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The most important consideration in finding successful employment in the Medical Transcription industry is your skill set. However, credentialing is rapidly becoming more important, and if AHDI, the influential industry organization has its way, credentialing will become a pre-requisite for active participation in the industry. However, mandatory credentialing, as of this writing is a ways off. Frankly, there is just too much opposition from too many other influential communities.

Becoming a Certified Medical Transcriptionist, or a Registered Medical Transcriptionist, while not essential, can be very helpful in advancing a career in medical transcription and medical record documentation. When people speak of certification in the Medical Transcription or clinical documentation field, they are typically referring to certification with AHDI (Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity) - formerly AAMT (American Association for Medical Transcription). The traditional official designation of the AHDI certification is "CMT" - Certified Medical Transcriptionist. However, in recent years AHDI has expanded its credential offerings. The most visible and important change was the addition of the "RMT" - Registered Medical Transcriptionist. The RMT is an entry level designation aimed at recent graduates of medical transcription training programs and others with more limited practical experience.

While the CMT is certainly highly regarded, it has historically not been considered an absolute prerequisite for entry into, or advancement within the field of medical transcription. Many competent medical trancriptionists do not have the CMT (Certified Medical Transcriptionist) designation. However, if your time and resources permit, it is something that should be seriously considered. The AHDI designation seems to be gaining more credibility and traction in the medical transcription industry in recent years - particularly in light of the changing role of the industry with its focus on medical record editing.

The Certified Medical Transcriptionist credential is particularly important for those interested in pursuing a management level or supervisory position in the industry. Many hospitals and large MTSO's will look carefully at credentials when evaluating candidates for promotion.

Free Info on our recommended Medical Transcription Program leading to an exciting home based medical transcription career

Becoming a Level 1 RMT (Registered Medical Transcriptioinist) or a Level 2 CMT (Certified Medical Transcriptionist) will require an investment - both in time and money.

RMT Level 1 Exam Eligibility

The RMT - Registered Medical Transcriptionist is an entry level designation. The RMT exam is offered to candidates who:

1. Are recent graduates of a medical transcription training program

2. Have less than 2 years of practical medical transcription work experience in an acute care environment

3. Have been working primarily in a single specialty environment

Level 1 RMT Exam Format

The AHDI Registered Medical Transcriptionist (RMT) exam consists of an objective general medical transcription knowledge section and also a medical transcription performance section.

The objective general knowledge section consists of 130-questions in a multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank format. The questions are designed to assess a candidates fitness for a position as an entry level medical transcriptionist. The test will cover the primary knowledge domains of Medical Transcription Standards, MT Style Essentials, Clinical Medicine, and Health Information Technology.

Following the objective exam, candidates will continue on to the practical transcription portion of the exam which will consist of a series of short medical dictation sound files. These will need to be transcribed, proofread, or edited, depending on the specific instructions. Keyboarding and technical skills will receive less emphasis than overall critical thinking and applied transcription skills. Plan on 3 hours for the complete exam.

Level 2 CMT Exam Eligibility

Current eligibility requirements for the CMT exam include two years of medical transcription experience in an acute care setting - with acute care medical transcription being defined by AHDI as "incorporating medical center dictation to include many dictators including multiple ESL dictators, many formats and report types, and all the major specialties, including and especially surgery dictation of all types, and some minor specialties." Increasingly, the CMT designation requires a high level of medical editing capability as well.

Level 2 CMT Exam Format

The AHDI Certified Medical Transcriptionist (CMT) exam consists of an objective general medical transcription knowledge section and also a medical transcription performance section which will focus on both traditional medical transcription as well as on medical editing. Obviously, the CMT exam can be expected to be far more rigorous than the RMT exam and it presupposes a significant level of acute care transcription and editing experience. AHDI recommends scheduling approximately 4 hours for the entire exam.

Scheduling the Exam

All AHDI credentialing exams are administered year-round by AHDI's exam partner, Kryterion. Candidates now have the option to take the credentialing exams either on site at one of the Kryterion testing centers or online via secure, online proctoring (OLP). Candidates wishing to take the exam through on-line proctoring must meet certain technical requirements and adhere to rigid and specific testing security parameters. Exam locations can be evaluated by going directly to the website of the Certified Medical Transcriptionist testing administrator - Kryterion. Their website can be found at www.kryteriononline.com

For questions about the exam or to speak to a representative you may call 1-800-982-2182. Self assessment tools are available online from AHDI at ahdionline.org.

Exam Fees

There is a non-refundable $10 dollar exam application fee. Once the application has been completed and the application fee has been paid, AHDI will send Exam Authorization and instructions via email. AHDI exam applications can be found online at the AHDIwebsite (ahdionline.org).

Exam Fees for the RMT Exam are as follows:

On-site exam, AHDI member: $150.00
On-site exam, AHDI nonmember: $ 230.00
Online proctored (OLP) exam, AHDI member: $100
Online proctored (OLP) exam, AHDI nonmember: $180

Exam Fees for the CMT Exam are as follows:

On-site exam, AHDI member: $200.00
On-site exam, AHDI nonmember: $ 280.00
Online proctored (OLP) exam, AHDI member: $150
Online proctored (OLP) exam, AHDI nonmember: $230

CMT Exam Retake Policy

AHDI stipulates that a candidate may not take the certified medical transcriptionist (CMT) exam more than twice in any twelve month period. Further, a candidate must wait six months from the date of the unsuccessful exam to reapply to take the exam again. There is no limit to the number of times a candidate may take the exam.

Of course, the best preparation for the certified or registered medical transscription certification exam is a number of years of intensive experience transcribing medical records reports for a healthcare provider or medical transcription service provider.

AHDI also offers a number of self-assessment products that can be purchased in advance of taking the exam. These are essentially simulated tests that allow a prospective candidate to assess whether they are ready to take the actual exam. These practice tests also help prepare a person for the actual exam experience. These products can be purchased online at www.ahdionline.org.

An initial medical transcription certification is good for three years. After that, the designation must be renewed. In order to maintain the CMT or RMT designation a medical transcriptionist must continue to demonstrate progress in the field of medical transcription by periodically fulfilling approved continuing education requirements.

AHDI offers an overview of the medical transcription certification process on it's web site. Go to www.ahdionline.org.

Free Info on our recommended Medical Transcription Program leading to an exciting home based medical transcription career