credentialing, schmredentialing
Posted By: pee-owed on 2008-08-22
In Reply to: AHDA and Indian Transcription - cj
Hey, some of us MTs never touch the majority of the stuff you need to know to become a CMT. I, for one, have only typed in oncology and that is my forte, and I intend to stay in it until I drop dead (can't retire, not enough money).
With cancer increasing at horrible and alarming rates (why so much cancer these days?) my job feels secure, unless we go to the electronic medical record across the board or they get robots to do our job. I consider myself a professional because I know my specialty very well, having typed for 15 years in it exclusively. If they insist on credentialing, then they had better have different education and professional levels or requirements or categories because I have no idea how to type an EKG and never would want to at this point. I have beaucoup respect for those who type the whole shebang, but not all of us do.
One size does not fit all.
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Credentialing
Has anyone really reeped the benefits of being credentialed? I have been fortunate enough to work on site in psychiatry and never NEEDED to be credentialed. I am looking at getting a raise and thought maybe that would help. However; you have to pay money to be a member with the people who require more money to take their test and buy their books. I am not sure it is worth it.
Comments...anyone...
Credentialing
No way Jose. This is nothing more than a money making gimmick. I've been doing this 16 years and have done just fine without. When the BIG nationals start contributing money to this organization, you'd better believe it's not in the MT's best interest and that is exactly what has happened. We've been sold out to the highest bidder.
Why go through credentialing
when it supposedly is all going VR by 2010 or something like that? Why pay the money? I do believe credentialing is a way for that AHDI to make money. There was another thread where the CMT makes 6K, but she's gotta pay for her credits she needs to stay a CMT and do the work of sitting listening to the webinars, which when I looked were neither cheap nor short. Maybe I'm crazy, but there would need to be credentialing for a certain realm of the specialties as well. I do not like acute care. Sure, I can do it after 20 years in this business and working at a hospital, but I have no desire to work on acute care, so shouldn't I then have a choice in the matter to be credentialed for clinic work? I'm not an expert on this credentialing but I also just got a response from a nameless recruiter who expected me to take an extensive test because he/she claims that the ones that have been in this business a long time are not the best MTs out there and cannot pass his/her test. So who is the bully here? The pay was probably going to be horrible anyway, so why bother? I just told her/him good luck in their search. I'm tired of taking lengthy tests; my resume shows what I've done, am doing, and if these companies don't like it then pass me by, but by darned don't come off as greater than thou and degrade a hardworking MT just looking to contract a little bit of work. They can keep it for all I care with that kind of attitude. 
RE: Credentialing
I've seen several online news ads for my area - Washington Post, Baltimore Sun (which uses careerbuilder.com) - for on-site positions which state "CMT preferred" (especially for editing jobs). I've seen plenty of online ads for nationals that offer higher pay with CMT status. If you plan on staying in the field, then at some point having the cert. could mean the difference between you and another candidate for a position or higher pay. Since certification is not necessary in our field, pursuing it is a personal choice. Weighing the time and money costs of certifying versus potential future benefit, it can't hurt to have it IMO.
Credentialing
The nail techs and beauticians that we all go to are REQUIRED to be licensed and REQUIRED to attend continuing education on a 3-year cycle. Why shouldn't those who handle confidential medical information be subject to some form of regulation. We are not just typists, we are professionals at what we do!
Mandatory credentialing
Yes ADHI (AAMT) is working towards mandatory credentialing. Anyone who sees that as a threat or joke, probably should not be working as a transcriptionist. Believe me the more education and professional development you gain- you will reap rewards. They may or may not be monetary or happen overnight. Sometimes it is more about professional development.
Don't be under the assumption that credentialing
means the Transcriptionist is "better" in some way. As far as pay, I have NEVER, EVER seen a substantial difference in pay rates or an employer who will only hire credentialed. Don't get me wrong, credentialing is a good idea as it lends professionalism to our field but unless we are united, get credentialed and then demand better pay for the expense and education of being credentialed, what's the point?
Credentialing is a joke
and an expensive one, at that. Why should I, after working 8 years in this and proving my abilities, pay mega bucks to get and keep a sheet of paper??? A friend of mine did, and she gets one more cent a line, BUT has to agree to producing more work to keep her 1 cent! ("Well, okay, we'll give you a penny, but here, work your @$$ off and try to keep it! Ha ha ha!!!") Where did the money for the test go, and the money for the continuing ed? Right in the pocket of the company responsible for funding reduced credential testing for foreign MTs! I don't think so....not me, and the more of us who do test voluntarily will cause more consideration to making it manditory.
MTIA's statement on credentialing
x
In my most humble opinion, I think credentialing is a crock. SM
You hit the nail on the head - its a test created by a group that requires you pay $100 or so for membership (I haven't checked what their fees are for a while), $80 for their rule book, and then $300 to take their test. And for what? A penny more per line, maybe?
Not to mention, the organization which is supposed to be setting the tone and the standards in the medical transcription industry continually and consistently subverts the interests of the American MTs that were the life's blood of their association at its inception back in the good 'ol days. Without us, their little club would not have grown as it did. Instead of focusing on the needs of the American MTs and championing causes that would improve our industry and our pay checks, they have embraced offshoring, calling it the globalization of the workforce and say it the wave of the future and its progress. And as they ride this wave of the future, they leave the American MT in their wake betrayed and alone and poor.
I have have a deep moral objection to giving one cent of my hard earned money to the AHDI. They can keep their credentials and their membership dues. Seeing "CMT" behind someone's name doesn't make me respect them anymore that them not being a CMT. Quite the contrary, I start thinking their $300 sold out another American MT. Good Job! You're a CMT, yay! 
I agree. MTIA is not a government organization. Credentialing comes from state government and
sometimes at the federal level. This mandatory credentialing is ludicrous and a scheme to make money, in my humble opinion.
I have to agree with the other poster, if not having CMT after my name after 25 years of experience prevents me from being employable, I have a very good lawyer who will take up my cause!!!
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