Medical Transcription and Mandatory Credentialing
In August, the AHDI House of Delegates passed a resolution stating that the association “support the restriction of access to protected health information to properly credentialed individuals and actively advocate for mandatory credentialing.” In the past few weeks, much discussion has been held across the internet about the idea and where it should start.
The ideas discussed in a previous post referencing a blog by Chad Sines that outlined some things that needed to happen first to “get our house in order” are good ones, in my opinion. An organization may have a difficult time lobbying for something that they don’t require in their own programs. The AHDI president has stated that those are things they are exploring now. I believe that will be important moving forward. Without requiring it in our own leadership where appropriate, in our education programs, and even having employers who require it, it will be tough to have any credibility that we really believe in it.
Making those kind of changes is scary. If we require that all AHDI directors hold a credential, would we have people who would run for the board? One person mentioned that it should also be extended to delegates. If the House of Delegates weren’t going away next year, I would tend to agree. Since that body will be dissolving, it really doesn’t make too much sense to me. That does lead me to wonder if we are heading back to the early days of the association. The first time I joined, you were not allowed to hold an office, even at a local chapter level, unless you were a CMT. So if we really are going to require that of leaders, will that include all those who hold office on a component level? Interesting to think about.
I have always felt school programs should require the CMT. If someone is in a teaching role, teaching medical transcription students, they should have a CMT. I also think that applies if you are responsible for developing curriculum for teaching MTs. Would changing that jeopardize some of the current approved schools? Perhaps. If it were done with a “do it by this date” implementation, then they would have time to make that choice. I don’t think educators can promote credentialing to students without holding it themselves. It goes back to that credibility issue.
The other suggestion was to ask employers to hire only credentialed MTs. I only know of one employer who has said they do that now. I know several who may advertise “CMT or RMT preferred,” but really haven’t heard of anyone requiring it. I do know of employers who require it for advancement, such as moving into a QA or supervisor role. Would employers do that? It would certainly show their support for a credentialed workforce, something that they have said through CDIA (MTIA) that they support. I believe that answer would lie in whether doing so impacted their bottom line. By that I don’t just mean would they have to pay more to the MTs. I also mean would they be able to meet their contractual obligations to clients and even to the patients in the facilities if they only used credentialed MTs?
I’ve always thought credentialing was important. When I got my CMT years ago, I did it for one reason and one reason only. I wanted to put those initials on my business card. I had my own business then and thought it would make my business cards look more professional. Other than my work as an educator, I’ve never been in a role where it was required of me. Still, was it required to do what I have done all these years? No, it sure wasn’t.
I think that’s another hurdle that will have to be overcome. What has really changed in healthcare documentation that now means one must be credentialed to do it? Certainly the technology has changed, yet medical transcriptionists have always adapted to new technologies. Yes, new terminologies have been introduced, and again, MTs have always had to learn new things. What about privacy and security? With the HIPAA and HITECH Act laws, there is sure more to be aware of. Still, I would venture to say MTs have been doing much of that all along anyway. Much of it is pure common sense when it comes to protecting the patient’s information.
I believe all of that means we must have a compelling story to pull this off. It has to start with our own commitment to credentialing. It must have some logical rationale why it’s important that credentialing be mandatory now when it hasn’t been all along. It must come with some benefit to the healthcare delivery system. And in the end, as with so many other things, it can’t cost the healthcare industry more money. Remember that all of these new laws were created to save money in health care.
A New Exam
AHDI will be releasing the new credentialing exam in January. We will have more information on that soon. The details have just been posted this week so there hasn’t been time yet to go through all of the changes. What is apparent is you can now take the exam from your home with the proper monitoring equipment, if you don’t already have the RMT and want to sit for the CMT, you must take both portions of the exam, and the CMT portion will now also include a section on speech recognition editing. If you take the test online, it will cost less. The cost for obtaining the CMT has risen with this new exam, although there are member discounts available. If you take both parts (required for the CMT if you don’t already have the RMT), your cost would be anywhere from $225 (member online price) to $355 (nonmember onsite price). We will get more information posted here as soon as we sort through it.
Your Thoughts?
And now it’s up to you. What are your thoughts on this topic? If you have your credential, share why you got it and what it’s done for you. If not, do you plan to credential in 2011? Why or why not? We should have some great discussion on this!
