Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2005

It is an honor and a privilege to have been given this opportunity to serve as your president this coming year and to lead AHIMA at such an important and exciting time. While many other professions are facing uncertain growth and limited rewards, we are fortunate that our profession continues....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2005

Leadership’s responsibility is to advance the organization it serves by delivering on its mission and promises. It should build a better future for its membership. Great leaders are intent on continuing the organization’s legacy of success and sustained performance. They are commit....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2005

An HIM colleague gave me the book Encouraging the Heart: A Leader’s Guide to Rewarding and Recognizing Others as a gift a few months back. Authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner are well published on leadership and have researched, studied, and catalogued numerous best practices in leader....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2005

Dear colleagues,
This is a bittersweet moment for me. My year as AHIMA president is coming to an end. Time certainly does fly when you’re having fun!

This year has been filled with progress, good work, and breakthroughs—on the job and throughout the industry. More....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2005

In my June column I outlined three programs AHIMA is implementing to achieve our 2005 e-HIMTM goals. In this month’s message, I will highlight four programs addressing our 2005 education and certification outreach and success by association initiatives.

Commission on Accreditat....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2005

Winter Team Talks were a resounding success. Nearly 400 members attended sessions in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Kansas City, and Washington, DC, as well as online in a virtual team talk March 30. In frank and fruitful discussions, Team Talk participants considered strategies for achieving our preferr....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2005

Earlier this year, AHIMA’s Board of Directors defined what success looks like for our profession, our preferred future, and the necessary actions we need to take. Here’s what we see in AHIMA’s future.

Framing the opportunities. The board foresees the e-HIMTM journey....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2005

From Team Talks to component state associations (CSAs), the input of AHIMA members has culminated in a set of interrelated strategic goals and priorities for 2005.

In late 2004 the Board of Directors approved these initiatives as well as a budget to support the implementation of pla....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2005

To understand the significant changes the HIM profession is experiencing today, it may help to look at a little history, namely the five ages of civilization and how we have transitioned from one to the next. In his book The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Stephen Covey lists the f....

Author: Abdelhak, Mervat N.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2005

It’s mid-year already and time for us to stop just a moment and review what we have accomplished. It is time for us to assess our progress toward the goals we set for 2005 and confirm that we are positioning our association to continue its legacy of success. It is also time to recognize....

Author: Abraham, Prinny

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2000

The growing pains of the past decade have led to medical record backlogs and record retrieval crises for many home healthcare agencies. These problems have pushed more than one agency director into enlisting the skills of an HIM professional to evaluate the medical record systems in pl....

Author: Abraham, Prinny

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2001

The implementation of the Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS) on October 1, 2001, has presented some unique compliance risks for HIM and billing managers. This article will briefly describe some of the compliance-related issues on the OIG's agenda that are of interest to HIM....

Author: Abraham, Prinny

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2002

HIPAA privacy regulations will dramatically change how home health and hospice agencies deal with patient health information. Here are some facets HIM professionals working in this area need to understand.


Home health and hospice providers—regardless of license, certifica....

Author: Abraham, Prinny

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: May 2002

Home health information managers need to keep a keen eye on the prospective payment system (PPS) for home health to avoid coding conflicts and even financial loss. Many agencies did not pay attention to the quality of ICD-9-CM coding data prior to October 2000 when Medicare implemented the....

Author: Abrams, Kelly; Carlon, Sheila; Haugen, Mary Beth; Mancilla, Desla; McElroy, Kyle; Millen, Michelle; Sandefer, Ryan; Sharp, Marcia; Sorensen, Linda

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2017

No matter what data one reviews, there is near-universal agreement that the health information management (HIM) profession is radically changing and will continue to do so for quite some time. This change is a result of innovation in technology that has revolutionized the methods of collec....

Author: Abrams, Kelly; Giannangelo, Kathy; Schneider, Sue; Scichilone, Rita A

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2014

Terminology asset management roles are emerging for HIM due to the EHR, but some key competencies are necessary to land the job.

Author: Abrams, Kelly; Giannangelo, Kathy; Schneider, Sue; Scichilone, Rita A

Source: Journal of AHIMA | AHIMA web extra

Publication Date: February 2014

Terminology asset management (TAM) in healthcare and research settings is an emerging role for HIM professionals, but requires certain skills and knowledge to move into these new TAM positions. This appendix is linked to the article “New Name of the HIM Game” published in the F....

