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.

AHDI is reevaluating its recredentialing program to keep MTs moving forward.

So much of the Association for Healthcare Documentation Intregrity’s (AHDI’s) messaging and industry advocacy has been centered on the critical need for this sector to embrace professional credentialing–why it’s important not only to the individual, but also to the value proposition we are making to health care about the role our work force does and can continue to play in health data capture. Certainly, to a health care system that places a high value on allied health credentials and scope of practice standards, medical transcription has been an invisible contributor to the landscape. Many fear we will continue to be overlooked and undervalued by our end-users until we are willing and able to “hang” with everyone else in allied health when it comes to training and credentials. AHDI has and will continue to beat that drum to anyone who will listen, especially to MT employers, who are beginning to pull alongside that vision and collaborate with us toward a marketplace requirement for credentials.

But what we don’t spend enough time discussing is what happens after the certified medical transcriptionist (CMT) exam–what our ongoing objectives are for recredentialing. Most are probably vaguely aware that a CMT is required to earn continuing education credits (CECs) to maintain that status, but to what end? What is and/or should be the objective of an association recredentialing program? Is it just a matter of collecting credits in random content areas, or is there a goal behind that effort?

Click here to read the full post at advanceweb.com

Does the healthcare industry really need eight lobbyists for every member of Congress? Apparently so, as 4,525 lobbyists fanned out across Capitol Hill last year, in an effort to influence healthcare reform, according to new data from the Center for Public Integrity, which funds in-depth, investigative journalism. A total of 1,750 healthcare companies and organizations shelled out $1.2 billion to deploy the massive army of lobbyists, and it resulted in “money well spent,” according to the Center’s analysis. Read more at Fierce Healthcare.

AHDI is excited to announce that Jay Vance, CMT, has stepped into the role of moderator/administrator of the AHDI Lounge. Jay is an established presence in the online community with a long history of social networking, blogging, and engagement in forum dialogue. We look forward to Jay’s contributions to the AHDI Lounge and the dialogue and discussions his participation and oversight will generate. If you haven’t visited the Lounge lately, check it out at the link above. Lounge guests are currently discussing the value of credentialing, meaningful use, and advocacy. Drop by any time!

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.

HITECH compliance for business associates (BAs) has come and gone. The date for BAs to comply with the HIPAA Security Rule and the use and disclosures provision of the privacy rule was February 17. Further, breach notification enforcement begins February 22.

So where does your organization stand? Are you ready? Your BAs? We can give you a pretty good idea after seeing the results of HCPro’s HIPAA and HITECH survey that was rolled out the past two weeks. It attracted nearly 600 respondents, including mostly HIPAA compliance officers and HIM directors.

For starters, if your organization has done something with its HIPAA compliance program in light of the HITECH, you’re in the majority: 89% said they’ve responded. Read more at HealthLeadersMedia.com.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $100 million in federal grant funds to 10 states to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The grants, which will be awarded over a five year period, were funded by the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA). The money will help states implement and evaluate provider performance measures and utilize health information technologies such as pediatric electronic health records and other quality improvement initiatives. Read the full story at HHS.gov.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $100 million in federal grant funds to 10 states to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

The grants, which will be awarded over a five year period, were funded by the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 (CHIPRA). The money will help states implement and evaluate provider performance measures and utilize health information technologies such as pediatric electronic health records and other quality improvement initiatives. Read the full story at HHS.gov.

Date: February 25, 2010
Presenters: Scott Shalett, Principal, Dewey Square Group; Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, CEO, AHDI/MTIA
Time: 12 PM PST / 1 PM MST / 2 PM CST / 3 PM EST
Duration: 1 Hour
Registration Close: February 23, 2010
Cost: Free
CE Given: 1 TW

With great anticipation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services recently released proposed regulations on “meaningful use” and EHR certification. Physicians and healthcare enterprises would have to meet these regulations to qualify for billions of dollars in federal financial incentives for EHR adoption. The federal government’s efforts to spur EHR adoption have broad and sweeping consequences for medical transcription service owners and healthcare documentation professionals. During this webinar, Scott Shalett of the Dewey Square Group, the lobbying firm AHDI and MTIA have been working with since last June, and AHDI/MTIA CEO Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, will provide an overview of the consequences, what efforts are being made to position the medical transcription sector for success in the rapidly changing health IT landscape, and what you can do to support those efforts leading up to the 5th annual AHDI/MTIA Advocacy Summit from March 23 to 25 in Washington, DC.

Scott Shalett is a principal at the Dewey Square Group, the lobbying firm AHDI and MTIA have been working with since June of last year. Peter Preziosi is the CEO of AHDI and MTIA.

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Health IT advocates and stakeholders from the health care industry have pledged to lobby to reinstate into a Senate jobs bill an amendment that would have made hospital-based physicians who provide outpatient care eligible to receive incentive payments for electronic health record usage under the HITECH Act, Modern Healthcare reports. The EHR incentive payments were included in the federal economic stimulus package last year. Read the full iHealthBeat story.