Credentialing: - Association for Healthcare Documentation

How do you select a mechanic when your car breaks
down? Do you scan the yellow pages and hope
that the one you select is skilled and reputable?
Sometimes people do that because they do not have a
choice, but most of the time people ask for recommendations
from friends and coworkers so that they find a
mechanic with a good reputation. They might even go a
step further to see if the mechanic is certified, licensed,
and/or bonded before they take their vehicle in for repair.
What do people do when they need to find a new doctor?
What do people look for in a physician? Again, they
usually ask around to find someone who is skilled and
caring. If they are looking for a specialist, they will likely
check to make sure he or she is credentialed in their
specialty.
What is a credential? There are a few variations on
the definition of credential. Basically, it is a document
1
The first ingredient is YOU! You have
made the decision to earn your credential,
and now you need to gather some
other ingredients.
Candidate Guide. Get a copy of the
Candidate Guide, either Registered
2 Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) or
Certified Medical Transcriptionist
(CMT), from the AHDI website (www.
ahdionline.org). Read the recommendations regarding
each credential. Be very honest with yourself about your
experience, skills, and abilities as you read the eligibility
and requirements. It is fine to set your sights on the CMT
credential, but you are only setting yourself up for disappointment
if you truly do not have enough experience to
tackle the CMT exam. Work on your RMT first and then
garner the recommended experience before you press on
toward your CMT goal.
or testimony that indicates someone is highly skilled
and knowledgeable in his or her chosen career. It gives
people credit or authority in their knowledge area.
With all the changes in healthcare legislation and
concerns about identity theft, people will begin to make
more informed inquiries about their protected health
information (PHI). They will want to know who is handling
their PHI and if that person is skilled and reputable.
People will feel more secure when they hear that
a highly skilled and credentialed healthcare documentation
specialist (medical transcriptionist) handled their
protected health information.
Whenever you make the decision to obtain your
credential, it is likely that your next question will be,
“Where do I start?” Here is a recipe to help you get from
your decision to your credentialing goal.
Study method. You need to decide on
a study method and timeline. Study
3 groups work very well, so see if some
of your coworkers are interested in
becoming credentialed, too. If there is
a credentialed person where you work, see if they would
be willing to help you form a study group, maybe even
lead the group. It is always nice to have someone who
can share his or her exam experience so you are not facing
a huge unknown.
Study groups also have a couple nice built-in advantages.
One is that it helps hold you to a study timeline.
It is more of a challenge to allow life to interfere when
people expect you to come prepared to a study meeting.
Study groups also bring a variety of experiences from
which a group could benefit. If you have someone who
has strong experience in internal medicine, that person
could share their expertise with everyone, and so can
the person who loves orthopedics. The likely favorite
study group participant will be the person who excels in
Volume 5 • Issue 6 noVemBeR 2009
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