Standard or regulation
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
Read the originalRead on October 16, 2026
- What it is
- A 2007 task force report from the two medical records and transcription associations. It reviews how medical transcription has been billed, including the 65-character line, and proposes the visible black character as a unit of measure.
- How much weight it carries
- Written by the professional associations for the industry, so it reflects their recommendations rather than neutral research. It is dated 2007 and it describes a standard that the industry has since moved away from, so use it for history rather than current pricing.
Facts taken from this source
- The AHIMA and MTIA 2007 report says that the 65-character line counted all letters, numbers, symbols and formatting codes used to produce a document.
“characters included all letters, numbers, symbols, and formatting codes used to maintain and reproduce a document” (Background)
- A 2007 AHIMA and MTIA task force describes the 65-character line as the previously advanced standard unit of measure for medical record transcription.
“The previously advanced standard unit of measure for medical record transcription was a 65-character line (commonly referred to as the AAMT line).” (Background)
- The AHIMA and MTIA task force compared six measurement standards for transcription work, including the 65-character line, gross line, gross page and per-minute pricing, before it proposed visible black characters.
“The task force identified and evaluated the ASCII line, the 65-character line, gross line, gross page, per minute pricing, and visible black character (VBC) measurement standards.” (Comparative evaluation, Background section)
- In the 2007 AHIMA and MTIA visible black character method, spaces, carriage returns and hidden formatting such as bolding, underline and spell checking are not counted.
“spaces, carriage returns, and hidden formatting instructions such as bolding, underline, text boxes, printer configurations, and spell checking are not counted in the total character count” (Definition of Visible Black Character)
- 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.
“VBC is the only counting method that can be easily understood, verified, and replicated by all parties in the medical transcription business processes.” (Recommendations)