Types of Credentials
AHDI offers voluntary credentialing exams to individuals who wish to demonstrate job readiness and level-specific competency to prospective employers, clients, and industry colleagues. In offering credentialing exams for healthcare documentation specialists and professionals, AHDI is protecting the public interest by promoting professional standards, improving the practice of healthcare documentation specialists, and recognizing those professionals who demonstrate competency through the fulfillment of stated requirements.
Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialist (RHDS) – Level 1
The RHDS is geared toward:
- Recent graduates of healthcare documentation/medical transcription education programs
- Healthcare documentation practitioners with fewer than 2 years’ experience in acute care
- Experienced practitioners working in a single-specialty environment (i.e., private practice, clinic, radiology, pathology, etc.)
- CHDS candidates who need to fulfill the RHDS prerequisite
Certified Healthcare Documentation Specialist (CHDS) – Level 2
The CHDS is geared toward:
- Registered Healthcare Documentation Specialists (RHDSs) with a minimum of 2 years’ experience in acute care transcription or multi-specialty equivalent.
- Certified Medical Transcriptionists (CMTs) who want to earn the CHDS credential.
Certified Healthcare Documentation Professional (CHDP)
The CHDS and the respective microcredentials for auditors and scribes are geared toward:
- Anyone who participates in documenting patients’ health care.
- Practitioners who document patient care in the health record.
- Clinician-created documentation auditors/analysts.
- Allied healthcare professionals.
- Scribes
Certified Veterinary Healthcare Documentation Professional
The CVHDP is geared toward anyone who participates in documenting veterinary patients’ health care. This includes but is not limited to:
- Recent graduates of veterinary healthcare documentation/medical veterinary education programs.
- Veterinary technicians or others who document patient records in an electronic medical record.
- Scribes.
