Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA

Publication Date: 2017

Author: Bryson, Casey

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: May 22, 2017

You can’t throw a rock in healthcare today without hitting someone claiming to solve “the problem of interoperability.” Those claims come from interface engines, private or public collaboratives like the Sequoia Project and Commonwell, government entities like the Office of the Nation....

Author: Rockendorf, Betty

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: February 09, 2017

Regarded as a landmark bill, the 21st Century Cures Act was passed into law in December of 2016. It’s aims are lofty and it covers a lot of ground, including transparency, breaking down silos in healthcare, interoperability, and an electronic health record (EHR) reporting program, as....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2016

The new National Coordinator for Health IT, Dr. Vindell Washington, MD, plans to focus on some old issues for the healthcare industry—a lack of universal standards, limited interoperability, and the difficulty present for both providers and consumers trying to exchange and access hea....

Author: Eramo, Lisa A

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2016

AHIMA and other key stakeholders continue to drive national and global progress to achieve information systems interoperability in healthcare.


Like a complex puzzle, health information data and system interoperability takes time, effort, and collaboration to solve. And solvin....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Warner, Diana; Rhodes, Harry B.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2016

The health information management (HIM) professional has a large role to play in ensuring health IT standardization and the health IT interoperability that comes from those standardization efforts.


The Practice Brief “Standardizing Data and HIM Practices for Interopera....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Rhodes, Harry B.; Warner, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA | AHIMA practice brief

Publication Date: November 2016

Despite the many advancements in health information technology (HIT) that the industry has seen in recent years, the interoperability of HIT applications continues to present a challenge. Implementing standards—a definition, set of rules or guidelines, example format, or other document th....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Salyards, Kenneth

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2016

Today, both clinicians and health information management (HIM) professionals have been experiencing overwhelming challenges with the usability of electronic health record (EHR) systems due to shortcomings in supporting user needs.1,2,3,4 A five-year study recently published by the US Nati....

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2016

In May the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) released a Data Brief describing the state of interoperability among non-federal acute care hospitals in 2015.1 The report looks specifically at four “domains” of interoperability: the ability for health systems....

Author: Labow, Kim

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2016

Interoperability and integration within the health IT landscape remain high priorities for providers, patients, and technology firms. Interoperability in health IT holds the promise of more satisfied patients, providers, and health information management (HIM) professionals. But approachi....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2016

As the sun begins to set on the Obama administration, Vice President Joe Biden has been leveraging the weight of his office to speak out on the health IT interoperability quagmire in which the nation currently finds itself. During a speech at the industry’s Health Datapalooza in May,....

Author: AHIMA Advocacy and Policy Team

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: June 03, 2016

Comment letter to Karen B. DeSalvo, MD, MPH, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Author: Bhattacharyya, S. B; Warner, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2016

An electronic health record (EHR) can greatly help the timely delivery of efficient healthcare if the information it contains is adequate, accurate, and accessible in a timely manner. An EHR is a longitudinal record of an individual’s health journey made up of electronic documents from va....

Author: Warner, Diana

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: May 13, 2016

The use of health information technology (HIT) in the clinical setting brings both opportunities and challenges for health information management (HIM) professionals regarding data capture and exchange; data storage, use and reuse; record ownership and access; e-discovery and e-forens....

Author: INTERFACEWARE

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: April 15, 2016

There’s no question that healthcare is in the middle of a data explosion. New sources of information like medical devices, wearables, and mobile apps are being introduced all the time.


While more information can do wonders for clinical decision making and improving operationa....

Author: Sawatsky, Elaine; Warner, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

Interoperability standards and their continuing adoption by e-health programs expand the capacity of information systems to capture, use, and exchange clinical data. For exchange to occur, the majority of data processing decisions need to take place both computationally and automatically.....

Author: Belanger, Mark

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2016

The world of health information exchange remains busy in Massachusetts as the Mass HIway, the statewide health information exchange (HIE), enters its fourth year of rolling out Direct messaging statewide. Overall, Mass HIway officials feel things are going very well, with more than 580 or....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Rhodes, Harry B.; Warner, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2016

At the 2015 AHIMA Convention and Exhibit, members of AHIMA’s Standards Task Force reported on a ground-breaking white paper they developed called “Health IT Standards for Health Information Management Practices,” a first-of-its-kind white paper that serves as a guide for....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: December 2015

Obtaining access to one’s written or electronic medical records in a timely manner is one of the guarantees listed in AHIMA’s “Consumer Health Information Bill of Rights.” Yet, for one consumer, Amanda Michelle Jones, MS, AM, being on a first-name basis with medical records depa....