Related posts:
- Mandatory Medical Transcription Credentialing
- Mandatory Credentialing for Medical Transcriptionists
- New AHDI Medical Transcription Credentialing Exams
- Medical Transcription Credentialing: Your Questions Answered
- Medical Transcription Credentialing
Tagged with: AHDI • CMT • mandatory credentialing • RMT
Filed under: Industry Updates
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I do like the idea of mandatory credentialing. As a business owner, I felt it was necessary for me to obtain my credentials. I feel that anyone in charge should be credible and professional, whether that’s a business owner or an educator.
I’m also very proud of myself. Earning my credentials took a lot of time and a lot of effort, and I did it. I am also working on my fellowship.
For MTs considering obtaining credentials, I encourage you to do so. You will grow as an MT and as a person through the process. Set goals for yourself, and go after them!
In the words of Buzz Lightyear, “To infinity and beyond!” I have proven to myself that I can be anything, do anything, become anything that I set my mind to. Not just me = all of us!
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Kathy Reply:
December 14th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
Rachel, thanks. Do you also employ MTs and if so, do you require them to be credentialed? It would be interesting to highlight those kind of stories.
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You know that I was in your first group to take the study course. Even though that “session” ended long ago, I have yet to take the exam. In fact, I am going to have to do quite a bit of reviewing of that material before I feel comfortable testing for the combined exam (Credential Qualifying Exam, or CQE). I’m going to get a web camera and take the test at home when I finally do take it. I found out today what my AHDI associate membership number is. (I actually mentioned to our newly-formed combined Association Chapter President that I didn’t know it and would need to know it for the exam, and she surprised me by getting it for me and sending it to me in an email.) At any rate, I’m planning to take the exam for a couple of reasons: (1) I see that soon it will be required and I would rather take it “on MY schedule” rather than being forced to do it via shotgun when I am less prepared for it, and (2) basically, I love a challenge! This is something I will be doing for me, no matter how you look at it. If I want to keep working in this industry, then Ihave to adapt and do whatever it takes so that I CAN keep doing it–other than if I become physically or mentally incapacitated and unable to keep working as an MT (or CMT). I imagine that a lot of us have the same reasons for taking this certification exam. I think to be successful as an MT requires a lot of ingenuity on our part, especially with regard to being able to learn new things as we are CONSTANTLY learning new things as technology changes, as medicine changes, as treatment regimens change, etc. If we are going to succeed, we have to be able to make these changes, and if you don’t kind of possess this “yearning for learning,” then I think you’re in the wrong line of work and won’t stay in it very long.
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Kathy Reply:
December 14th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
I sure agree that we must adapt! It seems to be the nature of our profession. I also would agree if I thought it was going to be mandatory, that I’d want to do it on my own first. Still, I wonder what our compelling story is?
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I have been wanting to take the CMT exam since graduation. Another Andrews grad passed the CMT within a few weeks of graduating and she inspired me. Up until then I was not aware a new graduate could take the exam. The AHDI website had very conflicting information where in one area it said 2 years of experience was required and in another it was only suggested. After seeing someone else pass it right after graduation I did learn experience was only suggested. I graduated in August 2009 and planned to take it in November 2009. I started a new job in acute care at a large MTSO in September and was so overwhelmed with the transition from stay-at-home mom to work-at-home mom that I didn’t feel I had the time to study for it. I was also convinced, thanks to all the negativity in our industry, that I would never get a job as an MT so I had enrolled in school again. I was working 40 hours a week and taking 4 classes towards my HIM degree. No time was left over for anything. Fast forward a few months and through a couple of life-changing events and the funds haven’t been there for the exam. I wish I had taken it months ago, but like I said there has been one excuse after another. It is very important to me to have either the RMT or CMT because I think mandatory credentialing is needed and I’m tired of feeling like a hypocrite! I have never considered taking the RMT because I felt confident I could pass the CMT and also because it just did not seem that the RMT held any professional benefit at all. The only benefit I could see to the RMT was personal satisfaction and I already feel pretty accomplished so I wasn’t interested in RMT.
Unfortunately I won’t be taking the CMT exam this month as I had hoped to so sometime in 2011 I will take the RMT. I’m hoping that with the changes to the exam the RMT will start to hold a bit more respect than it has in the past.
I look forward to seeing how this might change the MT world for new graduates. As it stands now I think we all know that having the name of certain schools on a resume opens many doors that are closed for other new graduates. I earned both my first and current jobs because of the school name I had on my resume. Well, the school name opened the door for me and my skill level got me through the door. There are exceptions to every rule though and perhaps there are some really good MTs coming out of other programs that really deserve a chance. I’m wondering if, in the future, the name of your school will matter less and less as long as you have passed the RMT. If this forces schools to rise to the level of the schools that recruiters consistently hire from so that their students can pass the RMT, then that could certainly be great for new MTs, as long as there is actually a job pool available. If schools are required to make their pass/false statistics for the RMT available to potential students, even better!
