Archived Presentations

Thank you for your interest in our continuing education classes. Each one-hour class below was

recorded during a live online presentation and can be purchased and downloaded for viewing by clicking on the title.

All classes have been approved for credit by the American Association for Medical Transcription.

(Please note: If you have previously registered and paid for the live version of a course but were unable to attend, it is NOT necessary for you to pay again. Please send your name, the name of the course, and your receipt information to CECSales@oa-ahdi.org to receive the archived presentation.)

A discussion on transcription techniques and listening tips. We will also discuss accented dictators and how to understand how your dictator thinks based on his or her native tongue. This presentation is designed to help students and working MTs learn how to recognize accented speech and how to listen for a complete thought before lifting the foot pedal. Cheryl Blake began working as a medical transcriptionist in 1994 when her newborn son was 4 weeks old; having decided she would stay at home to raise her third child. The growth of the Internet provided her the vehicle to become a Work-at-home Mom and no longer did she have to rely on someone else to raise her children for her. She is a graduate of New Jersey City University with a Bachelor's Degree in Media/Journalism. She achieved her Paralegal certification from Rutgers University in 1976, and specialized in medicolegal cases including medical malpractice and insurance defense in New York, Seattle and San Bernardino County, California. Cheryl worked her way steadily through the ranks, going from transcriptionist to editor, to Director of Quality Assurance, and ultimately to instructor. In that role, she and her family went to Bangalore, India so she could train medical transcriptionists and lecture all over that country throughout the year 2000. Since that time, Cheryl has been an advisor to many start-up transcription companies as well as Director of QA for other companies before beginning at TRS in early 2007. Cheryl lives in Sugarloaf, California with her husband, Joe, her 14-year-old son, Johnny, and Patch the Cocker Spaniel. Cheryl and Joe have 2 grown children, Air Force Sr. Airman Robert, and Victoria and her husband Shaun blessed them with their first grandchild, Sam, in June.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in MT Tools
Presenter: Cheryl Blake

This presentation gives the humble blank its due respect and sheds light on the real bad guy, the guess. This lecture is designed to show the 4 types of blanks and their value as transcription tools. Cheryl Blake began working as a medical transcriptionist in 1994 when her newborn son was 4 weeks old; having decided she would stay at home to raise her third child. The growth of the Internet provided her the vehicle to become a Work-at-home Mom and no longer did she have to rely on someone else to raise her children for her. She is a graduate of New Jersey City University with a Bachelor's Degree in Media/Journalism. She achieved her Paralegal certification from Rutgers University in 1976, and specialized in medicolegal cases including medical malpractice and insurance defense in New York, Seattle and San Bernardino County, California. Cheryl worked her way steadily through the ranks, going from transcriptionist to editor, to Director of Quality Assurance, and ultimately to instructor. In that role, she and her family went to Bangalore, India so she could train medical transcriptionists and lecture all over that country throughout the year 2000. Since that time, Cheryl has been an advisor to many start-up transcription companies as well as Director of QA for other companies before beginning at TRS in early 2007. Cheryl lives in Sugarloaf, California with her husband, Joe, her 14-year-old son, Johnny, and Patch the Cocker Spaniel. Cheryl and Joe have 2 grown children, Air Force Sr. Airman Robert, and Victoria and her husband Shaun blessed them with their first grandchild, Sam, in June.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Clinical Medicine
Presenter: Josef M. Planansky, D.C.

This presentation covers the importance of nutrition and the maintenance of a healthy body, the effects of the environment on our health, and some tidbits on what you can do immediately to help become a healthier person starting tomorrow. Dr. Planansky received his doctorate training from Parker College of Chiropractic in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Planansky has completed over 500 hours of postgraduate study in the fields of nutrition and rehabilitation. Presently, he is the Clinical Director of Physical Rehabilitation at the Colorado Pain Clinic in Loveland, Colorado. Nutrition has been a prominent interest for

Dr. Planansky, and he believes it is the missing link to a lifetime of vitality and health. His experiences as a professional football player and collegiate coach give him a unique perspective on sports medicine, nutrition and sports rehab, as well as pain management rehabilitation.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in MedicoLegal
Presenter: Judy Mauldin

