InterFix - Medical Integration News List

AHDI Research Team goes live with up-to-date Reference Material in BenchMark KB

4/8/2009 12:00:00 AM

InterFix and AHDI announce the most significant advancement in online MT resources in decades. Thousands of BenchMark KB users worldwide are now able to find hundreds of new, up-to-the-minute medical words, drugs, and medical phrases in BenchMark KB this week. AHDI now has a full time staff charged with finding, vetting, defining, and posting the latest medical terminology in BenchMark KB’s robust database environment. The new additions are found not only on the Dashboard, which is designed to reflect the fast pace of medical advancements the moment KB users log in, but in the MT Tools section as well. The new listings are indicated as AHDI Research 2009 as the source. New words are added by the AHDI Research Team each and every week, ensuring that BenchMark KB will continue to be the most up-to-date, trusted source for working MT’s and students worldwide.

Physicians Database expands Search and Sort Capability

4/8/2009 12:00:00 AM

Finding specific physicians quickly and easily just became simpler than ever before. BenchMark KB now allows MT’s and QA staff worldwide to find using two powerful new tools.

First, users can now search for physicians in selected multiple States, which is so important in densely populated small State areas such as the east coast, as well as “four corners” areas where hospitals are located closely to multiple States. It is also useful when a physician dictates "I am not sure if the Dr. James Jones is from Utah or Colorado, I do know he is a radiologist”. Under MT Tools, select Physicians, and put the name James Jones in the search boxes. Now go to the State window and type the letter "U", hit enter choosing Utah, now type the letter "C" scroll down to Colorado hit enter selecting Colorado. Now tab to the next box and hit enter. Your list will contain only 5 physicians from which to choose. As always, double clicking on a physician in you returned list will provide their detail information including address, phone, and fax numbers.

Second, the ability to do column sorting has been added, which allows MT’s to re-sort broad searches by any criteria, such as city, zip code, first name, last name, etc.

Expanded Book of Style Search Capabilities

4/8/2009 12:00:00 AM

BenchMark KB has new added powerful new online search capabilities for the Book of Style, version 3 (BOS). There are three specific enhancements designed for both working MT’s and quality assurance staff as well as students.

First, a new search capability will search the entire contents of the BOS on a single term: Type in the term “colon” in the top search bar. You will immediately see all of the BOS entries for this term, wherever they exist in the BOS.

Second, you can combine search criteria by searching on two words: Try entering “Cancer and Numeral”, and you will instantly see the two sections of BOS where the two terms are used together. Double click on the magnifying glass for more information.

Finally, KB users can now search the Table of Contents in the Book of style to locate subsections. Under the Table of Contents box is a smaller search window: Type the word “temperature” in the box and click the magnifying glass and you are instantly taken to chapter 12.2.6. Enjoy!

KB Users and AHDI Research Team Add Hundreds of New Definitions

6/29/2010 12:00:00 AM

InterFix is pleased to report that hundreds of new medical terms, medications, and phrases were added during the first two quarters of 2010, putting new submission rates at an all time high. “The community of over 20,000 users of BenchMark KB, who work every day at the leading edge of documentation, serve as our early warning system for new submissions”, stated Rebecca McSwain, CMT, PhD., at AHDI. “Once a KB user submission is received, our research team carefully validates and subsequently defines each new term using the best available resources. Once we have fully vetted the submission, it is uploaded into the KB for access by all users worldwide.”

Are you always on the lookout for new medical terms? During the course of your work, use BenchMark KB to validate terms and phrases during the normal course of work. If you encounter a new drug, term, or phrase that cannot be found in BenchMark KB, send the newly found term, along with any substantiation you may have, on to us under the Support / Contact Us tab. The AHDI Research Team will do all the necessary follow-up research, verify your submission, and once fully vetted it will be included in the next scheduled update. That is how you can help your colleagues make certain that BenchMark KB remains the most current, up to date resource for MT’s, QA’s, and coders available anywhere. Newly verified terms and phrases can always be found on the Dashboard (or landing) page of BenchMark KB, and newly added terms are under the AHDI Research 2010™ panel.

