Author: Greene, Adam H

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

In 2009, CONGRESS passed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, which granted individuals a right to have a copy of their records sent to a third party, according to 42 U.S.C. § 17935(e) of the regulation.


Unfortunately, many attorn....

Author: Deming, Sally; Dooling, Julie A; Kadlec, Lesley; Kirby, Annessa; Munns, Megan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

The 2015 Supreme Court decision requiring states to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize same sex marriage across state lines has widespread implications for health records management.1


This article will describe these implications and issu....

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

Recently, the New York Times ran a provocative opinion piece that called for increased use of patient data for research purposes. “When I explain to my own patients what can be done with their medical information for the greater good in research, nobody has ever said to me ‘don....

Author: Reeves, Mary G

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a series that provides a road map for implementing an information governance (IG) program in any organization. Each month a set of concepts will be discussed that tie to the IG Road Map Infographic developed by AHIMA. Any organization can....

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: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: April 01, 2016

As predicted, 2016 is proving to be the year of ransomware, with multiple reported incidents making news as we approach April. As they become startlingly more common, it’s important that HIM professionals be aware of how preventable they are, says Tom Walsh, CISSP, founder and managing partner of tw-Security. Just as with other types of data breaches, ransomware attacks are the result of human intervention—that’s also where they end.

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: AHIMA testimony and comments

Publication Date: March 2016

Comment letter to Andy Slavitt, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Author: Noreen, Neysa; Lusk, Katherine; Kadlec, Lesley

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: March 2016

Why is patient matching important? Why is information governance (IG) important?


And how are the two linked together?


IG starts at the creation of information and patient matching starts at the time the patient information is being created. Part of resolvin....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: March 24, 2016

The HIM Problem


Nursing staff at NorthShore University Health System were worried about protecting patient privacy when family members called for status updates during surgical procedures and inpatient stays.

The HIM Problem Solver


Terri Bunsen, R....

Author: Combs, Tammy

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: March 23, 2016

When calculating the productivity guidelines for a clinical documentation improvement (CDI) program it is important to remember both quantitative and qualitative perspectives. Sometimes it is very easy to focus solely on the quantity of reviews that are performed. If the quality of those r....