The process of medical transcription is changing, but the role medical transcriptionists play in patient safety and risk management has not. This webinar will cover emerging technology in health care documentation and why we need to be a part of the development and implementation of this technology, along with specific steps each of us can take to ensure we are part of the future of health care documentation. Judy will also discuss specific pieces of legislation that will directly impact medical transcription. Join us and learn how you CAN make a difference by getting involved and advocating for your profession! Judy Mauldin is currently working as an MT for America’s Pride: Supporting Service-Connected Disabled Veterans, Inc. She serves on the OA-AHDI Board of Directors, is Chair of the OA-AHDI Legislative Issues Group and is a member of the OA-AHDI Education Committee. She also serves as a member of the Steering Committee for the Student Alliance, AHDI Bylaws Committee, AHDI Legislative Issues Group Committee, the HOD Lead Team and the Component Association Support Team (CAST). She is also serving as Delegate to AHDI for the Carolinas Association for Medical Transcription.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Medicolegal
Presenter: Pati A.R. Howard, CMT, AHDI-F

A discussion of HIPAA, what it is, why it was created, who the regulators are, as well as examples of scenarios (some surprising), to make the MT more aware of confidentiality. Pati Howard, CMT, Fellow of AHDI (AHDI-F), has been a practicing MT since 1978. She works at a level I trauma center in Central Florida and has for the last 20 years. Her current position is senior transcriptionist, as well as project coordinator for predefined text (a position she has held since 1996). She has been a "subject expert" for four Stedman's "Medical Transcription Skill Builders" workbooks (Cardiology, General Surgery, Orthopedics and Neurology); she also collaborated on the Stedman's Abbreviations, Acronyms & Symbols Word Book just released (4E). She serves on the Advance Magazine panel of experts for medical transcription; she is currently content editor for "Bridging Boundaries" the newsletter for the online association of AHDI, and an active member of the Editorial Content Team of AHDI (She has written several articles for JAAMT and Health Data Matrix as well as Plexus).

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Complementary Medicine
Presenters: Karen Balistreri, Certified Aromacologist, and Dr. Faith Nelson, RN, PhD, QBD

A discussion on the history of aromatherapy and the benefits of using therapeutic essential oils by various means, such as inhalation, topical application, and dietary supplementation, for health and welfare.

Karen Balistreri has been a Reiki Master since 1991. She became an ordained minister of St. Ann's Church in January 1993. In 1994 she received her certification in Herbology from the School of Natural Healing in Provo, Utah, and studied at Ege University in Izmir, Turkey, in the fall of 1996. Karen also received International Certification in Aromatherapy from the Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy in 1997. In 1998 at the Young Living Convention, she studied with Dr. Daniel Penoel, author of the first definitive medical text on Aromatherapy. Karen has taught for St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton, California; Aurora Health Care in Wisconsin, UWM School of Nursing, and Marquette University School of Nursing.

Dr. Faith Nelson has been working for the past 28 years as a health professional in a variety of settings. Her experience was varied and cross trained in all disciplines and areas of expertise in a variety of specialty areas as a nurse specialist clinician and supervisor. Faith's PhD is in Integrative Medicine and her ThD is in Spiritual Healing/Energy Medicine. Her special interests are in the field of biotherapeutics, energy medicine and electro-medicine. Her eclectic background has a wide range of skills, trainings and certifications in the fields of Quantum Biofeedback Diplomate/Instructor, Auriculotherapy, Massage Therapy, Clinical Essential Oils, Reflexology/Acupressure, Touch for Health Level 4, PKP level 3, Reiki Master, Jin Shin Jyutsu, and other Energy Medicine work.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in MT Tools
Presenter: Betsy Ertel, AHDI-F - CEO We Hear You Transcription Service

