Author: Houser, Shannon H.; Meadows, Jean M

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2017

There are a number of recent factors driving changes to how healthcare quality is being measured. First, there’s the rapid adoption of healthcare information technology (HIT) due to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) “meaningful use” Electronic Health Re....

Author: Feldman, Sue; Houser, Shannon H.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2017

Editor’s Note: This article is the first installment of the new Working Smart department titled “Illuminating Informatics.” This department will explore all aspects of informatics and provide guidance to health information management professionals in the practical applica....

Author: Monga, Kapila

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: December 22, 2016

The phrase “Longevity Revolution,” referring to the increase in human life expectancy by 30 years, isn’t new anymore. Various books have been written on this subject, and it is a widely discussed topic in conferences these days. It is a no-brainer that this increase in life expectancy warr....

Author: Houser, Shannon H.; Mikaelian, Raymound; Payton, Evita

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2016

The emergence of health informatics within health information management (HIM) has changed the ways of HIM practice and operations. This change has also created various opportunities for HIM professionals to further develop their careers and gain additional education and workforce training....

Author: Kadlec, Lesley; Kirby, Annessa

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: October 06, 2016

We hear so much about the amount of data available in healthcare today. But we are just beginning to understand the importance of analyzing that data to make decisions. As buzzwords like “information governance” and “data analytics” are becoming more mainstream, the analysis of data i....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2016

Shawn Wells, RHIT, CHDA, manager of HIM data integrity at the University of Utah Healthcare, put himself on the health information management (HIM) career trajectory that HIM educators dream of using as an example.


Wells, who was also the first person in the state of Utah....

Author: Dooling, Julie A; Houser, Shannon H.; Mikaelian, Raymound; Smith, Clarice Pittillo

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2016

Are you a data-driven individual? Is your health information management (HIM) department focused on becoming data-driven or informatics-oriented?


Today’s data analytics and informatics-oriented organizations are the centerpiece of operations and strategic visioning&mda....

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2016

On April 19, 2017, the industry will learn the winner of the HeroX CHIME National Patient ID Challenge, aiming to ensure that every patient is identified correctly every time. As a judge of this competition, I’ve found it fascinating to participate in the process.


I ha....

Author: Wiedemann, Lou Ann

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 21, 2016

Big data. Data explosion. Predictive analytics. Population health. Data management. Chronic disease monitoring. Natural language processing. As though healthcare was not struggling enough to keep up with acronyms, synonyms, abbreviations, and poorly defined buzzwords, we have entered the e....

Author: Hylock, Ray; Harris, Susie T.

Source: Educational Perspectives in Health Informatics and Information Management

Publication Date: January 2016

Abstract


Enactment of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 forever altered the data management landscape in healthcare. The volume, breadth, depth, and pace at which health i....

Author: Hoyt, Robert; Linnville, Steven; Thaler, Stephen; Moore, Jeffrey

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: January 2016

Abstract


Following the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, electronic health records were widely adopted by eligible physicians and hospitals in the United States. Stage 2 meaningful use menu objectives include a digi....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2015

Washington, DC, has one of the highest populations of individuals who either have AIDS or are HIV-positive in the US. In an effort to improve early diagnosis rates, treatment compliance, and prevention, researchers are using innovative data analytics methods to track participants in a pil....

Author: Moschel, Matthew

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2015

Too often, data analysts make life difficult for themselves. An analyst may produce code that is much longer and more complicated than it needs to be, causing a coworker to re-run code for several hours, not including the execute time. Why? These challenges stem from three root sources of....

Author: Orlova, Anna

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2015

Medical informatics is a field formalized in the 1990s with the rise of the adoption of information technology in healthcare including electronic health records systems (EHRs), laboratory information management systems (LIMS), radiology systems, and other health information technology (HIT....

Author: Overgaard, Shauna M; Dooling, Julie A

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: August 27, 2015

Healthcare payments are shifting and the industry is in a rapid state of change. Efficiencies to render patient care as a top priority are crucial. Measuring brings efficiencies and meaning to a patient population.