Author: Birnbaum, Cassi L; Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments | AHIMA Advocacy and Policy

Publication Date: November 06, 2015

Letter to Karen B. DeSalvo, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), US Department of Health and Human Services

Author: Keller, Megan E; Kelling, Sarah E; Cornelius, Douglas C; Oni, Hafusat A; Bright, David R

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: 2015

Abstract


One primary function of community pharmacies is to dispense medications to patients. In doing so, pharmacists frequently communicate with physicians’ offices to clarify prescription orders and obtain additional information to ensure the safe and accurate dispensing of med....

Author: Birnbaum, Cassi L; Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: September 29, 2015

AHIMA supports ONC's ongoing efforts addressed in the 2015 "roadmap".

Author: Stearns, Michael

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 2015

The ICD-10-CM/PCS code set offers substantial clinical value to healthcare which includes new diagnoses and treatments. There has been a fair amount of emphasis on ICD-10’s value in clinical research and population health, but less on its value at the point of care—while a physician is car....

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: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: August 28, 2015

For many health IT stakeholders tackling the bugaboo of making electronic health records (EHRs) interoperable, it’s easy to imagine many of them thinking, This would be so simple without HIPAA or reimbursement. When it comes to the “one system, many providers” approach to EHR interoperabil....

Author: Bailey-Woods, Linda; Munns, Megan; Orlova, Anna; Rhodes, Harry B.; Warner, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2015

Interoperability of health information systems will enable clinicians to communicate with their patients and each other using information and communication technology to enable safer, effective, and efficient care, and improve population health. Health information technology (HIT) standard....

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....

Author: Orlova, Anna

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2015

With the growing adoption of health information technology (HIT), interoperability—or the sharing of data between systems—has become a topic that everybody in healthcare is talking about. Interoperability impacts every stakeholder in healthcare with each individual party involv....

Author: Voltz, Donald M

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2015

According to data published on HealthIT.gov, 173 health IT vendors are supplying certified electronic health record (EHR) products to more than 4,500 hospitals. Despite wide penetration of EHRs in hospitals, clinics, and physician offices, a lack of access to patient information between sy....

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: April 23, 2015

Letter to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: April 2015

AHIMA comments that it is ready to work with ONC and the nation on the public-private approach to address barriers and build an interoperable health IT ecosystem.

Author: Mohsen, Mona Omar ; Aziz, Hassan A

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: April 2015

Abstract


The Blue Button project has become a way for many Americans to download their health records by just a click in any way that suits them, such as in print, on a thumb drive, or on their mobile devices and smartphones. Several organizations have developed and applied Blue B....

Author: Journal of AHIMA Staff

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2015

The lack of interoperable health information systems and IT has long been a barrier to achieving a learning health system (LHS) in the US. As the Institute of Medicine defines it, a LHS is a system in which “progress in science, informatics, and care culture align to generate new knowledge as a....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2015

The spiders of time have been hard at work on the US healthcare privacy and security rules, to the point that their place in health IT interoperability has become fogged and is inhibiting their proper role in the meaningful exchange of health information, according to Lucia Savage, JD, th....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2015

Accounts of mistaken identity, anecdotally at least, seem to happen to everyone at least once in the healthcare realm with both paper and electronic records. But in an increasingly electronic world employing electronic health record (EHR) systems and other health IT where patients ar....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Warner, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: February 2015

In the effort to advance secure and interoperable health information exchanges, the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Intero....

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: Moodhard, Beth Acker; Gelzer, Reed D.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2015

One of the many benefits of working in the information management field is being a part of healthcare’s transformation to the use of electronic health records (EHRs). Everyone has a stake in this transformation, and an opportunity to help determine how the transition is actually proceedin....

Author: Studeny, Jana; Coustasse, Alberto

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: July 2014

Abstract


The establishment of the Meaningful Use criteria has created a critical need for robust interoperability of health records. A universal definition of a personal health record (PHR) has not been agreed upon. Standardized code sets have been built for specific entities, but....

Author: U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

Source: Government (U.S.) | U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for HIT

Publication Date: September 2013

This guidance is meant to serve as a building block for federal agencies and stakeholders to use as they work with different communities to achieve interoperable electronic health information exchange.