An overview of the unique features and functions of word expander programs utilizing the SpeedType program inside the Windows environment.Betsy Ertel, Fellow of AAMT (AHDI-F), has been a transcriptionist of 37 years in the acute care environment. She has transcribed all fields of medicine and owned and operated 4 of her own businesses. She is the CEO of We Hear You Transcription Service and the CEO of SpeedType, "The Extreme Word Expander” for the Windows operating system, Past President of the Central Florida Chapter of AAMT for 2 years and on the Advisory Council for 4 community colleges in the central Florida area. Betsy also went to the Jacksonville Stenotype Institute in Jacksonville, Florida, back in 1991 where she learned the skill sets for court reporting. She has now retired her Stenograph machine but still utilizes many of the brief forms she learned in theory. Because she is a transcriptionist with previous use of many different word expander programs all the way back from the DOS environment, she understands the need, as well as the demand, to have an efficient and easy-to-use abbreviation expander program for everyday production. You will be surprised at the advantages of a macro wizard.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Technology in the Workplace
Presenter: Lori DeVaney - Webmedx trainer

Do you view QA as a partner in your success as a medical transcriptionist or as an adversary waiting to pounce? Want to know how to change your perspective? Or, are you in QA and want to change how your MTs see you? Tammy Moore has been a medical transcriptionist for over 20 years, working in acute care, clinic and radiology. She received her education in the medical field at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas while on active duty. She has worked in all areas of Health Information including medical records, vital statistics, medical coding and billing, etc. Tammy is the past secretary for the Atlanta Chapter of AHDI (formerly AAMT) and is an active member of the OA-AHDI.

Continuing Education Credits: 2 CECs in Technology
Presenter: Tammy Moore, CMT, AHDI-F

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Medical Transcription Tools
Presenter: Diana Gish, CMT, AHDI-F

Do you know all things about BOS, grammar and style? medical terms and phrases? the future of this industry? about who does what for you as a member of OA-AHDI? Are there words you hear every day but you cannot make out? Do you have burning questions but never took time to ask them? Now, you may ask these questions and get a CE for doing so! Our much-beloved Diana Gish is a Kansas-born, red hat (and shoes), purple coat, nonhypertensive scissor-runner and Erma Bombeck/Barbara Larsen wannabe. Diana Gish, CMT, AHDI-F, is an MT accuracy analyst with 35 years’ experience in medicolegal transcription. She is the former administrator of the AHDI Help Desk for a year, fielding hundreds of MT questions before moving into product development and education program approval. She has authored many articles for JAAMT and Plexus, continues to write for Matrix, and recently compiled the downloadable eBook "Willie Getwell," 40 case studies with 25-100 errors per report for self-study and instructor use. She is also an instructor for M-TEC.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Clinical Medicine
Presenter: Margaret Walker, MD, RMT

Dr. Margaret Walker, a pediatrician/neonatologist, presents on the topic of cardiopulmonary and gastrointestinal problems unique to infants. Margaret Walker MD (and proudly RMT!:-) is a retired board certified pediatrician and neonatologist who practiced for the majority of her career with the Kaiser HMO in Northern California. She has always had a love for words and she actually helped to pioneer use of an EMR at her hospital. Since her retirement from active medical practice in 2003, she has become fascinated by the challenges of medical transcription and has chosen this as her second career. At present Margaret enjoys her volunteer work on two MT boards and with an online MT school. She regularly helps members of AHDI by contributing answers and comments to questions posed by member MTs on AHDI's Professional Practices Network, primarily the Clinical Medicine Q & A forum, and secondarily the Style and Format Q & A forum. She is a OC-AAMT and serves as the medical liaison for our mentoring program "We Ment Well" and as a member of our education committee.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Professional Development
Presenter: Debbie Chunn, CMT, RHIT

Debbie has planned a delightful humorous presentation for all the people who work at home, but it can also be of interest to others as well. Debbie knows all about the at home transcriptionist as she has many that she works with day in and day out. This is just a glimpse into that life. Debbie Chunn is the owner of Bright's Consulting Firm in Bastrop, LA as well as a full time employee for Bastrop Rehabilitation Hospital. She has presented numerous times for the Louisiana Association for Medical Transcription of which she is a member. Debbie also has a BS in Psychology.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Technology in the Workplace
Presenter: Jay Vance, CMT

This will be an overview of the technology resources available through AAMT/AHDI for working MTs, MT service owneers, education institutions and component leaders. Jay Vance, CMT, is Vice President for Client Support Operations for Proveros, Inc. He implemented the new Professional Parctices Network for AAMT/AHDI. He was also a co-founder of the Online Chapter of AAMT.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Tools in the Workplace
Presenter: Kathy Melton

