A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

CERTIFICATION QUESTIONS/CONCERNS - slr

Posted: Apr 09, 2014

I have questions/concerns regarding becoming a Registered and/or Certified Healthcare Documentation Specialist (formerly known as Medical Transcriptionist). I have been a medical transcriptionist/editor for 14 years and never took the time to prepare for and take the exam to become certified. I have been reviewing items on the AHDI website and would like some feedback regarding the benefits of becoming certified and/or if you feel it is necessary. Also, if there are other organizations that offer this certification. Thanks very much!

What is the cost/benefit analysis? - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
Will it increase your pay enough to make doing it... and the continuing education to keep it up... worth it? Most people will give a resounding NO!

Certification - JD

[ In Reply To ..]
I certainly would take the certification test and plan to. Even if you do not make more money per line, many jobs require you to be a CMT. It also gives you better qualifications when job hunting!

JD - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
I am going to politely disagree. Many MTSOs are not taken in by the whole AHDI schtick and in fact, I would not give it any weight at all.

You need to do some research about the AHDI before you - feed them money for a useless piece of paper.

[ In Reply To ..]
My God. This organization backs offshoring so they can sell their bit to certify India too. Every time the AHDI needs money they change something (CERRITIFED HEALTHCARE DOCUMENTATION SPECIALIAST - oh, puh-leeze, right up there with Rosanne's Domestic Godess schtick) and charge more. Just like they change 4-5 rules in the BOS every now and then (used to be yearly), and call it an update to sell the damn thing over and over again at a hefty cost.

I've been an MT for 40 years and not one job cared about the certificate that I had acquired when I first started for 8.00 bucks and a postage stamp. Back then they were the AAMT and 'it' was called CMT. Neither the AAMT and their claim to keep standards high in order to get us on the PROFESSIONAL payscale, nor their piece of toilet paper with my nameo on it ever got me a position or more money. And that was when jobs were abundant and we all were thriving, pay was 15 cpl at most, average 11-12. WHAT'S IT NOW, huh? This is the real world, anything you hear otherwise is just AHDI schooze right into your bank account.

Read the archives, info goes back decades. before you do anything. Or simply ask in a new post for an opinion on the AHDI.

Sorry! Sounds harsh, it's a sore subject to me, probably most of us. Take no offense, original poster...and if you did, I apologize.

Hate the AHDI. I actually was considering recertification. - What a scam.

[ In Reply To ..]
Even realizing that AHDI has done nothing for the MT profession, perhaps against my better judgment, I was considering becoming certified again. I got my CMT once, eons ago, but did not keep up my certification.

So I looked at the AHDI website for info, and I was shocked at the all hoops you have to jump through and the very high cost of the certification test!

It made me extremely angry. Never again will those scam artists get their hands on my now-really-hard-earned money!

AHDI - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
The AHDI paper is about as useful as the prize that falls out of the Crackerjack box. If someone wants to belong to a faux "sorority," then go for it. Otherwise, keep the money and take yourself out to a nice dinner.

To - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
You have nailed it exactly. I put more value on a roll of Charmin that I do on anyting hawked in the market place by the AAMT or whatever the initials of its current incarnation are. If you ever want to read something interesting, get the depositions from the transcriptionists' lawsuit against MQ several years ago. Yes, they are public. (You will have to pay a copying fee.) The AAMT sold us all out a looooong time ago. They got in bed with the squid and with offshoring. And people still think they are okay? Just to have some "certification?" What authority do they have to certify anybody on anything? I, too, have been an MT for 40 years, have never had trouble getting work, and have never once been asked for a CMT. Lots of MTSOs don't buy the hype. I didn't.

THANKS! - SLR

[ In Reply To ..]

THANKS everyone for the valuable information. VERY helpful in making a sound decision. Thanks again!!!

certification - Cindy

[ In Reply To ..]
I was glad to read these posts. I don't think I share the same animosity towards ADHI as many of you, but I had decided at one point to get recertified (I received my CMT in the 1990s and let it lapse). I'm a pretty sharp cookie, and I found the directions to get recertified really hard to follow. The blueprint was equally difficult to navigate. Becoming recertified is on my global to-do list, but practically speaking, I probably won't ever get around to it. The directions are way too vague.

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