20 results.
AHIMA's IG Maturity and Adoption Model Turns the Corner
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: September 28, 2015
The Information Governance Principles for Healthcare (IGPHC™) created a high-level framework of good practice in information governance (IG) and most of 2014 was spent digging into these eight pillars. As AHIMA started work on the IG Maturity Model a new concept emerged. The idea of build....
Checking In on Accounting of Disclosures
Author: Downing, Kathy; McLendon, Kelly
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2013
Accounting of disclosures (AOD) is one "patient right" listed within the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Since the rules were implemented in 2003, AOD has been a topic of much discussion but has not generated much regulatory action from the US Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office for....
Document Management and Imaging Best Practices to Manage the Hybrid Record
Author: Dooling, Julie A; Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA Convention
Publication Date: October 02, 2011
Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, Stage I meaningful use incentives focus on electronically capturing health information in a structured format. While scanned images do not meet these requirements, electronic document management syst....
Electronic Signature Attestation and Authorship- Updated - Retired
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: October 2013
Editor’s note: This update supersedes the November 2009 practice brief “Implementing Electronic Signatures.”
Electronic health record (EHR) systems provide the ability to sign entries electronically; however, implementing and using electronic signatures (e-s....
Importance of Data Stewards in Information Governance
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: May 26, 2016
Data governance (DG) is the sub-domain of information governance (IG) that provides for the design and execution of data needs planning and data quality assurance in concert with the strategic information needs of the organization. Data governance includes data modeling, data mapping, data....
Industry Making Progress on Information Governance Implementation
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2018
By Kathy Downing, MA, RHIA, CHPS, PMP, CPHI, AHIMA vice president of information governance, informatics, standards, privacy and security
In 2013, when AHIMA began to promote the concept of information governance (IG) in healthcare, it was a fairly new concept for most organizations. Over t....
Information Asset Inventory for Information Governance - Retired
Author: Downing, Kathy; Fahy, Kristi; Foster, MeShawn; Hermann, Michelle; Meehan, Ann M.; Washington, Lydia; Woebkenberg, Jami
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2017
When an organization begins to implement an enterprise information governance (IG) program, one of the major initial tasks is to understand the scope and types of information in its possession. An inventory of an organization’s information is necessary in order to facilitate decision maki....
Journal of AHIMA Launching Monthly IG Case Study Series
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: February 23, 2017
With information governance (IG) emerging and gaining momentum in healthcare organizations, many questions arise. What are the goals of information governance? Why have some organizations decided they need formal information governance? How do healthcare organizations expect to benefi....
OCR Releases Results of HIPAA Compliance Audit Pilot
Author: Downing, Kathy; McMillan, Mac
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: October 2013
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, in section 13411, requires the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct periodic audits to ensure covered entities and business associates are meeting HIPAA compliance requirements.
The findings of....
ONC Targets Information Blocking
Author: Downing, Kathy; Mason, Jessica
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: July 2015
A NEW REPORT to Congress from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), released in April, has put information blocking in the spotlight.1 The ONC report comes out on the heels of a recent article written by five US senators titled, “Where Is HITECH’s $35 Billion Dollar....
Patient Engagement, Patient Portals, and Information Governance
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: December 15, 2016
Involving patients in the management of their health (patient engagement) encourages greater patient participation in care. It also increases the integrity of the health information stored by our health systems—patients will be the first to tell you if the information is incorrect. P....
Peer into the IG Crystal Ball: 2015 IG White Paper from AHIMA
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: September 26, 2015
If you have not yet taken a deep dive into the 2015 information governance white paper from Cohassett Associates and AHIMA, you should. The survey that provides the basis for the white paper examines the readiness of healthcare professionals to address the strategic and technical demands o....
Preparing for MACRA with AHIMA’s Information Governance Adoption Model
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2018
By Kathy Downing, MA, RHIA, CHPS, PMP, CPHI
Information governance (IG)—the development of an organization-wide framework for managing information throughout its lifecycle and supporting the organization’s strategy, operations, regulatory, legal, risk, and environmental requirem....
Privacy and Security Training (2013 update) - Retired
Author: Downing, Kathy; Lucci, Susan; Lerch, Diane M
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: October 2013
Editor's note: This update replaces the November 2010 practice brief "HIPAA Privacy and Security Training."
On January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) published the long-awaited Health Insurance Portability and Accoun....
Privacy Officer Evolution
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: September 25, 2015
Within my 20 years in the realm of privacy officer, we called work in privacy first “appropriate access,” then “information protection,” and now, thanks to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), have finally settled on the term “priva....
Recognizing HIM Excellence: AHIMA Grace Award Honors Innovation and Leadership in HIM
Author: Downing, Kathy; Wiedemann, Lou Ann
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2014
Innovative approaches to health information management (HIM) led Kansas City, MO-based Truman Medical Centers to become the 2013 AHIMA Grace Award recipient, announced at AHIMA’s 85th Annual Convention and Exhibit in Atlanta, GA, on October 28th before thousands of HIM professionals.
Redisclosure of Patient Health Information (2013 update)
Author: Downing, Kathy; Odia, Godwin
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: November 2013
Editor’s note: This update supplants the 2009 practice brief “Redisclosure of Patient Health Information.”
Redisclosure is the act of sharing or releasing health information that was received from another source (e.g., external facility or provider) and made part....
Release of Information for Marketing or Fund-raising Purposes (2013 update) - Retired
Author: Schmidt, Peg; Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: August 2013
Editor's note: This update supplants the 2002 practice brief "Release of Information for Marketing or Fund-raising Purposes."
Since its original compliance date in 2003, the HIPAA privacy rule required covered entities (CEs) to adhere to certain standards relative to the use....
Restrictions in Action: Three Case Studies
Author: Beckett, Barb; Downing, Kathy; Gillespie, Joe D; Waugh, Traci
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: March 2015
Since its initial adoption the HIPAA Privacy Rule has granted individuals the right to request restrictions on the use or disclosure of their protected health information (PHI) for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations (TPO), as well as for disclosures to family members and certai....
You Can't Succeed in Information Governance without Trying
Author: Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: February 04, 2016
Every health information management (HIM) leader has their hands full these days. All of us are working hard just to keep up. Despite the ever increasing pace at which the healthcare industry—and HIM—is moving forward, through AHIMA’s information governance (IG) pilot program, we also see....