Kathy will speak on overcoming challenges, the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws. Kathy Melton is a visually impaired medical transcriptionist, who owns her own business. She has many years of experience and developed Kay's Class.com to make it readily accessible to the visually impaired. She is a member of AAMT and lives in Texas.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Professional Development
Presenter: Brian Sugrue, Financial Planner

Brian Sugrue is a Financial Planner and Investment Advisor Representative with Sagemark Consulting and the founder of the Strategic Wealth Advisor's Network or "SWAN" program. Brian works with clients by offering comprehensive financial planning, helping families and business owners simplify their lives by assisting them in making intelligent decisions about business succession, retirement, college savings, investment, estate planning and insurance risk management. Brian and his team help people from retirement planning for Medical Transcriptionists to business succession, planning for excecutives or MTSOs.

An active member of his community, Brian is currently a member of the Leadership Contra Costa program and Vice President on the Board of Directors for the Center for Human Development. Brian, his wife, Heather and daughter Brady live in Walnut Creek, California where they are awaiting the arrival of a baby girl in February of 2007.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Professional Development
Presenter: Jacque Taylor, AHDI-F

Do you have energy to burn? Or… are you ‘burned out’? This presentation hopes to invigorate and restore some of that lost energy to help you feel motivated to keep pace in this busy world, and how to infect others with that enthusiasm and passion right along with you!Jacque Taylor, AHDI-F, is fairly new to the profession, having been a working MT for just 5 years now. Starting as an independent contractor for 4 out of the 5 years doing MT and QA work, she is currently an MT at a major MTSO as a full-time employee. Jacque decided to embark on this second career at the ripe old age of 55. She is a proud graduate of M-TEC, Inc., beginning her course work in 2000 and graduating in 2002. She has been a member of AHDI since beginning her educational process at the recommendation (?) of her instructor and friend, Susan Francis. She is an active member of her state association in Utah, and in 2004 joined and became the first president of the new Online Chapter of AAMT. She was in that position through 2005, and was elected to serve on the board of directors of this wonderful Association for the term of 2006 through and including 2008.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Clinical Medicine
Presenter: Randy Drake

Omega-3 essential fatty acids, primarily found in fish oils, are being used to treat a variety of mental health problems ranging from depression to ADHD to schizophrenia. This presentation will explore the wide-ranging uses of omega-3 nutritional supplements for correcting psychiatric problems and enhancing cognitive function. Randy Drake is the coauthor of 18 books in the Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book series. He has spoken at national pharmacists' meetings, AAMT Annual Meetings, state and local chapter meetings, as well as at several seminars for teachers. Some think he is a verifiable encyclopedia of drug information. His interest in nutraceuticals is reflected in the articles he has written on the subject and the inclusion of over 1900 herbal and natural remedies in his reference books.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in MT Tools
Presenter: Diana Gish, CMT, AHDI-F

Nobody wants to experience a plateau in their career. Learn what makes you valuable to your employer and how to be rewarded where you work. What can I do as an entry-level professional to position myself for advancement? Will there be QA in 5 years? What is the natural role for QA to morph into as blended roles emerge from the matrix of skills in our industry? What is the biggest misconception in editing medical documents? How do successful MTs stay on top of their skills? Don’t miss the CE that will give you insight into how you can break through the cyberspace barrier to become a most valued employee. Diana Gish, CMT, AHDI-F is an MT accuracy analyst with 35 years’ experience in medicolegal transcription. She is employed by AAMT to facilitate education approval, apprenticeship, and product development in addition to moderating the Professional Practices Network in the areas of Style & Format, Clinical Medicine and Medical Terms. She recently updated the Instant Drug Index 2006, electronic reference available on CD.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Medicolegal
Presenter: Brenda Hurley, CMT, AHDI-F

