Author: Hicks, Jewelle E

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

The 1980s was a decade of solid growth for AMRA. Externally, topics such as DRGs and PPS took center stage, while internally, the Association focused on strategic planning and streamlining its governance processes. The first specialty groups were formed.

Author: Siegel, Barbara

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Communities of practice are not a 21st century idea. From ancient cave dwellers of the American southwest to the guilds of the Middle Ages to today’s Silicon Valley denizens, members of communities have found value in community participation.1 In today’s fast-paced, high-tech world,....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

For a moment, forget that you are a health information manager. Instead, think of yourself as a person seeking healthcare. Are you frustrated when you have to repeat medical history information when you visit a specialist in your clinic? Do you search for lab results jotted on the back of an e....

Author: Erhardt, Walter L.; Medal, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: September 2003

Recent advances in the science of wound healing are making an impact on the treatment of burns. This is particularly evident not only in the way burn wounds are being managed initially, but also in how these wounds are being reconstructed. While these scientific advances make this field an exc....

Author: Servais, Cheryl

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

In January 2003, the Joint Commission made 11 recommendations for patient safety. HIM professionals play critical and supporting roles in implementing these recommendations. This article will discuss some of the recommendations, with examples of their use in various aspects of an HIM departmen....

Author: Amatayakul, Margret

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Direct caregivers have long been concerned about balancing patient protections with “customer” relations: Who do you talk to and how much do you tell? This was an issue long before HIPAA, and has only become more complex with HIPAA. And while HIPAA provides guidance, there are still....

Author: Yokubaitis, Pamela R.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Sanctions under the HIPAA regulations mean serious financial consequences for healthcare professionals who release protected health information to others without following proper disclosure protocols. But HIM professionals should not be motivated by fear of financial consequences alone. Ou....

Author: Hjort, Beth M.

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

This practice brief has been retired. It is made available for historical purposes only.

Author:

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Author: Friedman, Beth

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

The power of the Internet combined with our evolution toward e-HIM is driving HIM toward the next plateau—providers connecting with consumers on the Internet through consumer-based health information. This article will discuss the consumer-based health record and its place in the future o....

Author: Foster, Erica; Martin, Holly; Partin, Mary; Lockshaw, Jim; Fogelman, Adam; Folz-Murphy, Nancy; Harris, C Martin

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Patients want online access to their health information but clinicians and HIM professionals don’t need any more work. The solution? An online medical record driven by the EHR. Here’s one organization’s success story.

If your own increasing Internet usage isn’t p....

Author: Quinsey, Carol Ann

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Q: Under HIPAA, how should covered entities respond to requests from public health officials who state that they need protected health information (PHI) to carry out their duties?

Q: Does HIPAA prohibit physicians from using cell phones to dictate reports?

Carol Quinsey....

Author: Miller, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

You know your department needs new information technology, but what kind? And how can you convince senior management to commit budget dollars to its acquisition? Here, our expert outlines the steps to take before the request for proposal.

They say it’s all about the money. But....

Author: Hagland, Mark

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

What’s the best way to select a technology vendor? For HIM professionals, IS education and collaboration yield the best results.
The vendor evaluation and selection process starts with education, according to Tracy Hickey, MBA, RHIA, and relies on the input of a multidisciplinary te....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Through your ingenuity and your innovation, the people in this room can transform healthcare in America.” With these words, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson opened the first conference on a national health information infrastructure (NHII) in late Jun....

Author: Baker, Dixie B.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

If you've ever played phone tag with your doctor, you can appreciate the benefits of e-mail. But for all its advantages, provider-patient e-mail is not without challenges. Here's how to protect your organization.
The majority of Americans now consider e-mail and instant messaging preferred....

Author: Jeffries, Jane

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Implementing an electronic health (EHR) record doesn’t happen overnight, Pamela Haines, RHIA, will tell you. In fact, it may take a few years. But Haines has made big progress in the five years since she started as the only HIM professional at Operation PAR, a multi-site behavioral healthc....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2003

Joining the American Hospital Association, the Medical Group Management Association, and others, AHIMA announced its endorsement of the Patient Friendly Billing Project. Led by the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), the project was established in 2000 to help create a more pat....

Author: Siegel, Barbara

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

One of my favorite stories is “The Sense of a Goose,” a popular tale by an unknown author that is widely used in public presentations and circulated over the Internet. The story’s basic truths speak of sharing common direction, staying the course, taking turns, and supporting an....

