Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: January 2016

The HIM Problem


As providers and business associates bring themselves into compliance with the HITECH-HIPAA Final Rule, encrypting data in transmission and at rest can pose a challenge. Two ROI experts discuss encryption and the use of standards in privacy and security.....

Author: DeMasters, Dana; Deanna, Peterson

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2016

A police officer with a body-worn camera records video of an altercation in an emergency department involving a patient who has become violent. During the recording another patient not involved in the altercation has their image captured. The officer leaves the facility wit....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2016

Over the past several years it’s been hard to avoid public conversations about the “childhood obesity epidemic.” One of the biggest targets for regulators like the USDA and for politicians such as former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been Americans’ addi....

Author: Hedges, Ron

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: March 15, 2016

My blog posts have, for the most part, focused on electronically stored information (ESI) in the context of civil litigation. In this blog I want to shift my focus slightly to raise some questions about the electronic health record and what must be produced in response to a....

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: Saharia, Devendra

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

Disruptive technology can turn any industry on its head—virtually overnight. Just five years ago, summoning a taxi was an inefficient, time-consuming effort that often involved dialing up a dispatcher, who contacted a driver, who would then make their way to your location, perhaps in an h....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

It is a dark and stormy night at a mid-sized regional trauma center when an EMS team brings in a 30-year-old man who is suffering from a prescription narcotics overdose. The patient is conscious but disoriented when he arrives on a gurney. When he wakes up, his loved ones, dutifully at his....

Author: Martin, Melissa

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

Privacy and security has been one of the most interesting aspects of my job. I often tell folks the role of privacy comes very easily to HIM professionals because we were the “Confidentiality Police” long before the title “Privacy Officer” was widely accepted. Prior to HIPAA, HIM professi....

Author: Lee, Christine

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

According to the American Medical Association (AMA), physician practices continued a slow but steady transition toward hospital ownership in 2015. In their July 2015 study, the AMA reported a decrease in physician-owned practices alongside a continual increase in physicians working direct....

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....