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Kathy Reply:
December 14th, 2010 at 11:17 pm
Sarah, I love the idea of schools providing pass/fail rates for the RMT. That should be on the tip of every admissions person’s tongue, and prospective students should be asking! I’d like to see the credential exam become kind of a “final exam” for school programs, however, I think we maybe got the cart before the horse there. Until only graduates of approved programs can sit for the exam, as in some other professions, I don’t see school seeing the value in that.
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I sat for my CMT credential as soon as possible after I graduated from my transcription school program and before my first job search. Fortunately, with a lot of hard work and an excellent education behind me, I was able to pass it. My thinking was that if I could get that out of the way before beginning my job search, I would not have to try to find time to study for it amid the first year or two of getting my “sea legs” as a working MT, and that in a tight job market, a credential might give me an advantage. I sat for the RMT first, for practice and to get used to the process, and took the CMT exam six days later. It did seem that my CMT credential has helped me get started in the field, along with my education and, of course, passing those all-important employment tests.
I am also glad that I have it out of the way now and only have to maintain my credential as long as I do not let it lapse.
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Kathy Reply:
December 14th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Charmaine, thanks for the input! Nice to see a new name making comments too. And way to go on passing those tests right out of school!
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Charmaine S. Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Thank you, Kathy! I greatly enjoyed the series on gratitude, since gratitude practice is one of the mainstays of my life. I used the gratitude practice also to help me relax and be very optimistic throughout my education, when taking those exams, and when looking for work.
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Kathy Reply:
December 17th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Thanks, Charmaine! I loved doing the gratitude series and thought it was also a good way for many of us to connect. For me, I can always tell when I haven’t focused enough on gratitude as my life starts to feel out of sync.
I took the RMT exam right out of school and I did not pass it. Since that time I have thought on and off about taking the classes and taking and passing the RMT test. Then I back away from that thought because of my age-60ish-and wonder if I can work and study for an exam at this time of my life. I had the time when I was in the insurance industry to become licensed and to keep up my CE credits every 2 years but I was younger then. I agree with Sherry that as MTs we have to be open to learning new things every day that we work and that if we don’t have that drive we won’t last long. After the holidays I am going to have to seriously revisit working towards obtaining my RMT.
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Kathy Reply:
December 14th, 2010 at 11:20 pm
Linda, I’m not letting you off the hook, girl! You took that course and passed it when you were older. This is no different! If the goal is to GET the RMT, you’re just not done with that goal yet. If the goal was only to pass the test, then maybe so, but somehow I don’t think that was your goal.
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Carol James Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 2:06 am
Linda, I got my CMT 3 years ago at the ripe old age of 53! Go for it!
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Linda Kirvel Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Thanks Kathy and Carol for your encouragment and for holding my feet to the fire (so to speak). Kathy, you are right about the goal of getting the RMT being a goal I am not done with yet and that I don’t just want to pass the test, I want the RMT or CMT behind my name and the knowledge that comes along with it. I will certainly work on that next year by taking a course and passing the test.
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I got my CMT for one reason only – validation. I learned OTJ years ago, never went through formal MT training, and got to the point where I wanted to prove I was qualified and was dying to know if I could pass the thing. The hospital where I currently work (and the only place I have ever worked as an MT, now for 14 years) had never had a CMT and weren’t even aware that certification existed. (I did ask them to pay the fee, though, and they did that!) They didn’t care if I got it or not, my $ per line would not be increased if I passed, and my co-workers generally were mildly bemused as to why I would even make the effort. My supervisor, in mulling over this recently when I informed her that I had been recertified for another 3 years, said, “Oh, yeah….you like a challenge.” Yep, that too!
I’ve been trying to encourage a new MT coworker who graduated from a local business college (well, sort of new; she’s been with us for 2 years now) to get her CMT. She’s been doing acute care long enough I’m sure she could pass it. But again, without a line rate increase or some kind of official recognition in our place of employment, she thinks, what’s the point?
So basically, to sum up, I just did it for me.