Author: Mahoney, Mary Ellen

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

How can a software development company make sure its HIM products meet the needs of its users? By using HIM professionals to design, test, market, implement, and support those products. At Cerner Corporation, experienced HIM professionals play a role in every step of the software development p....

Author: Amatayakul, Margret

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.

Author: Wiley, Sean

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: October 2003

One of the leading causes of stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) is carotid artery disease (CAD). With technology changing at such a rapid rate, it is difficult for physicians to decide on the gold standard of care when it comes to visualizing carotid stenosis. This article will explain....

Author: Burton, Lloyd R.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

Many HIM professionals are finding project management in their job descriptions. This excerpt from AHIMA’s textbook, Quality and Performance Improvement in Healthcare: A Tool for Programmed Learning, provides a closer look at the phases of a project.
When a performance improvement (P....

Author: Amatayakul, Margret

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

Shadow charts, independent databases, or “orphan systems,” as they are sometimes called, are among the most controversial and difficult to manage forms of protected health information (PHI) that exist. Yet some providers are having success using HIPAA’s privacy and security stan....

Author: Miller, Judith A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

The accreditation survey changes launched with the Joint Commission’s 2002 “Shared Visions - New Pathways” program will soon be a reality. Every client hospital should be preparing for this new approach to demonstrating quality patient care.


Advocate Health Care....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

AHIMA devotes a considerable amount of time and resources to its advocacy program. But how does advocacy help the “average” AHIMA member on a day-to-day basis? This article will discuss ways AHIMA members benefit daily from the work of AHIMA volunteers and staff who promote the views....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

Health information management is an extraordinarily versatile discipline. Our work force research confirms that the field currently spans nearly 40 different work settings and more than 100 unique job titles.1 In addition, AHIMA’s e-HIM task force identified new roles relating to manageme....

Author: Amatayakul, Margret; Brandt, Mary D.; Dougherty, Michelle

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

A nurse sits down at the computer to document in the patient’s electronic health record (EHR). To complete her SOAP note, she copies the text of another nurse’s entry to capture the patient’s subjective complaints and symptoms. She then goes to the lab system and intake-output r....

Author: Beebe, Michael

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: October 2003

In 1998, the American Medical Association (AMA) initiated the CPT-5 Project. This project was a broad-based and comprehensive effort to make needed and practical enhancements to the CPT code set that would address challenges presented by emerging user needs and HIPAA. One of the initiatives tha....

Author: Burrington-Brown, Jill

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

In an October 2002 Journal article, eight out of 10 HIM managers interviewed mentioned trying to keep up with the workload with fewer resources as a top concern.1 In this time of rapid changes in healthcare, how do we decide what to prioritize when everything we do seems to be high priority? T....

Author: Smith, Pam

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

Just when I thought I’d seen and done it all in the HIM world, a new opportunity for coders appeared in long-term acute care hospitals (LTCHs). HIM professionals have been employed in LTCHs since the inception of long-term acute care, but the change from cost-based reimbursement to inclus....

Author: Treloar, R. William

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

Not only has my role in HIM changed dramatically in the last several years, my title has too: from director of case mix management to director of clinical resource management. And in my department, our role has moved from educating clinicians and staff about Medicare and DRGs to the facilitati....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

If you don’t like it, you can always go back,” says Michelle Morgan, RHIA, about trying new roles in HIM. She would know—she’s jumped from a traditional HIM setting into the IS realm to the vendor world and back again.


Morgan is currently the director of cl....

Author:

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

Today, more than 60 percent of AHIMA members work in the hospital setting, but there's a growing contingent of "nontraditional" members who work in these facilities. And as healthcare diversifies, so will HIM. Here, HIM professionals from a long-term care hospital, a clinical resource managemen....

Author: Burrington-Brown, Jill

Source: AHIMA Q and A | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

Q: Does the privacy rule allow us to release patient information over the telephone without authorization? How do I decide when I should ask for verification of a treatment relationship with the patient?

A: In the past, HIM professionals have carefully guarded the releasing of patient i....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2003

For the American Medical Record Association (AMRA), the 1990s started at a fast pace and never slowed down. The decade saw a change in the Association's name, a change in credentials, a focus on technology, and the advent of HIPAA.

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Consistency of coding is an issue that will only advance through a team effort. This article will discuss consistency of coding, its importance as an advocacy effort for the Association, and how you can make a difference.

Coding: Two Main Issues

There are essentially two t....

Author: Mon, Donald T.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Relational databases offer great flexibility in working with data. Here’s an overview of how they work.

Author: Zender, Anne

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Author: Burrington-Brown, Jill

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.

