Did you ever feel like little fish in a big ocean? Do you feel like your one voice cannot make a difference in the rapidly changing field of healthcare documentation? Are you feeling our industry will be left behind when the EHR is integrated throughout our country? Are you worried the EHR will not serve the patient well with a point and click framework? Is the current economy adding to your fears of job security? Do you keep your thoughts to yourself or just among your MT peers? Now is your opportunity to take part in the Power of 10 Campaign and make a difference. 

AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity) launched a new initiative at ACE in Nashville, the Power of 10 Campaign. This is a specific campaign to fund a lobbying firm in Washington, DC.  AHDI and MTIA (Medical Transcription Industry Association) have contracted with a lobbying firm to lobby on behalf of the medical transcription industry at this critical juncture of the EHR to, among other things, assure that we play a role in the EHR and to have complete documentation for the patient, a goal MTs can help facilitate. The lobby firm will benefit not only AHDI/MTIA members but medical transcriptionists at large, small business owners, documentation specialists, editors, etc., as they bring our concerns and solutions to our legislators and policymakers responsible for healthcare reform, EHR systems, and workforce development. 

All MTs are encouraged to take part in the Power of 10 Campaign. Please consider donating $10 to the Power of 10 Campaign, marking your check with this specific title and mailing to AHDI at 4230 Kiernan Avenue, Suite 130, Modesto, CA 95356, and be assured that your contribution will be targeted directly to this advocacy effort. As Napoleon Bonaparte said so well, "Ten people who speak make more noise than ten thousand who remain silent." 

Teamwork--what a powerful word!  It is often possible to do so much more with teamwork than could be accomplished individually. The tangible and intangible benefits are numerous, and our PA-AHDI Bucket Brigade is a perfect example!

As the AHDI state chapter for Pennsylvania, we decided to participate in the chapter booth opportunity at the AHDI Annual Convention and Expo in Nashville. In order to have a booth, you need materials--and how to get them there is a bit of a challenge. Airlines charge a hefty fee for extra baggage (the suitcase, not us!), so we found a work-around. 

This was truly a team effort, and I fondly named us the "bucket brigade." We have this plastic storage bucket that holds a lot of our state materials for display purposes--flyers, brochures, signage, banner, etc. It does not have a specific home, but rather calls "home" with whomever needed it last. This time around the bucket was sitting in Stockertown, PA, and it made its way to Nashville by travelling through PA-AHDI members, a journey of teamwork. 

The bucket was first deposited by Norma Lopresti, CMT, AHDI-F, on the doorstep of my house in Bethlehem, PA. From there I drove it to the Cracker Barrel in Hamburg, PA, where it was passed on to Carol Croft, CMT, AHDI-F. Carol took it home and a few days later met Linda Leayman at the Jigger Shop in Mount Gretna, PA, and passed it on to her. A few days later the longest leg of the journey began by car with Linda and her husband Steve to the Gaylord Opryland Conference Center, Nashville, where Aileen Burnett and Linda set up our chapter booth. This travelling bucket sure put on a lot of miles!

Mind you, on each leg this bucket kept growing in weight and eventually size! Items were added along the way from other PA-AHDI members, and when the bucket overflowed, a box was added to the collection, then another box and another box. I am not quite sure just how many eventually made their way to Opryland, but they all arrived safe and sound and the booth looked great. Thank you to our bucket brigade volunteers!

I feel like I just experienced Christmas week! You know the frantic days before the holiday finalizing plans, the excitement of the days, the process of reminiscing past holiday memories and  making new ones, and then the aftermath of utter exhaustion when it is over? You know the feeling where the preparations were significant but the holiday felt like a blink of an eye? But you don't care how much time it took, how much juggling of schedules, how much maybe did not go quite as perfect as planned, because it was so worth it?  That's the place I found myself this past week. Where have I been? ACE 2009 in Nashville. Stay tuned for some "holiday" memories after I put away the luggage (but not the memories) and catch up on some work! 

