MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - MedQuist teamed up with the American Association for Medical Transcription (AAMT) to create the Dictation Best Practices Toolkit. The kit is designed to assist facilities with the adoption and implementation of policies and training practices that will promote high quality dictation and ensure the best documentation outcomes. Contents include:

• Dictation Best Practices: A Guide for Physicians, a self-running audiovisual presentation
• PowerPoint presentation with handouts for a live seminar
• Rationale for promoting better dictation practices
• Dictation 101 (recommendations for instructing dictators in good dictation habits)
• Visual aids such as "Q" Cards (quick reference information), a tip sheet, and a Documentation Workflow poster

"Addressing the integrity of health data capture must begin with a commitment to improving the documentation process from start to finish, including the impact that poor dictation has on documentation outcomes," states Peter Preziosi, PhD, CAE, executive director of AAMT. "Our association is proud to partner with MedQuist on improving dictation practices that will help to drive data integrity standards in the industry."

Poor dictation can be caused by issues such as medical word misuse and incorrect language, as well as the effects of speed, accent, articulation, style, volume, background noise, and poor equipment.