This one-hour presentation covers what HIPAA is and how it impacts medical transcriptionists. Tips for being HIPAA smart will be shared, as well as valuable HIPAA resources. Brenda Hurley has been a medical transcriptionist for more than 35 years. She currently works as the Director of Industry Relations and Compliance at Medware, a national medical transcription service located in Central Florida. Brenda has been a member of the American Association for Medical Transcription since 1981, and has been credentialed as a CMT for over 25 years, and received the designation of Fellow of AAMT in 2002. She has served on the AAMT Board of Directors for a total of 12 years, and as its President in 1988 and in 1995. In 2005, Hurley was honored as the first recipient of the AAMT Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award. Brenda also serves on the editorial board for ADVANCE for Health Information Professionals, and is a member of Stedman’s National Advisory Board. Brenda has been a member of ASTM International since 1995. She is the current Chair of the E31.15 subcommittee, Health Information Capture and Documentation.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Clinical Medicine
Presenter: Randy Drake

Combining pharmaceuticals with herbal and natural products may have unanticipated results. The drugs your doctor prescribes may be rendered ineffective by popular botanicals. Natural products can make specific drugs more potent, sometimes to the point of toxicity and certain drugs can deplete important nutrients, requiring the co-administration of nutritional supplements. Known drug/herb and drug/nutrient interactions will be discussed with specific lists of combinations to avoid. Randy Drake is the coauthor of 18 books in the Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book series. He has spoken at national pharmacists' meetings, AAMT Annual Meetings, state and local chapter meetings, as well as at several seminars for teachers. Some think he is a verifiable encyclopedia of drug information. His interest in nutraceuticals is reflected in the articles he has written on the subject and the inclusion of over 1800 herbal and natural remedies in his reference books.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Professional Development
Presenter: Ellen Drake, CMT, AHDI-F - AAMT Director of Education & Certification

Stop wasting time agonizing over difficult dictation as you learn to use your most valuable resource - your brain - in this interactive presentation that will help you learn how to decipher, edit, and let go of unintelligible dictation. Ellen Drake, CMT, AHDI-F, is Director of Education and Certification for AAMT. She is also coauthor of Saunders Pharmaceutical Word Book. She was previously a development editor for Health Professions Institute (HPI) in Modesto , CA . She is a former medical transcription program director and is now an adjunct professor at Seminole Community College in Sanford , Florida . Ellen has a BA in English education and taught high school English for 5 years. She has been a medical transcription practitioner in many different settings as well as a service owner and has more than 35 years in the industry. Ellen has contributed to many medical transcription education and reference books and written dozens of articles for JAAMT and Perspectives on the Medical Transcription Profession. She has made more than 30 presentations at national, state, and local AAMT meetings as well as at MTIA and the California Association of Medical Assisting Instructors (CAMAI). E-mail Ellen at ellen@aamt.org. Ellen’s Web page is www.ellendrake.com.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Clinical Medicine
Presenter: Larry Fisher, NP

Larry Fisher is a graduate of Louisiana State University, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center Nursing School and Loyola University Family Practitioner Program. He has been a Registered Dialysis Nurse, Neurology Nurse Practitioner, and currently a Rehabilitation Nurse Practitioner. Mr. Fisher is a gentleman who loves his work. He works 50 to 70 hours a week caring for and empathizing with his patients. When asked how he has the energy to work long hours, he replies, "I receive energy from my patients." He sees his practice as enabling him to further his humanity by bringing his life to his work. Mr. Fisher views the transcriptionist as the provider of the record that will be passed on so that patients will receive professional help. He understands the crucial link transcriptionists represent in continuity of patient care. He views the medical transcriptionists he works with as invaluable assets in his life, and in his patient care. He appreciates the transcriptionist's contribution to the historic link of record both for himself and for those who read after him. Mr. Fisher presented for the Louisiana Association for Medical Transcription (LAMT) in 2004 in Baton Rouge, where he held his audience spellbound and set a positive tone for the entire day. LAMT wishes to recommend Mr. Fisher highly. This is one presentation not to miss.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Technology and the Workplace
Presenter: Betsy Ertel, AHDI-F