Picture Lucille Ball at the airport and you can pretty much imagine how entertaining I am when I travel. No matter how compact I think I've gotten my carry-on things, I inevitably have more than I think and my boarding pass and photo ID seem to drop to the bottom of my bag between each security check - or out of my pocket. Thankfully I realize this before it is my turn so I retrieve my things while winding through lines and don't hold people up. Today was no different as I travelled to Nashville for the AHDI annual convention and expo. I also had the addition of an unpackable 10-gallon hat I brought along for one evening's country western theme and a yogurt parfait I picked up on the fly between flights...so I was truly a site. But here I am safe and sound in the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and now anxiously await the real fun to begin....days of dynamic speakers, continuing education opportunities, and my first year as a state delegate at the face-to-face meeting tomorrow.  I even have a very short presentation to give - hopefully my hidden Lucille Ball doesn't show up! Stay tuned for updates from Nashville!

Every Monday morning I get a synopsis of one message board via a weekly newsletter, which shall remain nameless, and I brace myself for the good, the bad and the ugly of the week. Generally speaking, I learn a few things scanning through the postings. However, it still never ceases to amaze me of how much angst, anger and negativity is still present. For one thing, how much time do people have to even write these things? Some of the things they are griping about are from years ago!  Sometimes they are targeted to the original posting someone made about a company, organization or the MT field in general. I understand being passionate about a cause, being passionate about what is right, but in my opinion some of these cross that line and can be downright nasty and often filled with misinformation. With the quickly changing field of medical transcription, I think our time could be better spent trying to preserve our jobs, the integrity of the medical record, and support each other! How much better would it be if we had a positive attitude, an encouraging word, and a desire to make our profession a better one?  If even a fraction of the energy spent negatively posting on forums, etc., were used for positive things, it may just make our attitude about ourselves turn around for the good.  

There are an estimated 300,000 MTs in the United States. Why spend even one more minute griping about what is wrong with your life, your past, your boss, as an anonymous person on a message board? How about each of us spending even 5 minutes a day doing something FOR our profession?  Write a letter to your congressman. Let him/her hear your opinion about our role and value in quality documentation, confidentiality, off-shoring, or anything else you think should be known as they make decisions that will affect us. Read a journal or internet article about the ESR/EHR so you know some of its issues affecting us. Check out the Health Story Project and the anticipated changes from that. Talk to people who are not MTs and explain what we do and why it is so important. Interface with others at your place of employment and be sure they know your department even exists! 

If we only speak up to each other to gripe, where is that going to get us? There are changes ahead for us and we need to move forward, hopefully using our energy for positive things, not negative. Let's use our connections for the greater good.

At the suggestion of the US Department of Labor, the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) is collecting data via a Career Title Survey to reflect the true scope of our work and skill requirements. This survey is not only for AHDI members, and I encourage all blog readers and colleagues who are currently working as a medical transcriptionist/documentation specialist/editor/etc. to take this brief but important survey. Please click to access the survey.

With the current unemployment rate, it is likely you or someone you know fall into the group of job seeker. As a teacher, I interface with many nontraditional students looking for a career change. We have seen how difficult the job market is for laid-off workers, college graduates and even teenagers looking for summer employment. All of this adds up to a lot of people looking for employment.I hope this entry in “MT Connections” helps to connect the dots with information that may help you, your family, your coworkers, your friends and neighbors in locating a job using the internet. 

I recently came across an article in the April 2009 Reader’s Digest that named many sites for job hunting, some of which I had not heard of, and I now will share some of them, as well as some sites I have added through word-of-mouth (in no particular order):  http://www.biospace.com/; http://www.healthcareerweb.com/; http://www.salary.com/; http://www.vetjobscom/; http://www.military.com/; http://www.glassdoor.com/; http://www.linkedin.com/; http://www.plaxo.com/; http://www.facebook.com/; http://www.theladders.com/; http://www.vault.com/; http://www.usajobs.com/; http://www.idealist.org/; http://www.snagajob.com/; http://www.jobing.com/; http://www.latpro.com/; http://www.americanstaffing.net/; http://www.careerbuilder.com/; http://www.alliedhealthcareers.com/; http://www.monster.com/; http://www.healthyecareers.com/; http://www.ahdionline.org/; and, of course, http://www.advanceweb.com/!