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: April 17, 2013

Objectives related to the goals of interoperability and health information exchange are of great importance to AHIMA members who generally serve as the data stewards or governors of health information in their organizations across all sectors of the industry including involvement in organized health information exchange.

Author: Romeo, Jim

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2013

Establishing a health information exchange (HIE) and building an infrastructure to support it internally and externally is a daunting task. Whether funded by federal and state grants or launched as a private sector initiative, launching a HIE often means blazing new territory and making de....

Author: Berry, Kate

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2013

Health information exchange (HIE) has great potential to improve healthcare quality while containing costs, something the US health system is under increasing pressure from providers and the federal government to achieve. Benefits of HIE include better care coordination, assurance that pat....

Author: Foley, Teresa; Gillen, Zachary; Teal, Jennifer

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 02, 2011

Background

In the spring of 2009, President Obama announced plans to create a joint Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record (VLER) to improve care and services between the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense (DoD), and the private sector. President Obama directed the Dep....

Author: Rudman, William J.; Hart-Hester, Susan; Jones, Warren A.; Caputo, Nadine; Madison, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2010

Integrating records of systemic and oral health would improve patient care. It would also open up a new frontier in health information management.

A fully integrated patient record and care model for both systemic health (medical) and oral health (dental) is needed for health informa....

Author: Seidl, Patricia

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2010

Health information collected in electronic health records (EHRs) can support a variety of initiatives, including clinical research. However, technical standards are needed to enable EHRs to communicate with clinical research applications.

Work from the American National Standards In....

Author: Zwyiak, Walt; Drazen, Erica; Computer Sciences Corporation

Source: External web site

Publication Date: February 15, 2010

The question for hospitals is becoming not whether but how to initiate integrated EHR use within their communities.

Author: Hammond, William Edward; Jaffe, Charles; Kush, Rebecca Daniels

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2009

Two standards developing organizations—CDISC and HL7—demonstrate that collaboration, while challenging, delivers benefits to standards developers, end users, and ultimately patients.

Technical standards are essential to improving healthcare. For health IT to reduce medic....

Author: Birnbaum, Cassi L; Hall, Terri; Sweet, Helayne; Wiedemann, Lou Ann

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2009

For the last five years the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT) has been working to promote the adoption of health IT by certifying electronic health record (EHR) products against common, baseline criteria.

The private, nonprofit certification body....

Author: Melvin, Valerie C.

Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office

Publication Date: January 15, 2009

This testimony discusses issues identified by GAO’s work that have broad relevance to the successful implementation of HIT to improve the quality of health care. Also available on the GAO website.

Author: Cook, Jane; Foley, Margaret M.; Giannangelo, Kathy; Paterno, Marilyn D.; Scichilone, Rita A; Schwarz, Kathleen M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2009

Standardized clinical terminologies are critical connectors that allow systems to exchange health information.

In the winter of 1904 a major fire broke out in Baltimore, MD. The resulting damage—an entire swath of the downtown destroyed—was blamed largely on a lack of uni....

Author: Hyde, Cynthia S

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2008

A carefully crafted project plan is the first step in achieving expectations and lasting value from electronic forms management.

The intent of transitioning from paper-based processes to electronic, automated systems and solutions is to benefit the operations of healthcare facilities....

Author: Scichilone, Rita A

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2008

Using More than One Standard Terminology for Data Sets Provides More Detail

The fundamental purpose of keeping health records is to track changes in health status and the resulting impact of diseases or disorders. Assessment forms and instruments are commonly used in electronic healt....

Author: Rollins, Gina

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2008

Contractors in the NHIN trial implementations are working toward a demonstration of a “network of networks” this fall. Along the way they are generating specifications and refining issues.

In October 2007 the Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator f....

Author: Giokas, Dennis

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2008

The goal of Canada Health Infoway, the corporation fostering and facilitating the development of an interoperable electronic health record (EHR), is to provide all Canadians with a secure and private lifetime record of their health history and care. The record is available electronically to au....

Author: Dougherty, Michelle; Rhodes, Harry B.; O'Neill, Megan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2007

Paper legal documents have certain characteristics. They are signed in ink and dated, and they often are a specific size and certain quality or weight of paper. Legal business records are even processed and handled in a certain, unique manner.

Now, since the spread of electronic heal....

Author: Rhodes, Harry B.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2007

Despite the proliferation of personal health record (PHR) technologies and services, only a small portion of the population uses them.1 Indeed, some observers have expressed concern that PHRs will never catch on with the general public.2 Yet when surveyed, consumers remain enthused about....

