Author: Journal of AHIMA Staff

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2016

A lot of good things are happening in healthcare in the name of transparency. Rating systems, usually in the form of a designated number of stars, are now being assigned by the public to hospitals, physicians, and nursing homes. And it’s become easier for consumers to comparison shop when they....

Author: Payne, Thomas H.; Beahan, Sally; Fellner, Jane; Martin, Dan; Elmore, Joann G

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2016

Patient Portals that allow viewing of clinical notes and hospital discharge summaries: the University of Washington OpenNotes implementation experience




Many healthcare organizations are striving to improve patient engagement by facilitating patient access to clin....

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: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: August 01, 2016

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken many steps to try and clear up consumer confusion regarding the more consumer-centric aspects of HIPAA’s Privacy Rule and Security Rule. The most recent efforts include the Office of the National Coordinator’s Patien....

Author: Reeves, Mary G

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: July 28, 2016

To get information governance (IG) off the ground, there must be a leader who is willing to step up and make the case for IG by clearly identifying its benefits—the IG Value Proposition. As a first step in building the value proposition, leaders can create an IG learning environment w....

Author: Combs, Tammy

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: July 27, 2016

We talk a lot about the impact of clinical documentation improvement (CDI) on healthcare organizations and physicians. We look at ways to reflect appropriate reimbursement and accurate quality scores, both of which are very important. But do we take the time to look at the true extent of t....

Author: Wall, Kathleen E.

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: July 25, 2016

By now, we’ve all had practice assigning 7th characters for injuries. And, by now, we all know that in theory the guidance seems very clear—but the application of this new concept is not clear at all. Why is there so much confusion and why does it matter? What are the short- and long-term....

Author: Hedges, Ron

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: July 22, 2016

In this blog I talk about legal consequences. I usually provide current examples of what those consequences might be under a specific set of facts. Here, instead, I want to highlight a litigation-related event that readers might experience in the future—or perhaps already have: a depo....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: July 21, 2016

The mobile app game that has thousand of players roaming streets, parks, and even workplaces—healthcare providers included—has health privacy experts concerned.


Pokémon Go is a smartphone app that uses a phone’s GPS and camera to help players search for virtual chara....