ITEM 110-2851-R0301
ATTACHMENT������������������������������������������������������������������������� March
22-23, 2001
PROPOSAL AND RATIONALE
Medical transcriptionists produce vital medical documents
used to develop and preserve information of medical, scientific, and/or legal
value in health-related facilities.� For
many years, Montana State University--Great Falls College of Technology has
offered a program in Medical Transcription, preparing students for� this career through a two-year course of
study that now culminates in an Associate of Applied Science degree.�
The College's Medical Transcription program has an excellent
reputation for quality and has placed, on the average, over 90% of its
graduates in jobs as medical transcriptionists.� In January 2001, the College became aware of an additional
employment opportunity that could be provided by modifying this program.� The opportunity is made possible by three
current trends:
1.�������� In Montana
and throughout the nation, there is a shortage of qualified medical
transcriptionists.� Advances in computer
technology have made it possible for many national companies to meet their
demands by employing qualified transcriptionists to work from their homes.
2.�������� Since 1997,
MSU--Great Falls College of Technology has continually increased its
distributed learning offerings.� One of
the programs involved in this effort from the outset has been the Medical
Transcription program.� Currently,
approximately half of its courses are�
offered on-line.
3.�������� In rural
Montana, the agriculture industry faces serious challenges.� Many of the residents in these areas are
place-bound and do not have the resources or opportunity to obtain training for
new or supplemental careers.
The College of Technology responds to these trends through
this proposal, which would add a one-year certificate program in Medical
Transcription delivered on-line to provide training for place-bound students
who may choose to use this credential to work as transcriptionists from their
homes.� The proposal reflects the
College's mission to respond to demands for workforce preparation meeting
industry and regional needs.
PROCESS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS PROPOSAL
This proposal was developed after a Regional Development
Officer for Economic Development from Montana's Department of Commerce advised
the College of the need for an on-line program preparing place-bound rural
Montanans, particularly those in agricultural settings, for a high-demand
career.� That officer met with College
officials in January 2001 to discuss this need and how it might be addressed by
the College.�
Because much of the Medical Transcription AAS program is
already delivered on-line and because the work of medical transcriptionists is
increasingly undertaken from the home, this program was identified as the best
option for responding to the needs of Montana's place-bound student and
potentially place-bound worker.�
However, some courses in the AAS-degree program, particularly the
lab-intensive portion of the Anatomy and Physiology course sequence, do not
lend themselves well to electronic delivery.��
After consulting with the Medical Transcription Program Director, the
College decided to develop a certificate-level Medical Transcription program
that would meet this identified need through a compressed curriculum that could
be delivered entirely on the Internet.�
The Program Director, with the assistance of the Director of Outreach,
the Business and Technology Department Chair, and the Associate Dean for
Academic Affairs, developed the curriculum design and plan for program
implementation.
Prior to the submission to the Montana Board of Regents for
Higher Education, this program proposal was reviewed by:
�
The College�s
Director of Outreach, who coordinates the development, delivery, and assessment
of the College�s distributed learning offerings;
�
four professionals in
the medical transcription/medical records field who serve on the Medical
Transcriptionist Advisory Committee; and
�
the College's
Academic Council, comprised of elected representatives from each department,
department chairs, and the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Student
Services.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
The proposed certificate program in Medical Transcription is
a modification of the College's existing AAS-degree program.� The certificate program provides a 35-credit
course of study distributed as follows:
ENGL 121 |
Written Composition |
3 credits |
PSYCH 101 |
General Psychology |
3 credits |
MATH 101 |
Introduction to
Algebra |
4 credits |
BIO 105-6 N |
Fundamentals of
Human Biology w/Lab |
4 credits |
AH 185 |
Medical Terminology |
4 credits |
CS 110 |
Introduction to
Computers |
3 credits |
OO 266 |
Microsoft Word |
3 credits |
HI 156 |
Legal &
Regulatory Aspects of Healthcare |
2 credits |
AH 201 |
Medical Science |
3 credits |
OO 255 |
Medical
Transcription I |
3 credits |
OO 256 |
Medical
Transcription II |
3 credits |
None of
the courses are new to the College.� For
informational purposes, descriptions of these courses are attached as Appendix
A.