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I know that in the past I’ve worked for companies that DID pay a higher line rate to CMTs than MTs with the certification (and I don’t think “RMT” was part of the vocabulary back then). I don’t know if the current company I contract with pays a differential for a CMT or not, but I doubt it. The reason I say this is that my line rate is totally dependent upon the contract this company gets with the facility it contracts with–and I don’t think they take into consideration whether the transcriptionist is a CMT or not. I think that the companies I worked for in the past where the CMT was paid a higher rate were much larger companies and somehow the differential was justified “somehow,” though I’m not sure how. Anyway, I contract with a smaller company now and don’t know whether they pay a CMT any different than any other MT who would be transcribing on the same facility contract. So, all in all, getting certified would be for me. As I said, I enjoy learning, and I generally don’t have much problem taking tests. I know this isn’t “the usual test” and there is a lot of technical stuff in it with regard to anatomy, disease processes probably, even pharmacology…right down to English grammar and punctuation. I was telling Kathy the other day that the grammar and punctuation part might be the hardest part of the test for me–not that I don’t construct sentences correctly or use bad grammar or incorrect punctuation, but GOSH! when they ask questions like “what type of clause is….” ??? All I know is what is right–if I wanted to be a linguistic specialist, I’d be teaching it, wouldn’t I? Why do I have to be able to NAME everything as long as I know what is the right thing to do or not do when it comes to preparing sentences, paragraphs, and documents? I think that’s a little bit extreme, especially when I don’t even believe they teach all of those “basic building blocks” in school anymore! I graduated from high school in 1972 and even THEN we didn’t have all of that included in our English grammar and composition courses. I am definitely NOT looking forward to questions of that type, but I could probably represent myself and CareerStep and give a nice “salute” to all of my past MT working situations for the knowledge that I have gained in each of them when I finally take the Credential Qualifying Exam (CQE). I just have to study more and get myself one of those cameras to hook up to my computer and then find the $ to do it and DO IT! (I’m theorizing at this point that it will be somewhere in March, April, or May that I take my exam.) Whether I pass it on the first try or not, I WILL pass it sooner or later–I’m just hoping it’s sooner rather than later. (I don’t want to have to pay more than once, and I don’t want to have to wait 6 months before I can re-test.) It will be a personal challenge and a personal victory to me to pass this test.
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Sherry Evans Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 7:41 am
…pay a higher line rate to CMTs than to MTs WITHOUT the certification (GRRRRR…typo in first typing, don’t you hate when that happens?)
If there are other typos in the above that I missed, my apologies. I shouldn’t be typing when I’m really thinking about relaxing before Christmas and watching some classic Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music and NOT having my mind 100% on my typing. What do they call that again…oh, yeah…I’m not “in the moment.” Sorry!
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I am currently been applying for jobs (. . . and, I just passed the RMT and I am 54! Studying made me feel like I was in college again, so I know I can’t be more than 22!). Jobs are scarce with the poor economy and cut-backs, so I thought having my RMT would help. It may be getting my resume a second look, but regardless, I am still a new graduate, which seems to be a HUGE drawback. I knew this would be the case, but I thought that the “RMT” after my name might show that I will put forth the effort to catch on quickly, and that I have taken the initiative to learn more than the basics. I have done a lot of research on my own, but I wish school had taught more about the work platforms and some of “whatever it is that the new graduate doesn’t know” that makes us a “pain” to hire. Regardless, I think every medical transcriptionist should be credentialed. If they are transcribing acute care reports (which is the main job requirment in the job descriptions), passing the exams will not be difficult. But until those in charge of hiring require at least the RMT, it won’t help much. At least that has been my experience. (To tell the truth, I didn’t just take the RMT for the recognition alone–I, myself, needed to KNOW that I “KNOW what I was doing!”)
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Sarah Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Cindy, I really believe that a big part of finding a job is presenting yourself with confidence. Have faith that you will find a job, have a testing plan, stay organized, and most importantly believe in your skills as an MT.