In addition, this Reader’s Digest article pointed out that 88 percent of surveyed temp employees say their temporary positioned helped them improve or learn new business skills, as well as provided networking opportunities. What a great way to explore potential new fields and careers! You may even be in the right place if a full-time permanent position opens up, and you will have already had a chance to show them your skills up close and personal. Check out local online listings for temp jobs in your area!

So read David's blog and click on the audio portion of about 10 samples of messages to hear for yourself how Google Voice does - and doesn't - match up to the subsequent transcription. Enjoy!

I got up early on a Saturday morning to travel to central Pennsylvania for a meeting of the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of AHDI. The meeting was held at the Highmark Caring Place, a center for grieving children, adolescents, and their families. The first speaker was Gerald Gaugler, MS, education and outreach coordinator, whose topic was "Children and Grief." Holding the meeting in the facility, actually sitting in the same room used for the larger meetings, and reading the pledge on the wall raised our awareness in a unique way. The pledge reads "I am here for you. You are here for me. We are here for each other." Simple but powerful words to a child who may feel alone in their grief experience before coming to the Caring Place.

To learn that 1 in 20 children lose a parent by the time they graduate high school was a shocking statistic. Add to that the fact that most children suffer the loss of a loved one or acquaintance during their childhood leads to a lot of grieving children. Research shows that children grieve, albeit different than adults, and they often take their cues from how to grieve from those adults around them. The Highmark Caring Place is a program available for children and adolescents to age 18, accompanied by at least one adult, to help them through the grieving process. More typical programs for this age group are drop-off, children only, and have time limits on the time they are allowed to be in the program, typically 6 months to 2 years after the death. Not so with the Highmark Caring Place ... like adults, children may experience grief at various times in their childhood, not just in the initial 2 years. As grief does not come with an end date, the children are allowed to enroll at any time, continue in sessions for as long as they need, or even after a period of time away.

Remarkably, the Highmark Caring Place has no fee for participants, nor do they take insurance. A full 85% of their funding comes from Highmark Healthy 5, an initiative of the Highmark Foundation. Hundreds of volunteers assist a relatively small group of employees to help the hundreds of people who have passed through the doors of this one location. We were given the opportunity to tour the facility, go into the age-specific breakout rooms and adult rooms, while learning more about how the center is able to meet the varying needs of the children, adolescents, and adult caregivers through art, music, drama, even air hockey! Quilt squares are made as a remembrance, which volunteers later sew into large quilts to hang in the halls of Highmark Caring Place, a living testimonial to the love and healing. The facility is welcoming, practical, safe, an obviously caring place, appropriately named.

After the program director gave his presentation on the facility, he did something I have never seen in a continuing education meeting - he passed around multiple boxes of Kleenex and told us we may need them for the next portion of the presentation, a video of children and adults talking about their experience. It touched my heart to hear their honest words describing their loss as well as their healing, and the Kleenex was definitely needed. One child said it all, "Thank you for teaching us to love from our whole heart again."

For years I have been involved in sports - basketball, baseball, soccer, ice hockey, lacrosse, track, cross country marathon running. For those of you with attention to detail, or if you know me, you would realize I just said "involved in" these sports....as a spectator, manager, or carpooler, definitely not the athlete! There is something in my DNA that indicates a desire to play sports, but then an equal part of my DNA realizes it just isn't going to happen. I was the high school basketball bench warmer, never to score a point during my short career. I was the cheerleader who needed to be towards the back so I could watch the other girls in front and follow along. Flash forward to adulthood, I basically became the adult who would try running and end up in an MRI machine. However, over the years I knew I had to try different things as this body needed to move, especially given the sedentary medical transcription profession I found myself in. I joined our community gym and started trying different things, hoping nothing would prompt an emergency room visit. I did find myself taking muscle relaxants after yoga sessions, but that did seem like progress as I did not need a neck collar, cast, or even an Ace bandage, and over time I actually saw some benefit of those classes...and graduated to Pilates! Several benefits to these new activities - my body felt better and I could almost feel the endorphins running around my body. An added bonus was that the lights were off and I did not have to try to keep pace with the beat of any music. I found my niche!

