Home  |   Subscribe  |   Resources  |   Reprints  |   Writers' Guidelines

AHDI Announces the 2015 Integrity Award Winners

In support of the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity's (AHDI) professional programs, standards, and best practices, the association conducts an annual awards program to acknowledge the significant contributions of its members and other individuals and organizations that have made an impact on the health care documentation sector over the previous year. The association is proud to promote and honor those who have supported the professional practice standards and goals that AHDI has developed for advancing the profession and positioning this sector for continued relevance in the future of health care delivery.

Congratulations to all of these dedicated members. Award winners were announced during AHDI's Healthcare Documentation Integrity Conference in Alexandria, Virginia.

RISING STAR AWARD: Piyush Sharma
Sharma, who attends CanScribe Career College, eloquently wrote about the advancements in technology and in health care and stated, "By comprehending and adapting technological tools into health care environments, we continue to enhance the quality of health care across all mediums … Specifically, the niche of medical transcription has shown an increase in efficiency through utilizing innovative technology." She further emphasizes, "As transcriptionists, we have an eagerness to adapt and incorporate any readily available technological tools. This not only assists us in our ability to produce efficient, accurate and precise results, it also makes way for new developments and protocols to be established."

The Rising Star Award is presented to an outstanding (active) industry student who presented a contemplative and informed response to the association's annual essay contest. The 2015 essay topic was "Embracing Future Technology."

EDUCATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD: Susan Whatley, CHDS, AHDI-F
Whatley coordinates the medical transcription programs at Polk State College and Great Falls College Montana State University as well as teaches at both facilities. Whatley serves as cochair of AHDI's Educators Alliance Steering Committee and serves on the RHDS Recredentialing Course writing team. She previously served on the CHDS Exam Blue Print item writing team. She has all the attributes that qualify someone to be a role model as an educator. She thinks outside the box and sees things from a student's perspective. Whatley has an incredibly positive, "we can do this" attitude.

The Educator of the Year Award is presented to an AHDI individual professional member who has demonstrated excellence in the area of education.

ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR: Brenda Wynn, CMT, AHDI-F
Wynn has been an active participant in the Advocacy Alliance and has dedicated time to educating congressional members on our profession and the contributions we make to the health care industry. Wynn currently serves on an ad hoc Your Record Speaks task force to review the finer details of our advocacy website and researches new content. For years, Wynn has also encouraged patients to read their medical records by centering the conversation around the integrity of health records and patient education. Wynn is a patient advocate in her everyday work life.

This award serves to recognize an individual for outstanding advocacy activities related to advancement of the health care documentation profession.

MEMBERSHIP IMPACT AWARD: AHDI-West Regional
AHDI-West uses their volunteer-based time and resources to engage members whenever and wherever they can. Over the past several years, they have organized a variety of events and programs to engage members such as District Meet and Greets, Coffee Talks for casual face-to-face gatherings, and a virtual holiday card music video featuring pictures of their members. The AHDI-West Board of Governors supports AHDI in a variety of ways outside of their component by serving on various committees, alliances, special task forces, and volunteering in the Modesto office.

The Membership Impact Award is presented to an AHDI component that has engaged in unique initiatives and activities which have measurably impacted component growth, retention, and/or professional development of its members over a two-year period.

EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR AWARD: Phelps County Regional Medical Center
Phelps County Regional Medical Center (PCRMC) has been a member of AHDI since 2008. They provided Benchmark KB to employees, which included AHDI Associate membership. The organization promotes credentialing and in 2008, PCRMC began reimbursing their staff for AHDI certification exam and recertification fees. PCRMC supports employees attending off-site educational programs, offering paid time off, and paying for registration fees. In 2009, they adopted and implemented a QA program based on AHDI's Best Practices and the Book of Style. They provide employees annual HIPAA training and stay current with industry changes. PCRMC provides equitable compensation and benefits packages and shows preferential hiring practices for credentialed individuals and pays salary differentials to their credentialed employees.

The Employer of the Year Award is presented to an AHDI corporate or individual professional member employer who has demonstrated outstanding commitment to the professional development of our workforce and support of AHDI's professional practice, credentialing, and continuing education goals.

INNOVATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY: M*Modal
M*Modal's transcription services are supported by the M*Modal Fluency for Transcription platform, which uses technology that captures and structures all clinical documents in clinically encoded HL7 CDA using natural language understanding at the point of document creation. Document Insights, the company's comprehensive CDI solution for health care providers, allows their customers to gain instant visibility into their transcribed reports and leverage patient data embedded in the narrative by turning this unstructured text into structured data that can then be mined. Furthermore, Document Insights can identify document deficiencies and gaps, as well as where in the report where these documentation issues occur.

M*Modal Fluency for Transcription helps the transcription team improve productivity while helping to optimize turnaround time, quality, and accuracy of documentation. Additionally, the platform offers health care documentation specialists a variety of tools to ensure a high-quality document each and every time.

The Innovation Through Technology Award recognizes an individual or corporation for outstanding technology knowledge and/or innovation related to the profession of medical transcription and health care documentation.

MEMBER OF THE YEAR AWARD: Stephanie Kinney, RHIT, CMT, AHDI-F
Kinney has served in a variety of volunteer leadership roles throughout the years with the West Michigan Chapter, Michigan State Association, and currently serves as chair of the Nominating and Fundraising Committees of the Great Lakes Regional. She has been a member of AHDI since 1979 and earned her CMT in 1979, her RHIT in 1984, and her AHDI-F in 2003. Kinney takes pride in this profession and looks for ways to improve without sacrificing quality.

The Member of the Year Award is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to AHDI through relevant service and activities that have advanced the mission, goals, and objectives of the association.

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD: Nick Mahurin
Mahurin is well known in our community and is a staunch supporter of the value of the narrative patient story as technology evolves. He believes that the interoperable nature of discrete data and the content-rich health story can coexist, and he has committed himself to that advocacy voice. Mahurin, CEO of InfraWare and chair of the Health Story Project, has contributed content expertise in myriad AHDI initiatives as a volunteer, a member of the vendor community, and as an advocate of the strategic goals of the association.

The Distinguished Service Award serves to recognize an individual or organization that has demonstrated consistent support of the association, its goals and objectives, and the profession through services rendered to the industry, sponsorship of AHDI events and projects, and/or contribution of content expertise and leadership in key AHDI initiatives. This honor is awarded by the AHDI National Leadership Board.

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Bonnie Monico, CHDS, AHDI-F
Monico exemplifies what it means to be a lifetime supporter of AHDI. For more than 25 years, she has served on the national board multiple times and has held officer positions at all levels of the organization. She believes in AHDI and all that it stands for. Countless of professionals proudly call her their mentor. She has guided members into numerous leadership positions within the organization, and she has led the way through example.

The Lifetime Achievement Award serves to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to the association and industry over the course of his/her professional career and has left a resonating footprint on the association and its members. This is the highest honor bestowed by AHDI and is awarded by the AHDI National Leadership Board.

Source: Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity