AHDI Lounge

In August 2006, the AAMT House of Delegates voted to change our name to Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity and open membership up to a broader sector of healthcare professionals involved in healthcare documentation and data capture. Then CEO Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, had stated: "The greatest opportunities for improving health and healthcare lie in enabling information exchange across healthcare facilities. By broadening the scope of the association's mission, building stronger alliances between clinical information specialists and documentation experts, and promoting a new brand for the association to our healthcare publics, we have a greater opportunity for obtaining increased relevance in a transforming marketplace." 1

With implementation of the electronic health record, we have already seen MTs transition to become abstractors, medical record editors, chart analysts, healthcare informaticians, and many others, as shown in our newly released EHR Future Roles survey. "While some things cannot be predicted, most experts agree that the demand for data integrity will only increase, creating an opportunity for the risk-management skill set of the medical transcriptionist."2

As our roles in healthcare documentation evolve and the range of services medical transcriptionists are able to offer broaden, a natural next step is to position ourselves for these changing roles. This can take shape in a variety of ways, and as your professional association, we are promoting a new umbrella title—healthcare documentation specialists—to help shift perceptions in the marketplace on the value, skills, and body of knowledge we bring to the table. In essence, we're encouraging a rebranding of the medical transcriptionist title to help shed any erroneous perceptions and to promote our vital role in preserving the integrity of healthcare documentation among hospital administrators, physicians, clinicians, EHR vendors, employers, and consumers.

What is a healthcare documentation specialist?
The broad and extensive responsibilities and services performed by healthcare documentation specialists serve critical roles in the creation of accurate and comprehensive patient care records. The healthcare documentation specialist, also called medical transcriptionist, understands medical language, clinical practice, and the basics of health IT, with résumés and credentials attesting to that expertise. The healthcare documentation specialist is well versed in the requirements of HIPAA and HITECH, and the workflow and processes in clinical documentation. At the front of the healthcare documentation continuum, healthcare documentation specialists apply their knowledge and expertise to perform a variety of roles in patient data capture.

A healthcare documentation specialist 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 healthcare 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 healthcare documentation. To some extent, then, the title healthcare documentation specialist recognizes not only new realities of the workplace but also evolving thinking among educators.

To that end, we encourage an open mind to the change in and use of terminology that encompasses multiple specialty roles under one umbrella. The Credentialing Development Team, the governing body for AHDI's credentials, is exploring possible future name changes to the RMT and CMT credentials. For now, the RMT and CMT remain unchanged. Furthermore, AHDI is currently developing a position paper on the value of healthcare documentation specialists and equitable compensation practices. With an anticipated release at ACE 2012 in early August, stay tuned to AHDI communications for the announcement of its availability.

References

1. AAMT to Change its Name, Purpose and Structure to Promote Integrity in Healthcare Documentation. August 2006. http://ahdionline.org/Portals/0/downloads/PressRelease081006.pdf 
2. Healthcare and the Electronic IT Revolution web page. EHR Readiness Toolkit. Accessed January 12, 2012. http://www.ahdionline.org/ProfessionalPractices/IndustryNewsTrends/ElectronicHealthRecord/tabid/267/Default.aspx
3. What's in a Name: You Might be Surprised. Cynthia Alder. Advance for Health Information Professionals. 26 April 2012. http://health-information.advanceweb.com/Columns/AHDI-Track/Whats-in-a-Name-You-Might-be-Surprised.aspx.

May 18, 2012

Dear Fellow District 1 Members:

As some of you may know, I have recently been through a patch of ill health, including a week's hospital stay here in Yuma. At this time I still don't have a firm diagnosis, but I'm facing what I suspect will be a long road of ongoing testing and treatment for cardiac and neurological symptoms. As part of my commitment to better health, I've realized I must re-prioritize my lifestyle and seek out a more stress-free routine. With that in mind, I have reluctantly decided to submit my resignation as your District 1 representative on the AHDI National Leadership Board, effective immediately. While I believe we've made some great strides in a positive direction during my time on the NLB, I'm truly sorry that I will not be able to fulfill the two-year commitment I made when you elected me last year. My intention is to continue to stay involved in AHDI in one way or another, and I hope you all will continue to do the same.

Thank you for your support and encouragement during this time of transition in my life. Best wishes to all of you, and thank you for allowing me to represent such a great district!

Jay Vance, CMT, CHP

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On behalf of the National Leadership Board, we wish Jay all the best and a speedy recovery. We thank him for his leadership and volunteer service as AHDI's District 1 Director; he will be greatly missed on the Board. The National Leadership Board will be moving quickly to appoint a District 1 Director for the remainder of the term, which ends August 31, 2013. Visit the AHDI website to view the District map.