As a new graduate I also wished that school had taught us more about platforms and such but once I started working I realized what a small part of MT work that is. School has prepared you for what really matters. I’ll admit that school could have prepared me a little more for the technology side of MT work (expanders, keyboard shortcuts, etc), but the platforms were just something that came with training as a new hire. There are so many platforms out there that schools could not possibly prepare you for all of them. My first job used a pretty complex platform. It took me quite a while to get a handle on moving through it. My second job (that I am still with) is as simple a platform as you can imagine. It is a dream to work with, especially after that first one! My point is, even once you’re very experienced if you switch jobs you will have to learn the platform. I do not believe that is a hesitation employers have with new MTs. We’re just all so slow when we start. I remember my first job I transcribed and spending probably 30 minutes looking for something that sounded like aim-load-uh-peen. Yes, it took me a good 30 minutes to find amlodipine! LOL! Once you begin working you’ll experience what we all did, you’ll go from feeling like you know soooo much after completing the course to feeling like you know nothing at all after your first day of work! In time your ears will become more fine tuned, you’ll know most of the medications off the top of your head, you’ll know normal lab values and could recite them in your sleep. You’ll be amazed how far you’ve come after a few weeks even. Just hang in there and don’t get discouraged. I started my first job 5 weeks after graduation but I lost count of how many times I was rejected. Congratulations on passing the RMT! Stay positive and you’ll go far!
~Sarah
PS. After a little over a year of working as an MT I can offer you the encouragement that YES it was worth school and worth the blood, sweat and tears (a lot of tears) I put into looking for a job and those first months working as a new MT!
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Thanks for the encouragement, Sarah. I definitely won’t give. I love medical transcription and know it is the career for me.
(P.S. This is to remind myself never to post a comment when I am hungry and frustrated.)
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Cindy Stabler Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
and to proofread what you type!)
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Sarah Reply:
December 15th, 2010 at 10:17 pm
Hey I wouldn’t notice a typo if it smacked me in the face right now. My back hurts so bad I took half a Lortab so I could sit in this chair and check e-mails and tend to a few things. Apparently I’m a lightweight when it comes to narcotics.
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Sherry Evans Reply:
December 16th, 2010 at 4:56 am
Sarah, I would agree with something you both said in your first posts. I graduated from my course with Honors at graduation time, and I was so proud of what I had accomplished (and I won’t even say “at my age,” but yes, I was definitely much older than most of the school’s students at the time I was taking the course). At any rate, what I wanted to say that I agree with is this. Our courses all taught us a lot of basics, and as we get older and experience more life and even more medical care ourselves, we can get through that part of the course more quickly and easily. What brings a LOT of people to medical transcription is “the promise of a good income after training for a job at home at your convenience.” Now, I don’t want to get in a huge discussion about “truth in advertising,” but a lot of schools that do NOT have hte best reputations will say things like that to grab everyone’s attention and then swoop in for the money and give them such a SUBSTANDARD education that even after working their hearts out, they can’t get a job because it wasn’t a good enough education–especially in the transcription part.
As we had a student forum, the one thing a lot of us talked about was the expanders, and some students HAD expanders already. However, our school told us they weren’t going to deal with that AT ALL and just wanted us to learn the information so that with or without an expander, we would be the best MTs they could possibly graudate from their school. I can appreciate that viewpoint, but as someone who needs the income (although others were in worse financial situations than I was at the time) I was interested in getting exposure to word expanders so I could get one and have a head start on knowing how to use it so I could make BETTER money from the get-go! Well, it just never happened. I ended up with a job less than 3 weeks after I graduated from the training program and quite soon after that received an email from that company that we were being offered a 30% discount on all of Stedman’s Word Books, so I built my reference library (outside of what I already had received as part of my training course), and then bought my expander program and began using it. (I hate to say it, but the expansions it had included as it came from the company were far too simple and too general from the English language and not much to do with medical terminology.) Looking back, it took me quite a while to figure out that they HAD all of that available, too, I just didn’t “see” it because I was so anxious to get into using it that I didn’t take the time to really sit and read through the book that came with it FIRST!
My advice to anyone just becoming familiar with their expander or to a medical transcription student who wants help making a decision as to which expander to get, ASK people who use them currently. For example, I use InstantText, and I love it (now that I have it set up the way it is easiest for me to use)…but it took me quite a while to get to that point. It really helps you improve your line count if you not only have expansions for words but also for phrases that are used all the time. Also, don’t think that just using your Microsoft Word AutoCorrect feature will be enough for you. It might be (in the beginning), but you will grow out of it faster than you think. I have also heard (although it has not happened to my computer) that the MS Word AutoCorrect can become “corrupted” and you could lose everything you had put into it. I’ve also been told that I should do a back-up of my expander (if not daily at least weekly as I keep adding to it, and it would be a shame to lose everything I had spent so much time putting into it).
Well, anyway, I think that’s more than enough said. I think schools SHOULD give us exposure to expander programs and to word recognition. They are becoming more and more important as technology changes, and they are certainly a necessary part of any medical transcription course because if schools continue to train only on the basics then they are giving their students a real handicap when it comes to employability.