The weekend warrior took hold of me and I signed up for a spinning class. What really caught my eye in the flyer was that it burned over 700 calories an hour - hmmmm, I did know how to ride a bike so maybe this would work! Well, it was not quite like riding a bike as a kid on the flat sidewalks of Buffalo. This turned out to be riding a specialized stationary bike through various speed and tensions for a workout that is, to say the least, difficult for even a physically fit person, a category I most definitely do not fit in! I was beyond a doubt the oldest person in the class, could not do some of the moves, was out of breath and looking close to an MI or stroke for most of the hour, but I did manage to keep my legs moving. It is an understatement to say I was out of my "comfort zone" but I did keep coming back week after week. After all, the music was great, the lights were off, and it turns out each person spins at their own level, adjusting the workout individually. Here was a sport I could do! I found myself moving to two classes a week, buying special biking shoes and a cushioned seat for my behind, sleeping better, eating better, concentrating at work better, and I found the "daydreaming" part of spinning (I have to daydream to get my mind off my muscles and joints asking me just what am I doing!) a good time to help me organize my thoughts and manage my stress. I am almost always still the oldest in the class, but I have enjoyed the company of younger women and an occasional brave man, most of whom are actual athletes, or at least regular exercise demons - and no one makes me feel I do not belong there. Just hearing their stories of races and 40-mile bike rides on the open road inspire me to stick with my little stationary bike and try to at least make it through the hour without either falling off, crying, or quitting....and I have never needed to return to the MRI machine! I love being able to adjust the tension of the bike or the position of this middle-aged body to focus on what I can do, and no one knows or cares what I can't do, including me! Ahhh, I can be a weekend warrior after all!

When our children are young, we encourage them to try new things and then we often help them continue those activities they have fun with and appear to have some talent for. We would not encourage them to try year after year in a sport or activity that they continually struggle with. That's not to say we don't encourage them when the practice or skill level gets difficult, but we don't try to put a "square" talent into a "round" activity. In other words, we help them discover and nurture their natural talents.

So when do we change that line of thinking? Somewhere between childhood and the working world sometimes the thinking turns to focus on our deficiencies. We try to overcome, sometimes with the well-intentioned guidance of our teachers, bosses, or peers, the skills we are lacking. We set our goals, or allow others to set them for us, based on what we "should" be working towards, often that very thing we have no talent for! This is not referring to required training and change necessary to function at a high level in our position or environment. This is referring, perhaps, to a career track that is just "not you" - a great salesperson being groomed for promotion to sales manager, the conventional job progression in many organization hierarchies. Or the medical transcriptionist at top level and pay, now expected to make the leap to management. This may follow the organization hierarchy, but perhaps this job ladder is not for you. Perhaps you are content and thriving in your current position - this choice (yes, choice!) should be embraced - that salesperson or transcriptionist may be happy, productive and thriving, and staying in their preferred niche may prove to be of benefit to the company and the employee.

While sometimes it is important to nudge someone towards hidden talents, we should not be trying to put a "square" talent into a "round" job function. How much more productive would it be to allow our staff, or allow ourselves, to put our talents into job functions that we can thrive in - to apply our strengths to a position we can embrace? How much greater would job satisfaction be if we were in roles that we enjoyed and were good at- our potential for success as an individual and as part of a team could be so much greater if our talents were in sync with our job description! Add to that the tools and training directly applicable to our role and our personal success and organizational success may multiply!

If you are interested in this topic, I urge you to read Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Perhaps with the present economy you are looking - or forced to look - at a new direction for your career. Why not pursue those things which you have a talent for?

This week from June 2-4, AHDI/MTIA members are participating in the fourth annual Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. As we are all aware, health care documentation is rapidly evolving and is intersecting with government policy. It is important that we have a voice in the legislation of issues related to successful EHR/EMR deployment, functionality, security, patient safety, as well as other legislation such as funding for work force development of a trained and clinically/technologically knowledgeable work force for the intricacies of EHR/EMR adoption and integration. While I and most of the approximately 300,000 MTs and approximately 1,700 MTSOs cannot be on the Hill personally this week, I appreciate the many hours volunteers are putting in to meet in person with government senators and representatives. It takes months of preparation for an event such as this, much of it done by volunteers, and this week requires focus, hard work and energy to make the most of the days on the Hill. I look forward to hearing of their individual and collective experiences. Thank you to all who participated by attending Lobby Day, as well as those of you who wrote letters to your representatives to be hand delivered by those volunteers. Bravo! 

