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

CMT worth it? - anon

Posted: Sep 08, 2012

I'm getting ready to buckle down and study for my CMT. I got my RMT this spring and promised myself that I would get the CMT before I forgot too much. I'm having trouble motivating myself to memorize all the abbreviations (this seems to be a favorite type of question), so I'm wondering how folks who have their CMT feel about whether or not it has helped them with their career or not. Thanks for encouragement or discouragement. I'd really like to know.

Maybe - Current CMT

[ In Reply To ..]
There are a few companies out there who will still pay you a CMT differential. I used to get paid a CMT differential, and that was worth the time and effort required to get the credential. My company was acquired by Nuance, and they do not pay a CMT differential. My CMT isn't doing me any good right now. It has made it easier to get hired for MT jobs, I think, but right now there are so very few MTSOs left that are good to work for. I did renew my CMT a couple months ago because I feel that it is a sign of professionalism and it might be beneficial if things ever get better in the MT world. I'm currently looking for work outside of MT though.

how can it be a sign of professionalism - when AHDI is not professional?

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Just got me thinking, thats all...

It might be - if you work for a company that pays a premium - for CMT. You have to do the math.

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And there are a couple of companies that will waive testing for applicants with CMTs.

On the other side of the coin, it is my personal belief that some companies avoid hiring CMTs because they expect to be paid more for the credential.

Aside from the possibility of being paid a premium with some companies, I'd say it's the most worthless credential in any industry.

As I said, though, you have to do the math yourself.

CMT - No regrets

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't have any regrets about getting my CMT and I am glad I went ahead and did it, but I honestly do not think that it has helped me professionally. I do think that if I needed to start job hunting again for an MT job, it would help on my resume, but I would not expect to get paid more because of it. I agree that it is the most worthless credential in any industry. Well said.

I Never Went For It - Old MT

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There was a time I was going to go for it, but I changed my mind. For one thing, I don't support the viewpoints of the organization who does the testing. For another, it doesn't really get you anything. I've never had a problem getting an MT job without it. My acute care experience stands stronger than the CMT.

If this is your own personal goal so you feel like you "have arrived," then go for it, but I would wait a bit until you're more comfortable with all those abbreviations and other things. Once you have more experience, you won't have to memorize as much, you'll just "know" it.

Good luck!

I had mine but let it drop years ago. - Horrible, bitter old MT

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Not sure if it ever made any difference in getting hired (always still had to take the same crappy tests as everyone else).

Definitely sure it never made any difference in my pay (has been too low IMO for years).

Never really made any difference in my self-esteem either.

Bottom line: If I had the close to 400 bucks (maybe more now) that it takes to get the credential, I would put it toward a real course that might help me land a better job. Either that or spend it on booze and gambling at a casino... pretty much anything but give it to AHDI or whatever it is now.

PS: Does anyone know what's up with all those crazy letters some of the CMTs have? Is it like being an advanced CMT or something?

I Don't Know - But...

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I'm sure it has something to do with the organization getting more money for something useless.

Original poster, be objective about this. Of course, the organization is going to try to make this sound wonderful. Nobody here is trying to not encourage you, we're just being realistic and don't want to see you put out that kind of money and time for something that doesn't mean anything "out there."

Also to be mentioned is deciding if you want to join the organization. Weigh out whatever discounts they may offer for this or that, against your yearly membership fee, keeping up the credential, etc.

Soooo glad you're asking before your final decision.

Some people just have a personal goal to get the CMT and it is very important to them to have accomplished that. That is your right.

Horrible, bitter MT - Old Pro

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There is an old proverb in German that says "Empty heads are fond of long titles." In the early days of the AAMT, some of the crew were famous for adding all of these initials after their names. Initials, yes. Did they have academic credentials, nah!

Horrible, Bitter Old MT, I love your moniker! - It gave me my morning giggle! ;D

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nm

Glad you enjoyed it. - HBO MT

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am feeling crankier than usual today... LOL.