Author: Hicks, Jewelle E

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Quality is defined as a degree of excellence. When the term quality management is applied to HIM, the definition expands to include the consistent and methodical improvement of data quality. As the director of quality management at Wilson Memorial Hospital in Sidney, OH, Elizabeth Custis, RHIT....

Author: Dougherty, Michelle

Source: AHIMA Q and A | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Q: I heard about meetings held around the country to discuss a functional model for the EHR. What are these about and who sponsored them?
Q: How does AHIMA plan to be involved in the development of a functional model for the EHR?


Michelle Dougherty (michelle.dougherty@ah....

Author: Huff, Garry L.

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: November 2003

Diabetes mellitus represents a group of disorders that are characterized by hyperglycemia. The clinical and ICD-9-CM classification of diabetes mellitus have evolved as understanding of insulin physiology has expanded. This article will explain diabetes mellitus and its ICD-9-CM classification....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

This has been another remarkable year for advancing HIM issues and the HIM profession. Programs to improve patient safety through information solutions have gone from the drawing board to demonstration projects. On April 14, the HIPAA privacy rule went into effect across the US. In July, the se....

Author: Moyer, Rich

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Is your organization using its data warehouse to its fullest potential? The author provides some pitfalls to avoid and some tips that may help improve care and use resources more efficiently.
Most healthcare organizations have invested in building a data warehouse. But once the warehouse....

Author: Amatayakul, Margret

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Many healthcare organizations met the compliance date of April 14, 2003, for HIPAA privacy by addressing the most visible features—implementing a notice of privacy practices, assigning an information privacy official (IPO), and conducting training sessions.


But a review of....

Author: Zeisset, Ann M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: November 2003

New ICD-9-CM codes and DRG changes for fiscal year 2004 were released in the August 1, 2003, Federal Register. These changes went into effect October 1, 2003, with discharges occurring on or after that date. There were 104 new diagnosis codes and 10 new procedure codes. Due to code expansions,....

Author: Campbell, Thea

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

The pressure on all healthcare organizations for improved financial performance continued to grow in 2003. Many healthcare organizations experienced a financial loss in the first quarter of 2003, and disproportionate reimbursement-to-expenditure ratios in healthcare are straining all organizat....

Author: Watt, Ann; Williams, Scott; Lee, Kwan; Robertson, James; Koss, Richard D; Loeb, Jerod M

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

The Joint Commission has been collecting core measures data for more than a year. But how reliable are the data being collected? Strategies from successful organizations show how improving your documentation processes can improve the reporting of core measures.
In July 2002, the Joint Co....

Author: Dougherty, Michelle

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

On July 1, 2003, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson announced a new agreement between the National Library of Medicine (NLM) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP) to license SNOMED-CT. This five-year agreement is seen as a significant advancement f....

Author: Slomski, Anita J.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Nursing homes have long been aware of how they stack up to other facilities in terms of clinical quality. Now, with Nursing Home Compare, the public is aware, too. Here’s how HIM professionals play a part in getting these data right.
Two years ago, if I had told our CQI team I wante....

Author: Barron, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

Can you imagine having to go to the fax machine every time you needed to send someone a message or document? Can you imagine if you had to write a letter and go through the process of “snail mailing” every time you wanted to reach out to someone professionally? True, the US Postal Se....

Author: Siegel, Barbara

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

This year the Association took a look back through its archives, reflecting on the people, ideas, and issues that brought us to our 75th year. Grace Whiting Myers, the Association’s first president, wrote of the need to serve with tact and the ability to follow the rules. Edna K. Huf....

Author:

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2003

ICD-9-CM codes with their DRG assignments

Author: AHIMA e-HIM Task Force

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

AHIMA member work groups took a vision of the e-HIM future and wrote the user’s guide, chapters 1–6. Here are the highlights.
In 2003 AHIMA appointed a task force of experts to develop a vision of the e-HIM future. To advance the recommendations of the task force, AHIMA create....

Author: Fodor, Joseph

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

As electronic health records (EHRs) become more commonplace in healthcare, changes, adjustments, and improvements will be inevitable. When designing, implementing, upgrading, or remediating an EHR system, your organization’s implementation team should consider the impact of complying wit....

Author: Miller, P. J.; Waterstraat, F. L.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Autobenchmarking allows HIM managers to develop individualized internal productivity standards. Here’s how it works.
HIM managers and supervisors are continually faced with pressure to improve work quality and productivity. Developing ways to measure quality and productivity, howeve....

Author: Duggan, Christina Mayer

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

"We once did many things after patients were discharged, but now there's a push to do the work closest to the exam. Work was batched--now things are shifting to point-of-care and continuous flow. Coding will have to shift, too." —Julie King

The way Julie King,....