High-Level Measurements


Population-based statistics....

Author: Becevic, Mirna; Clarke, Martina A; Alnijoumi, Mohammed M; Sohal, Harjyot S; Boren, Suzanne A; Kim, Min S; Mutrux, Rachel

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: July 2015

Abstract


Background: Robotic telepresence has been used for outsourcing of healthcare services for more than a decade; however, its use within an academic medical department is not yet widespread. Intensive care unit (ICU) robots can be used to increase access to off-site supervis....

Author: AHIMA Staff

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2015

It is the matchup of the century—the towering hulk of healthcare’s Big Data versus the super computer known as Watson. Will Watson be able to take on this lumbering, untamed mass of information and whip it into submission?


One year ago, the Journal of AHIMA reported on the IBM su....

Author: Dolezel, Diane

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2015

The digital era of Big Data has generated a growing need for more electronic health information management (e-HIM) professionals who can assume the emerging role of data analyst.1 This new role requires learning how to analyze data and perform statistical calculations to support informed d....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2015

Watch and learn. For clinical informaticist Nathan Patrick Taylor, MPH, MS, CHDA, and others like him, watching patient-physician encounters and learning from them is just as important as knowing how to query data in a health IT system. Because as technical as informatics can get, at its....

Author: Regard, Dan; Hedges, Ron

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2015

As the healthcare industry moves into an electronic health record (EHR)-only environment, practitioners increasingly have to “search” electronically stored information (ESI). They may need to do this to find, for example, the date on which a patient was given a specific drug and the dosag....

Author: Birnbaum, Cassi L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2015

WHEN I DECIDED to pursue my graduate education in health information management (HIM) and informatics seven years ago, adoption rates for advanced electronic health record (EHR) systems were evolving, data was siloed, and interoperability was far from reality. Organizations were up to the....

Author: Kowalski, Christine

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2015

Just as the world is held together and shaped by a delicate and intricate global ecosystem, the US healthcare system’s community of connected components, surviving and thriving when working together toward common goals, represents its own sort of ecosystem. As healthcare moves toward an i....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: April 2015

The HIM Problem


As HIM becomes increasingly data-centric, knowledge of informatics is becoming an essential tool.


Today, it’s hard to identify even one aspect of health information management (HIM) as a profession that isn’t profoundly affected by the use,....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Lehmann, Harold

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2015

Electronic sharing of health information, both within and between organizational boundaries, requires the adoption of interoperable health information technology (HIT) solutions such as electronic health record (EHR) systems, laboratory information management systems (LIMS), radiology and....

Author: Burning Glass Technologies

Source: External healthcare industry report

Publication Date: December 2014

According to this report, health informatics positions are projected to grow at twice the rate of employment overall. However, evidence suggests there is a already a shortage of qualified workers in the field.

Author: Wiedemann, Lou Ann

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2014

Healthcare has become a data-rich field, and any data rich environment requires the ability to analyze large, complex data sets. The field of informatics provides tools to integrate data, information, knowledge, and wisdom when processing data. Good informatics includes many functions, and....

Author: AHIMA Advocacy and Policy Team

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2014

Health information and health intelligence are beginning to have an impact on the daily lives and health of everyone. Technology-enabled, person-centered care is taking hold and transforming the healthcare delivery system, enabling accountability for the patient and challenging providers....

Author: AHIMA Work Group

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2014

All data are not created equal and technology implementation alone is not enough to improve the healthcare provided to patients. Providers and organizations must be able to distinguish between an abundance of data, meaningful data, and integration of data. Healthcare organizations are challenge....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: July 2014

For decades, most consumers relied on one physician for all of their healthcare needs—their primary care physician—and that one physician knew the patient’s entire health history and documented it in one place. This paradigm is starting to change, says Anupam Goel, MD, MBA, an in....

Author: Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) Health IT Policy Committee, Certification and Adoption Workgroup

Source: Government (U.S.)

