AHDPG Launches Certification Exam for Medical Scribes

A rigorous new national certification exam is helping to ensure the highest level of patient care and documentation in medical practices nationwide. Launched recently, the Medical Scribe Certification Exam (MSCE) from the American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group (AHDPG) is a competency-based exam that awards the Certified Medical Scribe Apprentice (CMSA) and Certified Medical Scribe Professional (CMSP) credentials to qualified professionals who can pass the exam and provide documentation of hands-on experience.

Due to recent law changes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised its policy on scribes to allow a physician to "delegate electronic medical record documentation requirements to a person performing a scribe function who is not such physician if such physician has signed and verified the documentation" and the action is in accordance with applicable state law. This clarification was published in CMS FAQ 20477. 

The medical scribe profession is rapidly developing in response to the added burden placed on health care practitioners' to accurately document patient visits in EHR systems. Medical scribes are present everywhere throughout hospitals to large clinics and even small private practices.

Though medical scribes are paraprofessionals working on the front lines of health care, the profession is not regulated. Reilly and his team developed the MSCE to set a higher standard of excellence in the medical scribe profession. Recognizing there are varying levels of experience among working scribes, AHDPG awards the CMSP credential to candidates who successfully pass the MSCE and can document 200 hours of on-the-job medical scribe experience; the CMSA is awarded to candidates who pass the MSCE but possess under 200 hours of documented experience. AHDPG immediately awards CMSP status to CMSAs upon submission and approval of 200 documented hours of medical scribe experience.

"Health care employers value credentials. Becoming a CMSP places you, your coworkers, and your entire organization in another league, positioning you as a leader and role model for your organization," explains AHDPG President and CEO Peter Reilly. "In working with health care organizations across the country who are interested in developing their own teams of internally managed scribes, we have been at the forefront of this wave of change and critical need to reduce physician burnout."

Anyone can sit for the MSCE. The 100-question online exam is designed to test the candidate's knowledge, skill, and applied interpretive judgment in all areas of medical scribe practice. AHDPG offers exam preparation resources, including a low-cost practice exam; the MSCE is $165, and credentials are valid for two years. CMSA and CMSP candidates can learn more and sit for the exam at www.ahdpg.com/scribe-certification/.

Source: American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group