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Every year in May, AHDI celebrates the critical role that healthcare documentation specialists play in the accurate capture and documentation of patient encounter information. In light of our shifting economy, the evolution of enabling technologies (like the EHR and SRT), and the workforce challenges our sector is facing, AHDI is urging all stakeholders in our sector to acknowledge the critical role that an interpretive, skilled knowledge worker will continue to play in the electronic future of healthcare delivery.

As we celebrate the impact MTs and editors have on the accurate capture of clinical data, AHDI is calling all healthcare documentation workers to prepare for the future of our industry – to be ready to step in to the new roles that will emerge in the EHR. It is the interpretive clinical knowledge of this skilled worker that we believe will continue to make the difference between risk and quality in healthcare documentation.

To that end, AHDI is promoting our MT Week theme, Knowledge is Everything - calling all students, postgraduates, and working MTs in the industry to embrace the path of greatest potential relevance in the future:

• Graduate from an ACCP-approved school.
• Earn your RMT credential upon graduating from your MT program.
• Adopt Benchmark KB to stay on the cutting edge of clinical information.
• Become an AHDI member and get engaged in professional development and lifelong learning.
• Embrace level II credentialing through the CMT credentialing exam.

Industry experts agree that in the technology-driven documentation future, traditional transcription will give way to a hybrid role of narrative transcription, template and SRT draft editing, accuracy analysis, and data abstracting, with the long-term goal of creating cost-saving efficiency in healthcare delivery. This means the industry will demand fewer documentation professionals to manage the same workload, and that only the most skilled, interpretive, credentialed documentation professionals will be selected for those roles. Will you be one of them?

How can I promote this campaign in 2009?
First and foremost, if you are missing any of the critical components outlined above in your career portfolio, celebrate National Medical Transcriptionist Week by doing something important for yourself. Get that RMT or CMT credential you’ve been meaning to pursue. Invest the $11.25 per month in AHDI membership so that you can get connected and stay connected to what’s happening in this sector. At a time when changes in technology and healthcare delivery are so unpredictable, it’s even more important than ever to make sure you are “in the know” about your professional future and how these changes will impact you. Take a close look at Benchmark KB, a web service designed specifically to empower you as a working MT or editor, make you more productive, and keep those knowledge-building resources at your fingertips.

If you’ve already done all of those things, reach out to an industry colleague who needs to embrace long-term career planning. Invite that colleague to an AHDI local, state/regional, or national meeting. Get a few colleagues together and join AHDI on Capitol Hill at the 2009 Advocacy Summit. Or bring those friends to the 31st Annual Convention & Expo in Nashville in August, where you can engage in critical industry networking, benefit from educational sessions to prepare you for the future, and develop the connections that can open many doors of opportunity in our sector. Perhaps you know an MT who is hesitant about credentialing. Celebrate MT week this year by becoming a mentor and helping that friend get credentialed this year. No matter what, you can contribute to the future of our industry.

Component groups are encouraged to be innovative in connecting these goals to your MT Week celebrations. Make sure chapter members, colleagues, and employers are aware of this important career path. Engage all stakeholders at your local, state/regional, or institutional level in dialogue about the future of the industry and how best to help all members of our industry transition through this process so that no one is left behind.

* Download the MT Week poster above – Upwords: The Game Where Knowledge is Everything in the related links box at the top right of this page.

Attending ACE in Nashville?
Join us on Thursday, July 30, 2009, in Nashville for our Knowledge is Everything Scrabble™ night! Bring a group of chapter members, coworkers, and/or friends for a fun night of Scrabble™, pizza, and social networking with industry peers, where we’ll put our love of words and our industry “knowledge” to the test!