HPI's e-Perspectives on the Medical Transcription Profession - Issue 59

8/24/2010 12:00:00 AM

A Plea for Silent Editing - Sally Pitman
The Chaos of Change: Some Thoughts on Our Industry, 2010 - Sidney Moormeister, Ph.D.
Looking At Language: It's About Time - Richard Lederer, Ph.D.
Red Alert to HIPAA Business Associates--HITECH is Here - Brenda Hurley, CMT
Looking At Language: "It's My Centennial!" said Tom Swiftly - Richard Lederer, Ph.D.
WHO Cares About Safety in the Operating Room" - John Dirckx, M.D.
Update: What's New in Medicine

BenchMark KB Keeps Track of Physicians on the Move

6/29/2010 12:00:00 AM

In a June 2010 “Physicians on the Move” report, the three-year average of all physicians who moved to a new location or practice, retired, or passed away was measured at 15.2 percent. Hepatologists, hematologists and osteopathic physicians were among the most volatile doctors, with change rates of 19.9, 19.4 and 19.2 percent, respectively.  

Such changes create significant obstacles for medical documentation professionals in maintaining quality physician databases and lists necessary to provide accurate demographic information and appropriate documentation delivery. BenchMark KB solves this problem in two ways: First, by routinely updating the physician’s lookup database on a monthly basis, using trained demographers who contact and verify physicians’ offices around North America on a daily basis, and secondly through KB Users around the world who submit changes that are learned “on the front lines”, at the local level.

You can be a part of this growing community of over 20,000 KB users that improves BenchMark KB each and every day. Here is how it works: During the course of your work, use BenchMark KB to locate doctors whose documentation you routinely handle. Check the address, and if you know that something has changed (moved or merged a practice, for example) send the changes on to us under the Support / Contact Us tab. Our trained demographers will contact the doctor’s office, verify your submission, and it will be included in the next scheduled update. That is how you can help your colleagues make certain that BenchMark KB remains the most current, up to date resource for MT’s, QA’s, and coders available anywhere.

InterFix Wins Award for Innovation Through Technology

8/20/2009 12:00:00 AM

The Associate for Health Documentation Integrity (AHDI) recognizes BenchMark KB(tm) knowledge base.

Atlanta, Georgia, August 20, 2009 -InterFix LLC is the 2009 recipient of the AHDI Integrity Award for Innovation Through Technology for the release of its BenchMark KB(tm) Knowledge Base product in 2008. The Integrity Awards focus on contributions made by individuals and corporations that align with the Association's focus on integrity. The awards are designed to highlight innovative thinking and best practices that the Association believes will drive the clinical documentation sector in the coming years.

"When it comes to innovation and delivering on key required resources for healthcare documentation professionals, BenchMark KB(tm) knowledge base by InterFix is the most complete, accurate, efficient, and beneficial technology tool conceptualized and available in the world today", stated Susan M Lucci, RHIT, CMT, AHDI-F, and 2009 AHDI President. "Clearly, BenchMark KB is a stand-out and on the leading edge in terms of helping medical transcriptionnists be more productive and putting reliable resources at their fingertips. These factors were key in recognizing InterFix as this year's AHDI Innovation Through Technology Award recipient for its amazing breakthrough tool."

BenchMark KB is a collaboration between InterFix and AHDI, and incorporates online access to real-time, trusted-source quality tools including Stedman's reference data, AHDI Research Data, the AHDI Online Book of Style, a comprehensive physician database, quality alerts, and other productivity and quality checking tools.

"Working with the domain experts at AHDI has yielded significant insight in to how technology can be used more effectively in reducing medical errors and increasing patient safety across the board", stated Scott Faulkner, chief executive officer at InterFix. "The InterFix team is deeply honored to receive this Award, and we look forward to introducing additional BenchMark KB capabilities that will further enhance workforce productivity in the years to come."

AHDI Research Team Expanded

6/29/2010 12:00:00 AM

Rebecca McSwain, PhD, CMT, Professional Practices Associate at AHDI, has joined the BenchMark KB team. Rebecca will serve as editor and content coordinator for the AHDI Research section of the KB, and will provide other supportive and liaison services. Rebecca is an experienced researcher and writer with a broad knowledge of medical language, clinical medicine and medical transcription practice. She brings to the team a resume including parallel careers in medical transcription and higher education.

Rebecca holds a PhD in anthropology, and was trained in medical transcription at an acute-care hospital. She has been an adjunct college instructor since 1990, and has worked as a production MT, consultant, supervisor and teacher over the past 30 years. For 5 years, Rebecca authored the column “Transcription Zone” for the online edition of Advance for Health Information Professionals. She has also written articles on anthropological topics for academic books and journals. Building on this background as transcriptionist, researcher, educator, and writer, Rebecca will be working with the BenchMark KB team to produce high-quality and up-to-date content for AHDI Research, and to support maximum reliability and accessibility for BenchMark KB users.