPAA regulations and operating in a manner consistent with ethical best practices. In addition, the program will help demonstrate to the healthcare industry and government officials that AHDI members are committed to safeguarding the privacy, security, and integrity of patient health information.

View a sample of the content Included in the manual. This sample shows the HIPAA Policy & Procedure Table of Contents and one of the actual policy documents. The HIPAA Policy & Procedures alone encompass over 170 pages of content out of the 18 sections within this manual.

This program carries a value that could easily cost a company tens of thousands of dollars. Click here to order your copy of the manual today.

Fee: $500 Educational/Corporate members (Savings = $250 - $450 on member pricing. This guide retails for $4000.)

Power Up! CQE Prep Workshop at ACE 2011

Featured Workshop:

Power Up! CQE Prep Workshop
Friday, August 19, 2011
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Presenter: Lea Sims, CMT, AHDI-F

What is the CQE? If you are an acute-care MT with more than 2 years’ experience and a desire to sit for the CMT exam, changes in credentialing policy now require you to demonstrate RMT (level 1) competency before moving on to the level 2 CMT exam content. To make this easier for CMT candidates, we are offering a fast track exam option that will allow candidates to sit for both the RMT and CMT exams in a single exam session—the Credential Qualifying Exam (CQE). With new exam blue prints and exam prep materials available for public consumption and candidate preparation, we are pleased to announce a new workshop available at ACE 2011 in Phoenix.

This two-hour interactive workshop is designed to walk CQE candidates through both exam blue prints, take the fear out of exam preparation, and give candidates an organizational approach to studying both the RMT and CMT exams. Workshop attendees will receive tips, strategies, and practice exercises that will give you a better understanding of what to expect on AHDI credentialing exams. In addition, all attendees will receive a "Power Pack" resource kit, filled with exam prep items from either of the two workshop bundle options below. Choose from one of the following:

CQE Workshop Package 1—The Basic Power Pack includes:

• CQE Prep Workshop – Friday, August 19
• RMT Exam Guide
• CMT Exam Guide
• Book of Style Workbook
  
Total = $90 on or before August 1 and $135 after August 1

CQE Workshop Package 2—The Complete Power Pack includes:

• CQE Prep Workshop – Friday, August 19
• RMT Exam Guide
• CMT Exam Guide
• Book of Style Workbook
• CMT Prep CD I
• CMT Prep CD II
• CMT Prep CD III
  
Total = $150 on or before August 1 and $225 after August 1

Don’t miss this phenomenal opportunity for resources and hands-on exam guidance and support. For anyone serious about becoming credentialed, this workshop is a "must see" session at ACE. After the workshop, stop by the AHDI Pavilion to have your products signed by the authors and chat about testing. This workshop is a separately ticketed item not included with Full Registration.

Register Online

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

Payment Plan Option for ACE 2011 Expires Tuesday - Register Now!

AHDI members purchasing a full conference registration may pay for their registration fee in three equal payments over a three-month period. To utilize this special option, you must register using the Payment Plan Registration Form. The payment plan option expires on May 31, 2011 – register today!

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

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

ACE 2011 - Interactive Schedule Now Available!

The Annual Convention & Exposition (ACE) 2011 program committee is comprised of a group of volunteer healthcare documentation professionals that share your passion for this profession. They’ve hand-picked the most pertinent, hard-hitting session topics aimed at meeting your needs as a modern MT. Attend ACE 2011 and leave Phoenix empowered by the knowledge you’ve gained and re-energized by the connection you’ve re-established with your industry and peers. Join us in Phoenix where you, too, can Learn, Evolve and Shine!

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

Celebrate MT Week with….Other MTs!!

We know that the at-home nature of medical transcription can often be an isolated, disconnected occupation, with few opportunities to interact and network with colleagues who understand and appreciate your professional experience. There is no better way to “associate” with industry colleagues and build professional relationships than through membership in AHDI. AHDI members all around the country are gathering this week at component meetings and state conferences to celebrate the contributory value of MTs in healthcare and to build and sustain the relationships they’ve made through the association. Won’t you join them?

If you want to make a meaningful investment in your career, consider beginning that journey with AHDI membership. Visit our Why Join AHDI? page to learn more about the value of membership and the benefits you’ll receive as a member. If you join during the month of May, you’ll be eligible to receive the May benefit of the month. AHDI members seeking access to our credentialing exams will have their eligibility fee waived for the month of May. If you’re planning to take an exam, membership means saving money on your exam. Don’t miss out!

Hey, MTs! You Make a Difference!

Very few people truly understand the important contribution you make every day to the safety and well-being of the American patient. The accuracy and integrity of America’s healthcare story is entrusted to your capable hands every day. AHDI salutes your attention to detail, critical thinking, and commitment to regulatory compliance as you preserve these health stories.

Show off your valuable contribution to America’s healthcare story by displaying it proudly on a T-shirt, mug, or keychain. Purchase items with our MT Week slogan: America’s healthcare story is in good hands….Mine. Visit the AHDI Marketplace to place an order today!

MT Week…Make it Count!

How can you make an impact in your corner of the world during this MT Week? Get credentialed. Our healthcare delivery system places a high value on the credentials that testify to your skills and training. AHDI is committed to helping all healthcare documentation specialists realize this goal and want to make it easier for working MTs to make this a reality.

Are you a recent graduate or new to the profession? Set your sights on the Registered Medical Transcriptionist Exam. You can find out more by visiting our Credentialing pages and purchasing the RMT Review Guide: A Walk Through the Blue Print to kick off your exam preparation.

