I feel compelled to voice my thoughts on the topic of credentialed MTs; the reason being I work with a fantastic group of MTs under my management.

We work at a community hospital in a centralized setting; all departments dictate their patient records and we transcribe them. They are highly skilled, productive and accurate and simply the best staff to manage.

Here are my thoughts.

* Are Credentialed MTs better? If this were to come to fruition, I believe colleges will have to revamp their program. A lot of colleges are only giving the student a 'taste' of medical transcription, preparing them more for a physician's office setting. If one were to graduate and move into a hospital setting, they would have the basic knowledge, but let's face it -- hospital transcription cannot be compared to SOAP notes/office notes. With this in mind, a veteran MT is worth his/her weight in gold compared to someone getting an "A" in medical terminology.

*    Will it affect the work force shortage? It is stated there is already a critical labor shortage; and the reason it is going off-shore is because there are not enough MTs here. Let's rethink this: There are enough MTs in the U.S.; MTs just sitting at their PC waiting for work to come to them. They are highly experienced and knowledgeable MTs. It is perceived to be the opposite due to facilities offshoring to save money or to improve turn-around. Other MTs have inevitably left their field of expertise due to low pay, no work, etc. Reorganization and improved technology can allow facilities to bring their dictation back in-house for less cost and improved efficiency.

* Will MTs embrace it? It shouldn't be surmised that only some MTs have jumped on board. I believe MTs will gladly become credentialed to prove their worth; if they are appropriately compensated. MTs are not just (productive or accurate) typists; they are a rare breed of individuals who can take a garbled voice file (foreign or English) and turn it into a thoroughly documented patient record.

* Where does this stand now? The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) is amassing numbers on quality ... we have 14 transcriptionists (all not credentialed) with our facility and their overall accuracy level is 99.7 percent. These MTs have random quality reviews performed on their work every 2 weeks at a minimum of 200 lines. The standard accuracy level for our facility is 99.2 percent. We are a centralized facility; all departments dictate and our MTs are cross-trained on everything from physical therapy to pathology.

I believe the true bottom line here is paying proficient MTs what they deserve, and they in turn will stand behind their credentials.

Susan A. Carlson

HIM Manager / Transcription

WCA Hospital

Jamestown, NY