Yeah, I hear ya. I'm cranky too - just got my - so-called "paycheck" yesterday. (nm)

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nm

I left AHDI while it was still the AAMT - Old Pro

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Not because of anything to do with their "credentials," but because of the way they treated people, which, IMHO, is far more important.

thanks for asking - also leaving

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I have wanted to ask this same question on the board for a little while now. Wondered this myself. My New Year's resolution "goal" was to take the test before the end of this year. Got study materials, asked my supervisor about tips for taking it. I'm not going to.

It's so expensive, and I'm getting out of MT altogether, something I realized I had to do in the past few months. It's not worth the money to test. My company would give a very, very tiny raise if I got it, but with the paychecks I've gotten this year, it's a fraction that won't mean much.

Thanks again for the question and for the MTs who responded.

I figure it this way... - Way Old MT

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If for some reason the current company I'm working for requires that a person have a CMT, then they can pay the cost of the test and I'll take it. Until then, it's a no-go for me.

FYI: I used to do QA back when it was respected (by that, I mean we got paid well), and I had to proof many, many MT reports. I saw better quality on many of the non-CMT jobs than I did the CMT jobs. So, to me, I don't have much respect for the credential anyway.

One of the CMTs had THE WORST punctuation, would make up medical equipment words, etc., etc. That is when I lost respect for the credential.

Losing respect for credential - No regrets

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Well, that would certainly make me lose respect for the credential as well, especially if you saw a definite trend of inferior work from CMTs versus non-CMTs.

I remember when I was looking into credentialing back when I was still a student. I attended a webinar about the RMT and CMT, and I asked what the passing score was. I don't know if it still is, but the passing score was sort of hush-hush back then. Anyway, the passing score for both credentials was shockingly low, although I cannot recall exactly what was quoted. I do remember thinking it was pretty low, though.

I think having a credential in any allied health profession is sort of like the CMT in that regard - it doesn't mean one is any better at the job, just that one made the effort to study and test or that one tests well on these types of things.

I'd always heard that you don't pass the CMT until - youve spent enough money - s/m

[ In Reply To ..]
taking the test more than once or twice.

And that the score you get is less important than the amount of cash they can siphon out of you while you're trying to pass.

That's funny, but not true. I passed the first time and have several friends who also did - nm

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nm

I passed the first time - No regrets

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If that were the case, then the passing score would have to be shockingly high and not shockingly low, right? Caveat lector - I believe the passing score that was quoted to me a few years ago was less than 70%, which I consider a pretty low score. It was not a difficult test to pass, at least to me.

Thank you for all the answers. I'm still mulling - anon

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it over. My company did give me a small bonus when I got my RMT, but it didn't even cover the cost of the test. I think my company may put info on how many RMTs and CMTs they have when they bid for new accounts, so it makes me think that I'll be less likely to be laid off. Also, it seems like I get more job ads after taking it than before. On the downside, I know I will have to do a lot of memorizing stuff no matter how long I do MT (been at it 5 years already). AHDI wants you to remember the actual words for abbreviations that I never use in my work, like HIPPA and http://. While I do learn some good stuff when I study, there is a lot that does not help me one bit. That's what makes it hard to buckle down and do it, plus the $$ to AHDI, which I understand will be an ongoing thing if I get it.

Sorry, but the CMT, and AHDI, the company that profits - from it, are both worthless scams. nm

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There are some fine, hard-working MTs in the AHDI organization - RH

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Some of the finest people I know are AHDI members. They work hard to think of ways to make things better. Maybe they aren't often successful at it, but they try. The people I'm talking about actually do have the skills. They don't just talk the talk. They walk the walk. It's unfortunate that a few have taken the organization down, but I'm optimistic that it could revive itself if it makes a few very good decisions.

