OLT Attends ADHI National Convention
Operation Life Transformed was proud to exhibit for the second year in a row at the AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, www.ahdionline.org) National convention in Orlando Florida, August 6-9th 2008. OLT has come a long way since last year and our relationship with the medical transcription community has developed into one of the powerful
support programs for our military spouses.
In May last year we were sent a news article that had run in the Military Times
outlining the medical transcription career field and the brilliant AHDI military spouse initiative. We were inspired, knew immediately, without a doubt that we wanted to advocate and work with the AHDI and AHDI approved schools.
The convention this year was off to a great start, Buzz Lightyear and Woody form Toy Story opened the show! More than 600 plus medical transcriptionists attended the three day convention. In the exhibit hall there were over 50 medical transcription companies, software, booksellers and employment specialists to tantalize the attendees. It was an amazing event with an incredibly dynamic vendor hall, exciting receptions and educational content that engaged the AHDI membership. All elements of the 2008 Annual Convention & Expo were aimed toward increasing members' awareness of their role within the ever-changing Healthcare Documentation Sector, while providing the content needed to build their knowledge-level, advance their careers, and elevate the profession as a whole.
The convention closed on the Saturday evening with a 30th Birthday Bash where Operation Life Transformed had a surprise for the AHDI members, which I will get to in a moment. To recap our year’s journey, we awarded the first medical transcription scholarship to a National Guard spouse in October last year, Teresa Springer who graduated in April this year from Careerstep, and went to work with Proveros almost immediately.
Since October 2007, we have awarded 100 medical transcription scholarships nationwide. A number we are incredibly proud of. Our spouses and caregivers have all entered AHDI approved schools, TRS, Exact Med, MTEC, Careerstep, AH Training. They are all on their way to learning in a growing career field with
wonderful opportunities, a career that undeniably suits every need of the military lifestyle, (80% of medical transcriptionists work from home). Nothing could have made me prouder than to present to the AHDI membership, than our scholarship recipients live at the Gala that evening! OLT presented a video message which included a short summary of who OLT is and what it is we do. Followed by a short speech encapsulating what it means to us at OLT to be involved in such an evolutionary and progressive career. Change, is the AHDI's buzz word! And, we could not agree more.
In closing, truer words could not have been expressed...
Medical transcription is truly a unique career field that we, in the military community can grow and change with - and we are masters of change. We are in this for the long roller coaster of a ride and that’s why it is my honor and privilege tonight to not only award, but introduce to you the 99th and 100th scholarship recipients for medical transcription. Marine spouses from Quantico Virginia, Tiana Karst and Caprina Brown. As Caprina and Tiana took the stage to receive their scholarships every member in that room stood and gave them a standing ovation. Several members came over and asked them if they could thank their husbands for their service and sacrifice to their country. It was extremely touching.
Proveros and Schumaker Transcription Services both sponsored scholarships for our Military Spouse and War Wounded Caregiver's. In recognition our commitment to this industry and their commitment to us, additional colleges and employers approached us in the hope of building future bridges and enrolling more spouses into this career path. It is the industries ongoing support that makes this organization work, our gratitude. Spouses that enter into an AHDI approved school have a much better chance of finding employment upon graduation. According to the AHDI's Model Curriculum, An educational program in medical transcription will prepare the student for entry-level employment as a medical transcriptionist by providing the basic knowledge, understanding, and skills required to transcribe healthcare
dictation and prepare patient care documents with accuracy, clarity, consistency, and timeliness, applying the principles of professional and ethical conduct. Also, through the Military Spouse initiative, the AHDI developed with the Department of Labor the Medical transcription apprenticeship program. This program allows spouses and caregivers upon graduation to enter into the career field, work with a mentor, and gain experience so that they can sit for the CMT (certified medical transcription) exam.
AHDI recommends that a medical transcription educational program…
· be taught by qualified instructors who are credentialed experts in their respective fields
· employ certified medical transcriptionists to teach medical transcription practice courses
· be based on The Model Curriculum for Medical Transcription*, 3rd edition, published by AHDI, which recommends courses in the following:
o English grammar and punctuation
o medical language
o anatomy and physiology
o disease processes
o pharmacology and laboratory medicine
o transcription technology
o medical transcription practice
o healthcare records, privacy, ethics, and other medicolegal issues
· indicate the number of classroom hours students actually perform medical transcription
· indicate the number of minutes of actual physician dictation used for practice (The Model Curriculum recommends 30 dictated hours of actual physician dictation.)
· indicate length of externship or on-the-job experience available (The Model Curriculum recommends 10 dictated hours of authentic physician dictation, for a total of 40 dictated hours during the training program.)
· include relevant publications among its educational materials
· incorporate The AAMT Book of Style for Medical Transcription, 2nd edition
· provide names and addresses of current and/or former students who have given permission to be contacted as references
· have an advisory board that includes certified medical transcriptionists
offer assistance with job placement
*The Model Curriculum for Medical Transcription, 3rd edition, was written in cooperation with medical transcription educators and managers. It includes competencies, objectives, and prerequisites for 14 different courses and is designed to assist teachers in developing their educational programs. Download the Model Curriculum, 3rd Edition. (If you are interested in the career field of Medical Transcription, check out the Model Curriculum
for a more in depth look).