Betsy Ertel has been a transcriptionist of 30+ years in the acute care environment. She has done all fields of transcription and owned and operated 4 of her own businesses. She is the CEO of We Hear You Transcription Service and the CEO of SpeedType, "The Extreme Word Expander” for the Windows operating system, Immediate Past President of the Central Florida Chapter of AAMT and President of the Advisory Council for Winter Park Tech in Orlando, Florida and on the Advisory Council for Seminole Community College in Lake Mary, Florida. Because Betsy Ertel is a transcriptionist with previous use of many different word expander programs all the way back from the DOS environment, she understands the need, as well as the demand to have an efficient and easy-to-use word expander program for every day production. Today she is going to demonstrate to you the unique features and functions of word expander programs utilizing the SpeedType program inside the Windows environment. You will be surprised at the advantages of a macro wizard.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Professional Development
Presenter: Lea M. Sims, CMT, AHDI-F

Lea M. Sims, CMT, AHDI-F is Director of Publications & Communications for AAMT with 20 years' experience in the industry from MT to transcription service owner, MT educator, and AAMT Director. She is the Editor-in-Chief of both the Journal of the American Association for Medical Transcription and Plexus magazine. This presentation will focus on how to utilize industry articles and publications to maximize your practical skills and how to couple those resources with dynamic networking to improve productivity and efficiency. Transition from skimming through JAAMT, Plexus, and other industry publications to proactive reading and organized research that can enhance your awareness and readiness for industry change and make you a greater asset in your workplace.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in HealthCare Industry
Presenter: Brenda J. Hurley, CMT, AHDI-F

Brenda has been a medical transcriptionist for more than 30 years, is a member of AAMT since 1981, and has served on the AAMT Board of Directors for a total of 12 years, and as its President in 1988 and in 1995. She has been a member of ASTM International since 1995. She is the current Chair of the E31.22 subcommittee, Health Information Documentation and Medical Transcription, and is Secretary of the E31 Health Informatics Executive Committee. Brenda serves on the editorial board for ADVANCE for Health Information Professionals, and is a member of Stedman’s National Advisory Board. This session will provide an overview of the activities of ASTM E31, Healthcare Informatics. Standards that are currently available from the E31 subcommittees will be detailed and how they can be useful when they are applied within today’s dynamic healthcare environment. A review will also be provided of the ongoing activities within the task groups that will culminate in new standards for the future. Get an insider view of ASTM, and discover how to maximize benefits from the approved ASTM standards for systems and processes related to healthcare documentation.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Medicolegal
Presenter: Kim Buchanan, CMT, AHDI-F (President, AAMT 2005)

Kim Buchanan has been in the transcription field since 1994. She has worked for a small local service, owned her own service, taught medical transcription and terminology for a local community college, transcribed for a national service, and was a mentor at HealthScribe for 2-1/2 years. She is the co-founder of her local chapter near Seattle and has served in many roles within AAMT at the local, state, and national level. She is currently teaching for an online transcription course and is the AAMT 2005 President.

Continuing Education Credits: 1 CEC in Professional Development
Presenter: Jacque Taylor, AHDI-F (President, OC-AAMT 2004 & 2005)

Jacque Taylor is a Utah native, born in Provo, Utah (about a 45 minute drive south from Salt Lake City) and moved to and has been a resident of Salt Lake for 30+ years. She graduated from M-TEC in 2002, and is currently an MT at Transcription Relief Services (TRS) where she is also a member of the Employee Vision Team. Jacque has been very involved in AAMT since joining as a student member and then practitioner. She was encouraged by her instructor at M-TEC to become involved in her local chapter and joined the Greater Salt Lake Chapter, as a student member, later changing to practitioner status. While involved in the GSL chapter she was elected to the position of secretary and held that until being elected to the board of directors of the newly forming OC-AAMT, where she is in the 2nd year as President and serves as ex-officio member of all OC-AAMT committees as well as being co-editor on the newsletter staff. She is still active in her local chapter and is handling the newsletter for the chapter as well as AAMT Public Forum maintenance.

Along with these chapter assignments she is the 2005 Chairman of the Membership Advisory Council of AAMT; member of the AAMT Legislative Issues Group; member of the AAMT Public Relations Task Force, member of the AAMT National Component Relations Task Force.