Dump all the joint partnership schemes. I really don't mind when AHDI puts out products and makes money on them. That's reasonable. I don't like it a bit when they promote products that they really don't know are good or not. Someone with influence gets in there and tells them to partner with them on this and that, and they do. That needs to stop. The membership feels like we've been had. We're told we have to have this or that or we'll be left behind. We pay and pay and pay. None of these things have been helpful. Take Benchmark and various editing and EHR webinars. Who has benefited from those? Not the MT. Stop the aggressive marketing, folks, and some of us will be members/supporters again. It's true that you've lost some forever, but membership could build from the ground up if we don't feel like we're just there to have stuff sold to us.

The BOS is an exception. It's not the AHDI products themselves that are so offensive. It's others that come in, present their products, and, because of their influence, have us as unwilling targets for their own income.

Great points - No regrets

[ In Reply To ..]
I was thinking today that a great benefit of membership would be access to group health insurance through the association. There are so many ICs and so many MTs struggling to hang onto health insurance working 12-hour days to meet line requirements with reduced work flow. Think about the freedom some of the MTs at these large companies would have if they could let go of their health insurance at work and be able to purchase it at a group rate. I actually did sign up for temporary health insurance through a group plan through AHDI about 4 or 5 years ago, but it was only available for less than 6 months. It was a very nice benefit of membership, and I appreciated it. Thankfully I only needed to have the insurance for a short 3-month gap in coverage.

Other than that, I am not really sure what AHDI can do for the MT and why MTs really need to be credentialed. I don't see much point in it now with doctors inputting their own documentation into EMRs and voice recognition editing. In the editing class I took through AHDI, we were basically taught to let all that style stuff we learned that was important go with voice recognition because "over editing" would cost too much in terms of efficiency. It was kind of like the technology is not up to the current standard of medical transcription, so we'll just have to lower the standard to make it work.

The other thing I am not sure about is whether or not AHDI is supposed to represent anyone anymore. The name stands for Association of Healthcare Documentation Integrity. There is no who in that name. For example, AMT stands for American Medical Technologists, AST stands for Association of Surgical Technologists, AORN stands for Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, etc. AHDI doesn't really stand for anyone; it stands for documentation integrity. Kind of hard for documentation integrity to pay membership dues - it's more of an abstract concept than a group of people. I kind of get the feeling that AHDI doesn't know what it really stands for, either. I lost interest in being a member when they partnered with MTIA.

Anyway, I am up in the air about whether to keep up my CMT or not. It just doesn't really seem to mean that much in this field.

I dropped out of my study group - Was getting confused

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I was going for the CMT (have the RMT already). I was in a study group that was pretty good, but working full time and trying to fit in the studying was getting me down. Also, the accounts I am on do not follow the BOS very much, and so I was getting confused learning the BOS way and then remembering all the various styles of the different accounts I am on! I dropped it after consulting folks on this site. I figure I can always go back to going for it if I see any need for it.

That's Another Thing - Way Old MT

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It's not about BOS, it's about the client. While I think it's helpful to know BOS, as some facilities say they want one to follow it, it's just not the be-all end-all. I even have accounts who say to follow BOS, but when it comes to such and such don't, and Dr. So-and-So doesn't want the part about numbers not being spelled out, etc., etc.

They should just drop the "O", and name the book - "BS".

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Disclaimer: I think the CMT could be very important - CMT

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If the MTSOs could be brought on board, the CMT could be very important. The problem is, the MTSOs are the ones who decide who they will hire and what difference the CMT makes. They have not been our friends, in so many ways.

I disagree... - CMT will only become meaningful

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if state or federal government starts requiring it, which will likely never happen. Hospitals think of us as a subset of clerical workers, maybe with specialized skills, but no different than secretaries or file clerks who may need a certain kind of education but do not have to be "certified" to do their jobs. CMT will simply remain a vanity title for those who care to pursue it.

or if employers require it - no regrets

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In the field I am currently training for to get out of MT, I will have to sit for and pass a voluntary certification exam upon completion of the program, but if I choose not to, there is just about 0% chance that I'll be able to find employment, as most employers now require the credential as a condition of employment for this particular field.

The big difference between MT and what I am pursuing is that MT has no direct patient care involved and is a lot less likely to cause harm to a patient if the "standard" is not followed.

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