Town Hall Meetings: A great way to advocate!

by Kat King, AHDI-F
AHDI-West President-Elect

I have been honored to represent our region and our association on several trips to Washington, DC. Some of those visits included face-to-face conversations with our senators or congressmen, but we generally share our message with their healthcare aides. These individuals have become well-versed in our industry over the past few years, showing the inroads and impact we are having at the federal level.

I have served on the AHDI Legislative Issues Group, and have become familiar with the information we need to convey to our legislators; EHR adoption including the narrative report (the patient’s full story), health information exchange, conversion of narrative text into codified data, and the need for workforce development funding. They are not difficult messages to understand, but they won’t be included in legislation unless WE convey the messages to our legislators!

Preserve the Patient’s Story as a Legislative Leader!

Do you believe an accurate and complete patient’s story in

narrative form is critical to patient care?

Plan to attend the Legislative Leader Training Webinars

• Learn to share your experiences as an MT, healthcare documentation professional, with a broader audience
• Explore ways to organize small groups of advocates in your local area
• Spread the word about the importance of healthcare documentation to patient safety
• Be a voice for all patients

Scott Shalett of the Dewey Square Group along with Linda Giles from the Legislative Issues Group will be on hand to discuss

Petition Letter to Legislators

Thank you for your signatures!!

The petition letter signing has closed. Our delegation of legislative leaders from across the country are preparing to meet with dozens of legislators on Capitol Hill next week. Your signatures will be distributed with our packets of information. Your voice will be heard.

If you have not done so already, please read this letter.

AHDI/CDIA staff, volunteers, and Dewey Square Group thank you for your support in signing our petition letter!!

United States Senate and House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator OR Representative:
We thank you for considering the critical role the healthcare documentation sector continues to play with the adoption of the Electronic Health Record (EHR).  We are constituents from a wide variety of congressional districts across the nation, members of the healthcare documentation community, represented by the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and/or the Clinical Documentation Industry Association (CDIA) (formerly known as MTIA).
Regardless of the method used to capture healthcare information, medical transcriptionists serve as an “essential set of …

With less than a week until Advocacy Summit 2010, the Dewey Square Group (DSG) is busily working to schedule as many meetings as possible with legislators. Two things to keep in mind–this is an election year with a lot at stake, so it is more likely we will be meeting with actual legislators, not staffers. However, on the flip side, health reform is looming prominently and may not be resolved by the time we are on the Hill, making for some heavy competition. Our messaging will be succinct, clear, and relevant to accelerating EHR adoption and the practical use of capturing and exchanging health information to improve patient safety and clinical care and to reduce costs. We will also be promoting the growth of environmentally friendly, digital, home-based jobs.

On Monday, March 15, AHDI and MTIA submitted an official comment to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONCHIT) on the proposed regulations for “meaningful use” and EHR certification. In addition, over 75 AHDI and MTIA members submitted comments. These comments have helped set the stage for the messaging we will take to the Hill, calling for CMS and ONCHIT to explicitly recognize in the regulations that the dictation-transcription process is a viable method of data capture that can be used to achieve “meaningful use.” To read the official AHDI-MTIA comment, click here.

We are excited to announce that DSG has secured a room on Capitol Hill that we will be able to use for a briefing and orientation on the morning of Wednesday, March 24, before meeting with legislators. Members also will have access to the room throughout the entire day.

For anyone interested in attending the AHDI national board of directors meeting, it will take place on Tuesday, March 23, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Advocacy Summit 2010 host hotel, the Marriott Crystal City in the Potomac Ballroom, Salon F. The meeting room will have open gallery seating for approximately 20 people.

We encourage you to come to Advocacy Summit and to ask your colleagues to do the same, as this is a critical time for defining our value proposition. If you do come, we will be sure that your experience is meaningful and impactful. Click here to learn more about Advocacy Summit. If you have any questions concerning attending Advocacy Summit or anything else, please contact AHDI/MTIA staff member Greg Doggett (gdoggett@ahdionline.org, 859-512-3284).

Advocacy Summit

We need your letters!

The Advocacy Summit is a week away and there is a final push to submit letters to our legislators. Your voice with your perspective is extremely important right now. We need you to ask the federal government to acknowledge the medical transcription sector as a vital contributor to quality of care, patient safety, and successful EHR adoption.

By Kat King, AHDI-F
Re-print from OAMT Newsletter, Spring 2006 ~ 4 years later and still relevant.
ad•vo•ca•cy (n.) The act of pleading or arguing in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy; active support.
It’s 2 a.m. and I know I’m asleep, but I hear a voice nearby…someone gently saying, “I’m going to blow your brains out.” I’m so tired, but the voice inside me is telling me to wake up…you need to wake up…I know you have been up for 72 hours, but WAKE UP!!! I …

Date: March 16, 2010
Presenter: Susan M Lucci, RHIT, CMT, AHDI-F
Time: 3:00 PM PST / 6:00 PM EST
Duration: 1 Hour
Registration Close: March 11, 2010
Cost: FREE
CE Given: N/A

Register now to discuss current events in healthcare, advocacy and board initiatives.

Last Thursday, over 60 AHDI and MTIA members joined a webinar presented by AHDI/MTIA CEO Peter Preziosi and Scott Shalett of the Dewey Square Group on the federal government’s proposed regulations for “meaningful use” and EHR certification, the regulations’ potential impact on the medical transcription sector, and the efforts being undertaken by our associations to position the sector for success in the rapidly changing health IT landscape, including the upcoming Advocacy Summit from March 23 to 25 in Washington, DC. If you missed this webinar, click here to listen to a recording. If you are interested in learning more about the Advocacy Summit or attending this important event, click here for more information, including details on registration and accommodations.

By: Jacque Taylor
As of February 18, 2010, there are 52 registered for the Advocacy Summit to be held March 23 through 25, 2010, in Washington DC. Registration is at approximately the same point as was in 2009, and we eventually registered approximately 75; however, we are hoping with the help of MTIA partners that we will be able to reach the 100 registrant mark this year!
To help in the registration process, AHDI is offering the “deal of the month” of $15 off registration for this event. The “Early …