Publication Date: July 21, 2014

This proposal was developed as a collaborative effort by groups employing, representing, and/or educating the workforce in the health informatics occupation. It was initiated by the FACA Health IT Policy Committee, Certification and Adoption Workgroup, Workforce Sub-group.

Author: Rubin, Joshua C; Friedman, Charles P

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2014

As the “Vision” section of AHIMA’s website states, AHIMA aims to “lead the advancement and ethical use of quality health information to promote health and wellness worldwide.” In many ways, the Learning Health System’s (LHS) overarching vision represents....

Author: Crawford, Mark

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2014

Health informatics is often considered to be an advanced level of health information management (HIM). It’s also in high demand—in addition to handling, storing, and retrieving health data more HIM professionals are getting involved in the decision-making process regarding what types of i....

Author: Kennedy, Angela

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2014

Health informatics is present in every corner of the healthcare industry. A multidisciplinary approach to decision making, it’s no longer just for the research and public health arena. The science and engagement of the health informatics process is one that’s critical to the success of he....

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2014

Last year, as AHIMA developed our strategic plan, we began to use the phrase “transforming data into health intelligence.” It’s a familiar concept, but what does it really mean? One way to understand this idea is by looking at one of AHIMA’s strategic pillars—....

Author: Viangteeravat, Teeradache; Rao Nagisetty, Naga Satya V

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: January 2014

Abstract


Secondary use of large and open data sets provides researchers with an opportunity to address high-impact questions that would otherwise be prohibitively expensive and time consuming to study. Despite the availability of data, generating hypotheses from huge data sets i....

Author: Palkie, Brooke

Source: Educational Perspectives in Health Informatics and Information Management

Publication Date: December 2013

Abstract


The 2009 enactment of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act has placed unprecedented emphasis on utilizing technology to improve the quality of care and to decrease healthcare costs. To meet these goals, the healthcare field will....

Author: Cortelyou-Ward, Kendall; Kahlon, Summerpal; Noblin, Alice

Source: Educational Perspectives in Health Informatics and Information Management

Publication Date: December 2013

Abstract


The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has encouraged unprecedented expansion of the health information technology (HIT) industry and offers strong employment opportunities for those that qualify. However, academic institutions have been slow to address the changing n....

Author: Hersh, William R; Valerius, Joanne D

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2013

The disciplines of health information management (HIM) and biomedical and health informatics (informatics) have many historical differences, from the focus of their work to their academic roots. HIM has most often been seen as an operational profession, typically grouped among “allie....

Author: Eramo, Lisa A

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2013

The hunger for analyzed healthcare data to improve delivered care and to better meet quality measures is spurring a revolution in healthcare. Providers are demanding better health IT systems that allow HIM and data analytics professionals to sift through large amounts of data and turn it i....

Author: Taylor, Lisa Brooks

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2013

With the establishment of the National Quality Forum's National Quality Strategy, which sets the direction for achieving better, affordable care and healthier people and communities, providers, payers, and patients are seeing a shift in payment methodologies from volume-based to value-base....

Author: Cassidy, Bonnie S.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2013

The unsustainable growth of health costs, the growing lack of access to healthcare, and increasing disparities in provided care have forced the US to change how healthcare is delivered. With multiple national initiatives facing the healthcare industry, it is a challenge for healthcare prof....

Author: Townsend, Hilary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2013

The emergence of electronic health records (EHRs) has necessitated the use of innovative technologies to facilitate the transition from paper-based records for healthcare providers. Natural language processing (NLP) is one technology providers are turning to for improving clinical outcomes....

Author: Campbell, Robert James

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2013

[dih-fahy-ning] [helth] [in-fer-mat-iks]


adjective, noun, noun


1. An educator’s in-depth look at what informatics is and what it can do for HIM professionals



In the movie Annie Hall, Woody Allen finds himself in a movie theater line in....

