Advocacy Summit 2009

ADVOCACY SUMMIT 2009

The Advocacy Summit for 2009 was held on June 2-4 in Washington, D.C., with over 80 AHDI and MTIA members joining together to meet with legislators in an effort to educate them on the importance of our transcription profession within the realm of the HITECH Act and the electronic medical record system.
More than 100 appointments were made to these offices by the attendees, and many successful responses were shared at the closing meeting. Over 200 letters were also distributed to offices with contact information for the legislators and their healthcare aides to review. In some instances, attendees were able to discuss exactly what the transcriptionist’s role is in preparing the physician’s documentation, and that this is truly the first line of risk management to locate any medication or dictation errors that could affect patient safety. Citing the fact that “point and click” methods do not adequately tell the patient’s story, members were able to stress to the legislators that our profession is definitely an integral part and should be included “at the table” when making final decisions for the electronic medical record planning process.
This was my first Advocacy Summit to attend, and I can assure you that I learned a tremendous amount while I was there. I am extremely proud to be part of an association which is reaching out at top levels to assure our profession has a successful future. To meet with high levels of government and explain what it is that we do everyday and the importance of those roles shows that we have come a long way from being “invisible” and truly makes me feel very fortunate to play a part in our evolving roles for the future.
It is certain that we must push forward in making our voices heard. Each one must speak up and be counted in making our government officials and those we are involved with in healthcare aware of the necessary roles that we play in a patient’s medical record documentation. It will be extremely important that we continue our education in the face of changing roles with speech recognition, electronic templates and new integration techniques within various software platforms.
We are truly facing what may seem like uncertain times, but I am encouraged greatly that we are making strides in the right direction with our leadership and those who are putting “feet” to their actions, which was so evident at the Advocacy Summit. I feel very privileged to be among those who attended, and it will not be my last meeting in which I will be a participant. Even though we have returned home from this event, the work does not stop. We should make this an ongoing effort to inform our state government officials of the need for our profession in the healthcare workplace and followup with those we had a privilege to see in Washington.
I also look forward to the upcoming ACE in Nashville, Tennessee on July 29, through August 1, 2009. A great line-up of conferences and activities are planned as well as fun events. I am sure we will be hearing more exciting success stories of where our association is going. I hope to see you there!

Debbie Bright-Chunn, RHIT, CMT, AHDI-F
2009-2011 AHDI Board Member