Intellectual
Basis for the Curriculum
Like the established
AAS program, the proposed curriculum prepares medical transcriptionists for
their duties through coursework developing the following competencies:
1
|
Written
communication skills: |
one course
required* |
2
|
Human relations
competencies: |
one course
required* |
3
|
Business
mathematics skills: |
one course required |
4
|
Knowledge of
biological science: |
two courses
required * |
5
|
Knowledge of the
healthcare field: |
three courses
required |
6
|
Technological
competencies: |
two courses
required |
7
|
Medical office
skills: |
two courses
required |
Nine of these courses are offered as part of the established
AAS degree program.� Fundamentals of
Human Biology w/Lab will replace the AAS-program sequence in Anatomy and
Physiology with a college-level course in biological science already available
on-line.� Three of the courses in the
proposed certificate curriculum are college-level courses included in the
General Education Transfer Core.� An
additional two courses are transferable to one or more four-year institutions
of higher education in Montana.�� Both
the existing AAS program and the proposed certificate program require
keyboarding skills prior to admission.��
The major differences between the established AAS program
and the proposed certificate program are:
�
The proposed
certificate program in its entirety would be available on-line to accommodate
the place-bound student.
�
Although the
graduates of this certificate program will be able to perform the duties of a
medical transcriptionist, they may not have the depth of general education
background or the breadth of job-applicable skills that the College�s AAS
program is designed to develop.
Program
Delivery
The proposed 35-credit certificate program will be offered
entirely over the Internet through Web CT so that place-bound students,
particularly those in rural settings, can be prepared for a high-demand career
in medical transcription.�� MSU--Great
Falls College of Technology began offering distributed learning courses in Fall
Semester 1997 and has steadily improved the number, array, and quality of its
on-line offerings.� All of the courses
are currently available on-line and are taught by faculty in various
disciplines the College.
Interaction among students is part of the instructional
design of all the College�s Internet offerings, through such instructional
practices as on-line, asynchronous discussions and group projects.� In the transcriptionist courses, students
actually edit transcription reports for each other and �discuss� them on-line
to develop collaborative and proofreading skills.� Interaction between individual students and faculty is accomplished
through on-line chats and advising sessions.�
Face-to-face contact with faculty in the program will be encouraged
through advising sessions at the College, and face-to-face contact with the
Medical Transcription Program Director will be made possible through videophone
communication.� Using a toll-free
number, students will be able to contact program faculty, the Distance Learning
Support Desk, and/or the Outreach Coordinator for day-to-day advice and
technical assistance.
PROGRAM
IMPACTS
Impacts
on the College
Because Montana State University--Great Falls College of
Technology already has a well-established AAS-degree Medical Transcription
program, the addition of a certificate option in that field will have place
minimal additional demands on the College's human, physical, and fiscal
resources.
In most cases, faculty currently assigned to the AAS-degree
courses will provide those courses to certificate-level students as well.� All but one of the courses in the proposed
curriculum are currently available on-line.�
The College has recently been awarded a grant to develop the remaining
course and to convert the existing courses to Web CT.� Therefore, no additional resources will be needed for on-line
implementation.�� Current and past
enrollment levels in the� proposed
courses for this certificate program do not suggest an initial need for
additional sections to support this certificate proposal.
Library, computer, and support services already in place for
the AAS-degree Medical Transcription program will support the certificate
option without impact.� No additional
facilities will be required.� For the
proposed certificate program, as with the established AAS-degree programs,
students need transcription machines and tapes.� The College currently loans these machines to students during
their transcription courses and provides the dictation tapes.�
No negative impacts on other programs at the College are
anticipated as the result of the addition of this certificate program; in fact,
just the opposite effects are expected.�
First, the addition of this certificate program enhances the College's
already extensive array of allied health programs.� All but two of these programs are AAS-degree programs. Because
the general education requirements, particularly in the sciences, are so
rigorous in the College�s AAS programs, attrition rates during the prerequisite
phase of the degree programs are high.�
The addition of certificate-level programming, when justifiable on the
basis of competencies expected in the field, provides an avenue for students
interested in healthcare careers, but academically unprepared for the College's
AAS-degree programs.��
Impacts
on Other Institutions
The addition of this certificate program should have no
impact on other institutions in Montana. �Only one other college, the University of Montana�Missoula College
of Technology, offers a Medical Transcription program.� Like the existing program in Great Falls, it
is a two-year AAS-degree program.� The
fact that the proposed program is of shorter duration and culminates in a
certificate, along with its on-line delivery, makes it unique to the
state.� The University of
Montana�Missoula College of Technology supports this proposal.� The Dean of Dull Knife Memorial College has
expressed an interest in making it available to students.