Presenter: Donna Bennett, CMT, AHDI-F

Donna Bennet, spent 7 months traveling, living, and working in her miniature RV, where space was at a premium and electronic references were absolute necessities. She is a home-based transcriptionist for a national company and also serves as treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee of the Online Chapter of AAMT. Donna has settled in rural central Florida with her 2 dogs, but she hopes to hit the road again some day.

Jay Vance, CMT, is the owner of Vance Transcription in Yuma, Arizona as well as VanceDigital.com, a digital dictation and transcription consulting business. He also serves as the Chairman of the AAMT Online Chapter Technology Committee and works as a technical consultant to AAMT for online operations, with projects including online continuing education and online voting and surveys. Jay has been active in the online MT community for several years and is a regular on a number of online MT forums. Jay is 42 years old, married for 13 years to his wife Carol, and together they have four children ages 21, 19, 18, and 17.

Presenter: Lt. Rod Layton, Weber County Sheriff's Department, Internet Crime Task Force

Laura is what she calls an “MT X 2”. She earned her first MT in 1986, graduating from the University of Texas with a Bachelors degree in Medical Technology. After working over 10 years in two of Dallas’ major medical centers, she left the laboratory and began working with her husband Bob and his computer consulting business. In 1997, she returned to the medical community, but this time as a medical transcriptionist!

Laura enjoys finding faster, quicker, more clever ways to do most anything, including transcribing. A self-proclaimed “lousy typist”, she was driven to create faster, more efficient ways to get her work done. This has led to the creation of MTWerks, a division of Bob’s PCWerks. Laura has authored: Make It Your Own The Medical Transcriptionist's Guide to Microsoft Word® the “Make It Your Own” Productivity Manual for Medical Transcriptionists which is now in it’s third edition and recently published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins (Stedmans) as the The MTs Guide to MS Word 3rd Edition. Laura also conducts seminars for MTs using MS Word. Laura and her husband Bob live in Mesquite, a suburb of Dallas, with their three children Sarah, Emily and Christopher and their terriers Luci and Roxi.

Presenter: Judy Hinickle, President, TransCom Corp.

Judy Hinickle is a nationally known MT who for 28 years has transcribed, held local and state AAMT positions, employs MTs, publishes, consults, conducts supervisory and QA workshops. Ms. Hinickle is the designer of the QA Navigator software.

QA Navigator is a continuous quality improvement system, designed to be an essential component to the medical transcription environment. QA Navigator guides the editor of transcription, dictation, or protocol through a short, simple process of marking the work failing to meet department criteria. The results are stored for extensive database reporting.

By using this program, you can expect to receive simple, straight-forward feedback from editors on your transcription reflecting document protocol compliance. Among the many tools available for the convenience of the editor are the AAMT Book of Style on the toolbar and compatibility with Stedman's spellchecker. QA can be performed retrospectively, or concurrently (which produces both a clean copy for the record and a marked-up copy for the transcriptionist).

Presenter: Jefferson Howe, MSA, CMT

Jefferson Howe, MSA, CMT, is the immediate past-president of the American Association for Medical Transcription and a practicing manager of transcription at Maine Medical Center, in Portland, Maine. He has been a medical transcriptionist since 1984, a certified medical transcriptionist since 1989 and holds a MS in Administration from St. Michael’s College. He currently manages transcription overseeing 30 employees at a 606-bed teaching hospital, located on the coast of Maine. He is most recently involved with the implementation of a back-end speech recognition product that advocates medical transcriptionists as documentation editors.

Maine Medical Center (MMC) was the first hospital in the United States to move to document imaging for record storage in 1987. Since then, it has been considered an innovative leader in the move towards a fully integrated electronic information system. Currently, MMC's information system is creating the infrastructure for a central database that is accessible throughout the state of Maine through MaineHealth Systems and allows providers instant, secure, web-based access to information from multiple healthcare systems.

Most recently, the federal government under President Bush, has mandated a move to electronic healthcare records in the next decade and this is providing the momentum that will change the way documentation is provided and in particular, a change in the way that medical transcriptionists (MTs) interface with the information systems and provide documentation. The impact on the medical transcriptionist is significant and this presentation is designed to give an overview of the issues as well as considerations an MT should know about in order to be competitive and knowledgeable about the changing industry.