Author: Wieczorek, Michelle M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Saint Vincent Health System’s HIM department checked its document imaging system into the emergency room. Together, the two departments saved nothing but time. The program’s success led to an enterprise-wide electronic document management system.
In 1988 Saint Vincent Health....

Author: Brodnik, Melanie S.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Our 75th diamond anniversary, year-long celebration was quite a success. We celebrated our rich history and the important contributions AHIMA has made to the field of HIM. We also confirmed that the work we do has never been more important. We are thriving as an association, with some 46,000-p....

Author: Rhodes, Harry B.; Mon, Donald T.; Dougherty, Michelle

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

2003 was a busy year for the electronic health record. And if the federal government and the HIM industry have their way, 2004 will only get busier.
In 2003 a number of electronic health record (EHR) issues active in the previous decade all intersected at the same time. Behind the synchro....

Author: Brouch, Kathy L.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

How will SNOMED CT change the way health information is managed? An educational session captured the basic concepts that HIM professionals need to know.

It’s important to understand the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine Clinical Terms (SNOMED CT) because it is increasingly being....

Author: Dougherty, Michelle

Source: AHIMA Q and A | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Q: What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and how does it apply to healthcare?
Q: I am a compliance officer in a for profit healthcare organization. How will this law affect my job?

Michelle Dougherty (michelle.dougherty@ahima.org) is an HIM practice manager at AHIMA. Article citatio....

Author: Ortquist, Steve; Vacca, Sheryl

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Every organization that hopes to receive government credit for reducing criminal sentences and civil fines and penalties must be able to prove the effectiveness of its compliance program. Effectiveness is also necessary to keep compliance programs cost efficient and meaningful within their org....

Author: Duggan, Christina Mayer

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Mind-boggling. It’s a word that comes from Debbie Fernandez's mouth time and again when she discusses the sheer volume of hospital correspondence, the transition from paper to electronic environments, and the dedication of her staff.

For nearly 20 years Fernandez, RHIA, has....

Author: Hjort, Beth M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Convention speaker Leslie Ann Fox, MA, RHIA, encouraged her listeners to look inward and explore a new leadership style. In her session “Systems-based Leadership for Transition to the Electronic Health Record (EHR),” Fox, president and CEO of Care Communications, described the systems-based le....

Author: Amatayakul, Margret

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Many of us struggled to understand the HIPAA privacy rule and initially had few resources to turn to for help. As your organization begins planning for security rule compliance, however, many of you may be finding that you’re overwhelmed with the volume of potential resources available.....

Author: Hanson, Susan P.; Schutzengel, Ray E.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

HIM professionals are center stage as pioneering physician practices realize the benefits of the EHR. At Main Street Pediatrics in Bridgeport, CT, the EHR has become a “stethoscope”—a necessary tool in the practice of medicine.
The electronic health record (EHR) is a dr....

Author: Sweet, David A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

For the first time, members at this year’s National Convention had the opportunity to visit local hospitals to preview emerging technologies in action. Members toured the Woodwinds Health Campus in Woodbury, MN (a part of the HealthEast Care System), to preview its document imaging implementat....

Author: AHIMA MPI Task Force

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.

Author: Quinsey, Carol Ann

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Healthcare consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for information about services critical to their health. An estimated 80 percent of adult American Internet users (approximately 93 million people) have searched the Internet for information on at least one of 16 major health topics....

Author: Duggan, Christina Mayer

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

Change is constant in Kathleen Cleary's career and something she welcomes and embraces. Throughout her 15-year medical-records career, she’s moved from Wisconsin to California to Texas. Cleary, RHIA, has also helped implement electronic records management systems for two large ambula....

Author:

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

More than 3,000 HIM professionals gathered in Minneapolis in October to celebrate AHIMA’s 75th anniversary, enhance their knowledge and professional skills, and catch a glimpse of what the future holds for the Association and HIM. Dynamic speakers, informative educational sessions, and plenty....

Author: Huff-Allen, Angela; Wills-Dubose, Sarah

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: January 2004

Millions of people are afflicted with chronic sinusitis annually. Most patients can be effectively treated with antibiotics, but for those who cannot, surgery is often recommended.
Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is one of the fastest growing procedures performed in the field of otolaryng....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2004

The US is embarked on a public works agenda as major as highways, water works, and electrical grids. This same agenda is being pursued around the world in many developed and developing countries. It is a worldwide project to design and implement electronic health information systems. As HIM pr....