ASSURANCES
OF QUALITY
The College is committed to providing high-quality education
in all its programs.� The proposed
program reflects that commitment.
Adequacy of Support for Distributed Learning
The College supports on-line delivery of its courses and
programs through administration, organizational structure, professional
development, and staffing.� The
College's organizational structure includes an Outreach Department, which coordinates,
supervises, promotes, develops, and evaluates the College's distributed
learning offerings.� The Outreach
Coordinator has established orientation sessions for all distance students;
chairs the Distance Learning Committee, which develops and evaluates on-line
courses and programs; and provides ongoing professional development for faculty
engaged in on-line offerings.� The
Outreach Department also retains a full-time employee to assist students in
on-line courses and to serve as liaison between distributed learning students,
faculty, and the administration.� The
Outreach Coordinator and an elected member of the Distance Learning Committee
serve on the College's Academic Council.�
Outcomes assessment has established that the quality of instruction and
students' satisfaction with their learning experiences in the College's on-line
offerings compare favorably with instructional quality and student satisfaction
in the College's more traditionally delivered courses and programs.
Adequacy of Program Faculty
The Medical Transcription Program Director has a master�s
degree and is certified as a Health Insurance Professional and Medical
Assistant.� She has extensive experience
working with medical records and has work experience in the transcription
field.� In addition, she keeps current
with advances and opportunities in the field through membership in the American
Association of Medical Transcription.�
The other courses in the proposed curriculum are taught by full-time faculty
at the College meeting the minimum qualifications for faculty in their
disciplines established by the Montana Board of Regents.� All have participated in specialized
training for distributed learning instruction and have experience in this form
of instructional delivery.
Adequacy
of Resources
Because the College has already established faculty,
facilities, equipment, and library holdings adequate to support its AAS-degree
Medical Transcription program, as well as it distributive learning offerings,
no initial additional resources are anticipated.� As the one-year program develops, the College will use the
additional resources their enrollment produces to purchase additional
transcription machines as the need arises.�
Accreditation
No special accreditation is required for the program.� The AAS-degree Medical Transcription program
was part of the College's offerings when it was most recently accredited by
Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.�
The American Association of Medical Transcription� (AAMT) sets standards for transcription
programs, and the existing AAS program satisfies all of these
competencies.�� The proposed certificate
program would satisfy all AAMT competencies, with the exception of the
internship.� The potential for
internships within the student�s community and/or with national companies does
exist, however, and the College is currently discussing the potential for
partnership with one such company, MedQuist.�
Given the shortage of qualified transcriptionists, other national
companies may be interested in providing internship experiences as well.
Assessment
of Academic Performance and Program Relevancy
Like all the other College's programs, the proposed
certificate program in Medical Transcription will be the subject of
institutional assessment and program review. These processes are designed to
provide formative and summative indicators of the quality of curriculum and
instruction, responsiveness to industry demands, student-centered instruction
and services, the adequacy of program support, student/alumni satisfaction, and
employer satisfaction.��
Appendix A:� COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
MEDICAL
TRANSCRIPTION � CERTIFICATE PROGRAM PROPOSAL
AH������������������ 185����� BASIC MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY������������������������������������� Credits:��������� 4
The goals
of this course are to promote a knowledge of the elements of medical
terminology for professional and personal development, the ability to spell and
pronounce medical terms, an understanding of medical abbreviations, and an
appreciation of the logical method found in medical terminology.� This includes word analysis and word
building.� Knowledge of terms relating
to body structures, positions, directions, divisions and planes will be
required.� An awareness of current
health events is encouraged, as is knowledge of basic scientific and specialty
areas in healthcare practice.
