HDS Bill of Rights

Whereas, the healthcare documentation specialist contributes significantly to the delivery and quality of patient care, while also helping to assure appropriate reimbursement, promote research integrity, and fulfill providers’ legal obligations through documentation of health services.

Be it therefore declared that each healthcare documentation specialist has the following rights:

1. The right to an appropriate job classification and pay level appropriate to one’s abilities, limitations, and responsibilities.
2. The right to full disclosure of the basis on which pay is determined.
3. The right to fair pay, including overtime pay, and to benefits, including sick pay, holiday pay, vacation pay, and health insurance.
4. The right to nondiscrimination on any basis, including gender, age, disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.
5. The right to a safe work environment that promotes prevention, identification, and treatment of work-related injuries and disabilities.
6. The right to communicate with others in order to assist or be assisted, including feedback on performance and inquiries made regarding dictation or transcription.
7. The right to edit dictation as necessary and appropriate to produce a clear, concise, and accurate document, correcting grammar, punctuation, and spelling, drawing attention to inaccuracies, inconsistencies, incomprehensible dictation, and potential risk management concerns.
8. The right to professional resources (print, video, audio, electronic) that facilitate the preparation of accurate and complete documents.
9. The right to environmental resources (space, equipment, furniture, lighting, and supplies) that promote the efficient and effective accomplishment of responsibilities.
10. The right to professional development and continuing education opportunities.
11. The right to professional association membership and participation.
12. The right to participate in the development of, to be informed of, and to adopt professional guidelines and standards for medical transcription.
13. The right to respect and recognition as a professional, as a medical language specialist, and, for those who have earned the designation, as a certified medical transcriptionist (CMT) or certified healthcare documentation specialist (CHDS).
14. The right to participate fully as a healthcare professional in the preparation of patient care documentation in order to enhance the quality of that documentation and thereby the quality of patient care.