Author: Wilson, Patricia S

Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management

Publication Date: March 2007

Author: Carol, Ruth

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2007

Leaders from HIEs forming at the state level talk about their organizations’ unique potential and unique challenges.
Just as healthcare is local, the solutions for sharing patient data are often local, also. However, there is growing interest in the role of networki....

Author: Health Level Seven. EHR Interoperability Workgroup

Source: External healthcare industry report

Publication Date: February 07, 2007

Part of the HL7 2007 EHR Interoperability Model DSTU, this report outlines technical, semantic, and process interoperability. Also available from the HL7 web site here.

Author: Tucker, Kyle

Source: AHIMA Convention

Publication Date: October 31, 2006

Implementation of Physician Office EHR with Integration to Hospital EHR—Mission Possible
Kyle Tucker, RHIA, CCS
Introduction

Poudre Valley Health System (PVHS) is a locally owned, private, not-for-profit organization that encompasses Poudre Valley Hospital (PVH), Medical....

Author: National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS)

Source: Government (U.S.)

Publication Date: October 30, 2006

Author: Bloomrosen, Meryl; Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2006

Rapidly advancing data exchange initiatives have left a trail of acronyms in their wake. Is a SNO a RHIO, and where did LHIIs go?



As thinking on the nature of regional and nationwide data exchange evolves, terms devised from necessity have been left behind just as....

Author: McCoy, Michael J.; Bomentre, B. J.; Crous, Kate

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2006

Being EHR-conversant begins with a review of EHR components, general issues in integrating systems, and how IT projects start.
Setting off on the EHR journey, or any single leg of it, requires being conversant in the common elements that comprise EHRs, the general choices in integrating t....

Author: Hanson, Susan P.; Cassidy, Bonnie S.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2006

With the right planning, health IT and nationwide health data exchange can deter healthcare fraud.
Fraud is a significant drain on the US healthcare system. The National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association estimates that 3 percent of the nation's annual healthcare outlay--$51 billion--was....

Author: Rhodes, Harry B.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2006

Although we’ve made progress in advancing the EHR initiative, we continue to struggle with data content management. The data content management crisis is not unique to healthcare, according to Ruth Stanat, global business consultant. All businesses—not just healthcare—are &l....

Author: Appavu, Soloman I.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2006

Standards harmonization in healthcare is a major challenge compared to other industries. Why?

Banking and travel industries have achieved harmonization of standards for their respective IT systems. Banking transactions can be done securely from anywhere in the world through ATM machi....

Author: AHIMA e-HIM Work Group on EHR Data Content

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2006

To efficiently and accurately share clinical information, EHRs must be interoperable—the IT systems and software applications used by various facilities and made by different vendors must be able to communicate so that usable data can be exchanged accurately, effectively, and consistentl....

Author: McBride, Susan; Gilder, Richard; Davis, Robert; Fenton, Susan H.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2006

Exchanging health data electronically requires some cartography. HIM professionals not involved with data mapping now will be soon.



One essential component of health IT interoperability, and the improved care and efficiency it offers, is data mapping. Data mapping....

Author: Stein, Todd

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2006

Fledgling RHIOs get a head start with new model policies and technical guidelines from Connecting for Health.
When Chuck Fitch first began to promote a regional health information network for Memphis’s far-flung hospitals, medical centers, county clinics, and physician groups thre....

Author: Fernandes, Lorraine M.; O'Connor, Michele

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2006

Once data can move across vast networks, how to find it? The accuracy and flexibility of patient matching will determine interoperability’s success.
Christina Jones, a Chicago resident, is spending the day with a friend in nearby Milwaukee. While shopping after lunch, she collapse....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2006

This year the vision of connected health information will come into sharper focus. Federally funded initiatives for sharing health information are taking place in a dozen communities across the country. Four consortiums are under contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to de....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2006

Healthcare’s hottest topic finally has two things it has badly needed: plain language and a sense of urgency.
Every health information story in 2006 will circle back to one word. In one way or another, every HIM story this year will relate to interoperability.

Healthcare....

Author: Jones, LeRoy

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2006

Interoperability will change healthcare. How much depends to a large extent on what happens right at the point of care.
On July 21, 2004, David Brailer, MD, PhD, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology published the Framework for Strategic Action, whi....

Author: U.S. Commission on Systemic Interoperability

Source: Government (U.S.)

Publication Date: October 25, 2005