AH������������������ 201����� MEDICAL SCIENCE������������������������������������������������������������� Credits:��������� 3
This
course provides basic knowledge of the most common diseases, anomalies,
treatments, and procedures needed to analyze healthcare documentation for
various allied health support functions including abstracting, coding,
transcription, auditing, and reimbursement.�
Drug classification, diagnostic tests, pathology, laboratory, radiology,
nuclear medicine, and ultrasound procedures are also included.
BIO���������������� 105N�� FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN BIOLOGY������������������������� Credits:��������� 3
This course
introduces students to the structure and function of the human body.� Topics such as the fundamental principles in
organic and inorganic chemistry, cellular metabolism, cellular anatomy,
cellular biology and histology will be covered and subsequently applied to the
physiology of the body as a whole.�
Systems to be covered in this course include integumentary, digestive,
circulatory, lymphatic, respiratory, urinary, nervous, sensory,
musculoskeletal, endocrine, and reproductive.�
This course is designed for non-science majors.� Completion of this preliminary course is
highly recommended for students who have no science background or have been out
of school for more than 5 years before enrolling in BIO 209/210 Anatomy and
Physiology I.
BIOL ������������� 106N�� FUNDAMENTALS OF HUMAN BIOLOGY LAB����������������� Credits:��������� 1
Laboratory
experience for BIO 105 including experimentation, microscope work,
observations, and dissection.
CS������������������ 110����� INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTERS���
������������������������������ Credits:��������� 3
This
course introduces students to the concepts and terminology of computer systems
and related technology and their impact on individuals and society through
lecture and lab format.� Hands-on
overview using popular microcomputer software provides experience with
computers.
ENGL������������� 121W�� COMPOSITION�
I ���������������������������������������������������������������� Credits:��������� 3
Composition
I offers a clearly defined sequential approach to writing the short essay
including these patterns of writing: exposition; narration; description; and
argumentation.� Research process and techniques
of writing the research paper result in a document of at least 10 pages.� Emphasis is placed on pre-writing skills,
organization, and development of ideas.�
Competence in sentence and paragraph writing skills is assumed.
HI����� � 156��� � LEGAL
AND REGULATORY ASPECTS OF HEALTHCARE�������� Credits:��������� 2
This
course covers basic knowledge of the legal, regulatory, and ethical aspects of
healthcare including: doctrines, principles, and processes of civil law; state
licensure and national accreditation standards; and professional requirements
for personal liability, confidentiality, and documentation in the delivery of
healthcare to the patient.
MATH��� �������� 101����� INTRODUCTORY
ALGEBRA �������������������������������������������� Credits:��������� 4
Introductory
Algebra initiates development in students� ability to organize thought
processes and systematically solve problems while preparing students for
studies in other courses.� Course
emphasis includes manipulation of variables, exponential applications,
scientific notation, polynomials, factoring trinomials, solving equations,
systems of equations, and graphing quadratic equations.� This course is intended for students who
have not studied algebra but have a firm background in basic mathematics or who
wish it as a review.
OO�������� �������� 255����� MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION ��������������������� ����������������������� Credits:��������� 3
Prerequisite:��� AH 185, CS 110, OO 108, or consent of
faculty
Students
are introduced to ethical considerations, rules, regulations, forms, and
techniques in recording medical documents.�
Transcription of various medical reports is required with emphasis on
competency in medical vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and extensive usage of
medical reference materials.
OO����������������� 256����� MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION II������������������������������������������� Credits:��������� 3
This
course is designed to increase speed and accuracy in transcribing medical data
with exposure to advanced technical language on a case-by-case basis.� Special attention is on speed, accuracy,
production, style, and forms in medical use.
OO ���������������� 266����� MICROSOFT WORD����������������������������������������������������������� Credits:��������� 3
Word
processing software is used to create documents used in academic, professional,
and business environments.� These
functions include editing, selecting, find and replace, document assembly,
graphics, printing, headers and footers, columns, file management styles, math
features, fonts and other print features, tables, sort and select, merges,
macros, and reference tools.
PSY������� �������� 101S��� GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY������������������������������������������������� Credits:��������� 3
This
course is an introduction to the nature and scope of the field of psychology as
a scientific and human endeavor.� Major topics
include: historic development of the field; biological and developmental
processes; consciousness and perceptions; learning, remembering, and thinking;
motivation and emotion; personality and individuality; social behavior; normal
stress and coping; and abnormal psychology and treatment methods.