There was recently an Advance article that I think bears mentioning here in case you did not see it.....and I urge you to read it if you haven't already.  There is so much misinformation "out there" regarding certification - and this article addresses some of the more common myths, as answered by Cassie Uber, credentialing and education specialist at AHDI. 

Myth #1:  "I have to be a member of AHDI to sit for a credentialing exam."

Myth #2:  "I work full-time.  I'm sure the test site will not be able to accommodate my schedule."

Myth #3:  "I have to use all new, unfamiliar technology just to be able to pass my exam since a foot pedal is not used." 

Myth #4:  "While taking the Prep Assessment or using the Review Guide I kept having entries marked incorrect that I was SURE were correct.  I guess this means that I am not ready for my exam."

Myth #5:  "The passing scores for the exams are so high - I am sure I could never pass them."

Cassie Uber did a great job addressing each myth.  I urge you to read her article and set the record straight! 

http://health-information.advanceweb.com/Editorial/Content/Editorial.aspx?CC=199069

Whether your employer is planning special recognition this week, you are involved in a virtual celebration if you work remotely, or if you are a self-employed MT working solo, I hope you will take a minute to celebrate the important contribution you play on the health care delivery team. While we may not be "front and center" in the health care arena, our interpretive, skilled knowledge for accurate documentation remains a highly important piece in the patient's health care.

I wish my fellow MT colleagues a Happy National Medical Transcriptionist Week!

About 200 registrants attended one evening a week for a month, each counting for a week of "medical school." I did feel like a student immersed in terminology and drugs quite unfamiliar to me - everolimus, Sutent, imatinib mesylate, erlotinib. My genetics knowledge from college was definitely rusty - proteomics, transcriptomics, genomics, physiomics, epitopes, translational research? We learned about plasmaphysics, the physics behind interventional radiology, collimators, linear accelerators, proton beam therapy, and so much more. It was full of knowledge but without lack of sleep, testing, or anything else too taxing. They even gave us snacks and a break to get us through "school." Week one's topic was Cancer from A-Z; week two Advances in Cancer Care; week three Cures, Clinical Trials, Cuisine, Case Studies; week four Where Do We Go From Here?; culminating in a Cancer Care Exploration Expo, complete with a walk-through colon!

The speakers told us the weeks mimicked actual medical school: The first year, the science; the second year, slightly more fun by adding patients to the mix; the third much more patient-focused, why some cancers are curable and others aren't; the fourth the personalized nature of oncology as we move forward. It certainly held our attention as we learned more than we ever thought we could in such a short period of time, and each week grew upon the knowledge from the week(s) before. One evening we took a tour of the Cancer Center. We saw up close and personal the oncology suite, the infusion center, the mammography suite, and the massive radiology treatment area. The hospital tour guides and oncology team members were informative and open to answer the multitude of questions sent their way. The same was true in the actual medical school classes each week in the auditorium - the oncology team was obviously a team in every sense of the word, keeping their focus on what benefits the patient as they travel through the maze of information, treatment, and life after diagnosis and treatment. Outcomes for many cancers are statistically so much better than even 10 years ago, and it was so great to see the collaboration at this medical center to truly give the patient the best possible chance of beating this complicated disease. They also addressed the insurance aspect of cancer, the research and development of drugs, cost versus care. We heard about the weekly tumor board at this particular hospital, its purpose and what is accomplished there. We heard a bit about the monetary aspects of government-driven health care changes coming down the road in relation to oncology. We saw in detail the reason for just a handful of proton beam treatment centers in the United States, and we even took a look at the blueprints and construction process for current and upcoming facilities. As you can see, they packed a lot into our evenings!

This was one of the best community education programs I have ever attended and I can't wait for their next school. I still won't be officially "Doctor" but I no doubt will leave with a lot of great information on the next theme they come up with!