Sincerely,

Sherry Doggett
AHDI President

Greetings from your National Leadership Board (NLB)! Our meeting on May 10th was held with the following highlights brought to you as another communication outlet to keep you informed of tasks we are working on.

BOARD UPDATES: We are pleased to announce Jill Devrick as the newest member of the national leadership board. Jill currently works as Product Solutions Advisor for 3M, is the chair of the Managers/Supervisors Alliance, and joined the NLB in April 2012 to fulfill the board position and term vacant by Lisa Tunzi’s resignation. We welcome Jill as a director at large. AHDI’s governance and component association policies and procedures were reviewed and the updates went to a motion, and were passed. Working closely with the board, the Bylaws committee submitted recommendations for updates and those were passed as well. A summary of the changes will be posted on the AHDI website and distributed by email to our component officers very soon.

EXTERNSHIP WHITE PAPER PROPOSAL: Betsy Ertel, AHDI-F, chair of AHDI’s Educators Alliance Steering Committee, presented on the proposal for an externship program white paper. She shared the many benefits of publishing and providing an excellent road map for bridging the gap for students graduating from an approved school to becoming a work-ready MT. A motion was made, seconded and passed to proceed with this well-thought out and much needed white paper.

FUTURE ROLES SURVEY: AHDI President Sherry Doggett presented on the findings of this survey, which was conducted in conjunction with Gary David, PhD, of Bentley University. It provides excellent guidance for further analysis of the data gleaned from the survey, and AHDI’s Managers/Supervisors Alliance will work through next steps in evolving the data into potential future roles in healthcare documentation.

ACE UPDATE: There is popular demand to continue on with a well-attended session from last year’s ACE and that is The Great Debate. Topics to include in this year’s debate were discussed and we are looking for additional subject-matter to make this year’s debate another lively exchange. ACE 2013 is confirmed now for the Buena Vista Palace in Orlando, Florida. We are inviting our members to help select a theme for this event. We are all very happy to be returning to Florida for our annual convention.

FINANCES: Bonnie Monico provided a treasurer’s report on current outstanding accounts payable along with continued successful reductions to overall debt.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES: Karen Fox-Acosta, CMT, AHDI-F, President-elect, proposed a special one-hour meeting to cover the strategic plan and priorities in order to give it adequate time for review, update and revision. Following the Board’s review of the draft at the special meeting, we will seek input from AHDI member volunteers before the updated plan is finalized.

MEANINGFUL USE STAGE 2: Fox-Acosta updated the NLB that AHDI has supported the Health Story Project comments, which were submitted to ONC (Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT).

OFFICER ELECTIONS: The timeline for this year’s NLB officer elections will be during the board meeting at ACE. Letters of intent are to be submitted to Sherry Doggett, AHDI President, by July 30, 2012.
NEXT: The next regularly scheduled NLB meeting is June 14, 2012, and as always, gallery members are welcome to participate.

The AHDI Nominating Committee has completed its work evaluating and interviewing all candidates for AHDI's National Leadership Board. We are excited to announce the following candidates for this year's election:

At-Large Director – 3 open positions for the term September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2015

• Jo-Ann Clarke, CMT
• Tamara Dicks, CMT
• Susan Dooley, CMT, AHDI-F
• Pat McCarver, CMT, AHDI-F
• Tamorah Moore, CMT, AHDI-F
• Candice Olbrych, CMT

The online polls will open in mid-June, at which time voting members will receive an email with a link to cast your vote. You can read more about the candidates here. AHDI members will elect three of the candidates to serve as national leaders of AHDI, who will shape the future direction of the association and represent our members on the Board. Please note that the following membership categories may vote in national elections: individual professional, student, post-graduate, and sustaining. Please take time to get to know the candidates so you will be able to cast an informed vote this June!

Meet the Candidates Webinars

Please join us for two webinars to meet the six candidates running for at-large positions on the National Leadership Board. AHDI members will have a chance to hear a brief introduction from each candidate and then listen to their responses to two questions.

Webinar 1:	Meet the Candidates – Session 1 Wednesday, May 16, 2012 2:00 – 3:00 pm Eastern Tamara Dicks, CMT Susan Dooley, CMT, AHDI-F Pat McCarver, CMT, AHDI-F Register now!
Webinar 2:	Meet the Candidates – Session 2 Thursday, May 24, 2012 5:00 –6:00 pm Eastern Jo-Ann Clarke, CMT Tamorah "Tammy" Moore, CMT, AHDI-F Candice "Candy" Olbrych, CMT Register now!

Thank you to the Nominating Committee for their tireless effort in securing a fantastic group of candidates for terms starting September 1, 2012.

We wish all the candidates luck at the polls!

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.