Are you an acute care MT with more than 2 years’ experience at the hospital level? Demonstrate to your employer and/or clients that you have been trained and credentialed in advanced clinical medicine, SRT editing, and regulatory compliance by sitting for the Level 2 CMT exam. Find out more by visiting our Credentialing pages or taking advantage of our special MT Week offer on the CMT Exam Guide (located on the AHDI homepage)

Payment Plan for ACE 2011 Registration Available through May 31

Money is very tight for all of us these days. We have taken that fact into consideration and have developed a payment plan option available for AHDI members purchasing a full conference registration to the 2011 Annual Convention & Exposition (ACE) in Phoenix, Arizona. Register before May 31 using the payment plan registration form and pay for your ACE 2011 full conference registration in three equal, monthly payments. We feel strongly that ACE is absolutely critical to the growth and development of today’s healthcare documentation professionals. Given the challenges we face in this industry with the landscape of our profession evolving at a rapid pace, it is the Annual Convention & Exposition that provides us with the forum to showcase all of the industry-related topics, technologies, and information you need to stay ahead of the curve in the healthcare documentation field. Join us in Phoenix where you can Learn… Evolve… and Shine.

View the ACE 2011 Interactive Schedule

Visit ACE 365 – Your ACE 2011 Headquarters

MT Week: Celebrating You!

Medical transcriptionists and editors make a high-impact contribution to patient safety and coordinated care every day by making sure patient care encounters are captured and recorded accurately and securely. But with the evolution of electronic health record systems (EHRs), the traditional role of the MT is transitioning to a hybrid one, where advanced clinical knowledge and orientation to emerging technologies will be critical. One of the most rapidly evolving roles for MTs is in the area of speech recognition (SR) editing. Whether or not you are currently asked to apply your knowledge and skills to the editing of SRT draft documents, it’s highly likely you will be at some point in your career.

Celebrate yourself during MT week by treating yourself to some professional pampering. Give your skills an upgrade by learning SRT editing to enhance your professional portfolio. To support you in this effort, AHDI and TRSi are offering an MT Week special for our SRT Editing Course - $100 off the June SRT course if you register during the month of May.

The History of MT Week - Celebrating 26 Years!

Established in 1985 by proclamation from then President Ronald Reagan, National Medical Transcriptionist Week is celebrated annually in the third week of May to bring public and industry-wide attention to the role and contribution of medical transcriptionists in healthcare delivery and clinical documentation. MTs around the country embrace this week as an opportunity to show their support of each other, and MT employers, managers and clients are encouraged to likewise celebrate their medical transcriptionists in the workplace in a unique and special way as well as by participating in national initiatives that promote the profession. This year marks the 26th year medical transcriptionists have had their profession officially recognized.

Find out more about our MT Week campaign to showcase the work of MTs in preserving America’s healthcare story. Check out our MT Week page! Also check the AHDI Home Page each day this week for more MT week information and special deals!

Upcoming AHDI Webinars

May 17
Transcription – Continued Relevance in Clinical Documentation Today
Presenter: Lynn Kosegi
Time: 10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT
Registration Close: May 16
CEC Given: 1 PD

May 18
Your Association, Your Benefits
Presenter: Miranda Chalabi
Time: 10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT
Registration Close: May 17
CEC Given: n/a

June 8
Ensuring Compliance in the Medical Documentation Industry
Presenter: Scott Edelstein
Time: 1 PM PDT/4 PM EDT
Registration Close: June 7
CEC Given: 1 ML

June 14
MT Intelligence: The Value of MTs in HIT Implementation
Presenter: Gary David, PhD
Time: 10 AM PDT/1 PM EDT
Registration Close: June 13
CEC Given: 1 TW

June 22
CMT and RMT: Steps to Credentialing - Webinar
Presenter: Lea Sims, CMT, AHDI-F
Time: 1 PM PDT/4 PM EDT
Registration Close: June 21
CEC Given: n/a

Visit AHDI Webinars for full details.

May Deal of the Month - CMT Exam Guide, NEW!

What better way to embrace excellence and reward yourself for your commitment to continuing education by getting credentialed! In coordination with National MT Week initiatives regarding credentialing, we are excited to release this eagerly anticipated resource! The CMT Exam Guide for blue print orientation and exam prep is now available for presale purchase! Written under AHDI’s new exam blue print for the Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) exam, this text provides a structured approach to understanding the cognitive assessment (multiple-choice) domains for the exam. For each Level 2 objective, users will find:

• Statement of Objective from the CMT Blue Print
• Recommendations for Focused Study
• CMT Blue Print Checklist
• “BONUS” EHR Glossary
• Sample Questions for Each Objective
• Detailed Appendices
• Complete Start-to-Finish CMT Practice Test

To show you how committed we are to getting and keeping you credentialed, we’re throwing in the digital Medicolegal CEC Bundle for the first 200 people who purchase the book during the presale month of May. The Medicolegal CEC bundle is valued at $20 and worth 3 CECs. Order your copy today, this freebie will not last!

Guides are estimated to ship in early June. Order your copy today and receive the complimentary Medicolegal CEC bundle FREE!

Fee: $35 eligible members / $50 list price

Purchase the CMT Exam Guide NOW!

AHDI Marketplace is Now Open - Get Your MT Week Gear!

The AHDI Marketplace is opening its doors to the public. Shop for tees, home office items, and more that have the AHDI logo or the ACE 2011 logo. It’s also the place to get your National MT Week logo items. You can purchase items for your own MT Week celebrations especially the commemorative MT Week T-shirt. Visit the Café Press Store online and check back frequently for new additions!

Shop Now!

Employers – Don’t miss your chance to order MT Week items to honor and acknowledge your awesome MTs, editors, and QA staff!