Author: Cofrin, Kelly

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

Introduction

As part of its decades-long effort to collect, analyze, and report on healthcare quality and cost, Utah has funded and created one of the country’s leading All Payer Claims databases. This data resource brings an unprecedented ability to examine costs for episodes of ca....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

Introduction

It has been 12 years since the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published its landmark study “To Err is Human” with its astonishing conclusion that avoidable medical errors contribute to 44,000–98,000 deaths at US hospitals annually.1 It has been 10 years since t....

Author: Plummer, Eric

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

Background

One of the fundamental challenges associated with the pursuit of Healthcare Analytics, is the diverse number of applications and source information systems that must be accessed. These systems (EHR/EMR/PM/LAB/RAD/...) were designed to capture all of the relevant information abo....

Author: Saunders, Ninfa M.

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: October 2010

Author: Donofrio, Monica; Wolfinger, Jennifer

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: September 27, 2010

Background

Healthcare reform will require that organizations take advantage of technology to provide safer, more effective care. A natural by-product of the rapid adoption of clinical technology is the vast amount of data it produces. Yet many organizations lack the infrastructure....

Author: White, Susan E

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: September 27, 2010

Introduction

Data analysis techniques are becoming increasingly important for HIM professionals. The application of relatively simple and straightforward data analytics can identify significant opportunities for improvement in the revenue cycle. Traditional chart audits can be enhanced b....

Author: Kuehn, Lynn; Hyde, Linda A.

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: September 27, 2010

Introduction

A key component of evaluating health care performance is the use of comparisons. Comparative data can come from internal or external sources and allows the user to evaluate their outcomes or measures against another data set. This aids in determining if their organization is....

Author:

Source: AHIMA Advantage

Publication Date: August 2009

Today, Pawan Goyal is the chief medical officer of the government healthcare division at EDS, an HP Company, based in Plano, TX. His division works with entities like the Department of Veterans Affairs implementing and managing HIT systems. One of the first Action Community for e-HIM Excellence (ACE) members, Goyal feels his new career helps him impact a wider patient base than he ever could as a surgeon—through designing and implementing patient-centered health information technology.

Author: Burrington-Brown, Jill

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2008

In February 2007 the Technology Informatics Guiding Educational Reform (TIGER) Initiative, a group of nursing and informatics leaders, released a report titled “Evidence and Informatics Transforming Nursing: 3-year Action Steps toward a 10-Year Vision.”1 The report describes ho....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA Advantage

Publication Date: June 2006

What’s that sound? It could be your cell phone ringing…but it’s really a reminder to update your technology skills. Here’s the connection: Your cell phone may have the latest bells and whistles, but do you know how to use them? Likewise, are you a proficient user of the....

Author: Jacobs, Ellen B.

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 21, 2005

Overview

The goal of this presentation is to inform HIM professionals about an opportunity to learn medical informatics in a condensed one-week course and the need to educate key players in medical informatics about the HIM profession.
Background

Almost every journal articl....

Author: Parmanto, Bambang; Scotch, Michael; Ahmad, Sjarif

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: September 2005

Abstract


Many healthcare processes involve a series of patient visits or a series of outcomes. The modeling of outcomes associated with these types of healthcare processes is different from and not as well understood as the modeling of standard industry environments. For this re....

Author: Forgey, Danita; Vickrey, Jennifer

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2005

HIM, meet informatics. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Technology is introducing HIM to the science of informatics. It's a relationship with a promising future. Informatics concerns the development of new uses for technology and assesses technology's impact....

Author: AHIMA Professional Practice Team

Source: AHIMA Q and A

Publication Date: January 02, 2005

Q: What is medical informatics, and is there a connection between it and health information management?
A: Medical informatics is “the collection, classification, storage, retrieval and dissemination of recorded knowledge.”1 It features an “emphasis on technology as an integr....

Author: Welfeld, Joseph A.

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 15, 2004

by Joseph A. Welfeld, FACHE
Introduction

Data mining often brings to mind complex and comprehensive software applications that take information from various data sources and attempt to extract valuable information. When operational executives hear the term, their eyes often glaze o....

Author: Busch, Rebecca S.

