Fact · Dictation for work and study
The AHIMA and MTIA task force concluded that visible black characters were the only counting method that could be easily understood, verified and replicated by all parties.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“VBC is the only counting method that can be easily understood, verified, and replicated by all parties in the medical transcription business processes.”
Visible Black Character as the Unit of Text Measurement: AHIMA/MTIA Joint Task Force Report, AHIMA/MTIA Joint Task Force on Standards Development, American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) and Medical Transcription Industry Association (MTIA), 2007, Recommendations.
Open the original- What it measures
- The report's reason for recommending the method is that the count should be reproducible by every party, which is the problem a per-line contract has when the parties count differently.
- What it does not show
- This is the task force's own judgment from 2007. It does not show how any employer counts lines today.