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 15, 2004

Organized crime is defined by The Oxford English Dictionary as: "of or pertaining to a coordinated criminal organization directing operations on a large or widespread scale."1 The term was first used and noted in a book called Organized Crime in Chicago , published by the Illinois Association....

Author: Rigby, Michael

Source: IFHRO Congress | AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 15, 2004

Introduction

In the drive to modernise information management and information handling in the health sector, focus is nearly always placed on the technologies and on the conceptual issues such as coding and language. However, without competent and thus confident users, this important inv....

Author: Middleton, Anne; Durham, Bob

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 15, 2004

Introduction

Well-ordered review and analysis of financial data often improves operational and clinical performance in healthcare by highlighting ideal development opportunities. Variations in billing data collection, accuracy, and timeliness directly impact development opportunity ident....

Author: Kesh, Someswar; Raghupathi, Wullianallur

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: October 2004

Abstract


This article provides an overview of the field of bioinformatics and its implications for the various participants. Next-generation issues facing developers (programmers), users (molecular biologists), and the general public (patients) who would benefit from the potent....

Author:

Source: External web site

Publication Date: July 19, 2004

Author: Carol, Ruth

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2003

Spending a lot of time with the IT department lately? As HIM processes become automated and demand increasingly sophisticated technology, HIM professionals are making IT professionals their closest allies.
Whether you’re acquiring an electronic master patient index, implementing a t....

Author: Marchibroda, Janet; Gerber, Ticia

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2003

What forces have propelled the need for a national health information infrastructure (NHII) into the spotlight? In the article, take a closer look at the origins of the NHII, the benefits it will yield, and the initiatives providing the strongest support.
The healthcare system in the US h....

Author: Hurley, Brenda J.

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: September 23, 2002

Author: Zernich, Gordon

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2001

The enactment of the Cancer Registries Amendment Act in 1992 and the passage of similar state laws require healthcare facilities and state and national registries to gather information on certain diseases from patient medical records. The information is also used to identify geographic "ho....

Author: Love, Denise

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2001

Statewide data systems are the mainstay of many state and federal data systems and of many quality assessment, research, and policy initiatives. The author gives an overview of the different kinds of systems available and looks at opportunities for growth in the future, as well as for....

Author: Hanken, Mary Alice; Herbst, Maida Reavis; Murphy, Gretchen

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 10, 2001

Understanding the Standards Environment

Standards-Foundation for Health Information Management Practice

The drive to establish standards for health informatics reflects today's commitment to use technology for the benefit of patient care and the recognition that pati....

Author: Rollins, Gina

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2001

What does it mean for an organization's records to be "paperless"? In hospitals and clinics across the country, the paper shuffle may be winding down, but it's not quite over yet. In this article, HIM professionals in these organizations tell their stories.
The movement tow....

Author: Stratton, Scott D.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2001

The third installment of the Journal of AHIMA’s special series on managed care focuses on informatics-methods that add value to data, turning it into useful information. How do informatics and managed care fit together, and what is HIM’s role in this picture?

The HIM professional’s knowl....

Author: Rhodes, Harry B.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2001

We live in the so-called Information Age, but we should actually refer to it as the Data Age. As a nation, we are data rich and information poor.

The dilemma of holding large amounts of valuable data but little useful information is not unique to healthcare. The inability....

Author: Brandt, Mary D.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2000

From code sets to data sets to developing organizations, how much do you really know about technical standards? This article provides a handy reference guide.

The vision is clear: a longitudinal, or lifetime, health record for each person that is computer-based, secure, readily ac....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 1999

Two-thirds of today's health information managers will be in the prime of their careers 10 years from now. But what will the world of work look like? One way to gain an understanding of the future is to create scenarios. Scenarios are literally stories about the future th....

Author: Dixon-Lee, Claire

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 1999

On a trip to Dublin this spring, I met with several officers of the Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland. During this visit, we talked about health information management, finding common ground on topics like:
Year 2000 compliance
the need for clinical vocabulary....