Author: Acker, Beth A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2009

The term “medical device” covers a wide range of health or medical instruments used to treat, mitigate, diagnose, or prevent a disease or abnormal physical condition. Virtually every care setting captures data from medical devices, including vital signs, blood analysis, ventilator....

Author: Acker, Beth A.; Adair, Deborah A.; Sweeney, Betsy

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2008

HIM and IT can do more than share the road, they can collaborate to improve the journey.

Healthcare systems and data responsibilities increasingly are converging and overlapping in a variety of settings. As health information managers and health information technology professionals w....

Author: Adler, M. Peter

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2007

Remember the mad scramble to create a compliance plan before the HIPAA security rule deadline? It’s time to revisit that plan.



Publication of the HIPAA security rule created a flurry of discussions, debate, and activity as healthcare professionals grappled wi....

Author: Adler, M. Peter

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2008

Privacy and security are meant to work in tandem—so why have they grown up apart? An organization that coordinates its compliance efforts can maximize resources and increase effectiveness.



Several years have passed since the compliance deadlines for the HIPAA....

Author: Adler, M. Peter

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: April 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), previously known as the stimulus bill, offers new challenges to health information privacy professionals. Today guest author Peter Adler, attorney at law for Pepper Hamilton LLP, looks at new provisions requiring organizations to provide notice....

Author: Adragna, Lisa

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 1998

In implementing a cross-facility initiative, the importance of planning and understanding the implications for all facilities can't be overlooked. Here's how one integrated delivery network navigated the challenges of implementing a cross-facility enterprise master patient inde....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2011

This is a true story that occurred recently in Indiana. Failing to collect payment for treatment, a medical group sent a patient to collections. In providing the unpaid bills to the collections attorney, practice staff failed to redact sensitive information. When the attorney filed the bills wi....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2012

With the push to develop and deploy electronic health records (EHRs) and the need for more detailed documentation, there is a growing concern in the medical community regarding the time expended to capture information-electronic or otherwise. The time providers spend during a patient visit capt....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA report | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 2010

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2012

This example reviews procedures performed on a patient after he was admitted and diagnosed with coronary artery disease, and provides the ICD-10-PCS codes the hospital's coding staff would assign to the case.

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2008

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

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA report | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 2010

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2013

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

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2011

On October 1, 2011, ICD-9-CM will get its last close- up. That date marks the final regular update for the veteran code set.

In 2012 ICD-9-CM will receive only limited updates to capture new technologies and diseases. Starting October 1, 2013, it will be relegated to bit parts. The....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2013

On August 24, 2009, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published 45 CFR Parts 160 and 164 Breach Notification for Unsecured Protected Health Information; Interim Final Rule to implement the breach notification provisions of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Cl....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 2010

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2013

Do your printed health records have that tired, bored look that went out with the leisure suit? If so, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is offering a medical record makeover that can turn your files from drab to fab.


Hoping to make printed....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2011

A 45-year-old man rushes into a Maryland hospital's HIM department requesting the full medical records of both his 70-year-old mother and father. Both had been previously treated by the hospital for complications from Alzheimer's disease.

Some years previously the mother and father e....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2013

The iPad and its tablet brethren are so 2010, at least according to some tech-obsessed individuals who are now focusing a longing gaze on Google Glass. While the computerized eyewear that can connect to the Internet and remotely access data might leave fashionistas wanting, it has some health e....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2019

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2019

By Valerie Watzlaf, PhD, MPH, RHIA, FAHIMA


I am so inspired by our leaders all across the country. At last year’s CSA Leadership Symposium it was agreed that AHIMA was in a state of decline and that change was needed. It was an amazing moment—one I will never forget an....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2019

By Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE, chief executive officer


September is a time of new starts. At AHIMA, it’s our busiest time of year as we prepare for our annual conference and a host of other fall and winter activities. It’s also a time to look back on the year: two-....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2019

By Iliana L. Peters, JD, LLM, CISSP, and Pasha Sternberg, JD


ON MAY 30, 2019, Medical Informatics Engineering, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to in this article as “MIE”), agreed to pay $900,000 to 16 states that had jointly filed suit for violating t....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2019

By Ken Reiher, MBA









Ken Reiher, MBA




The Danger of Being Connected

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2019

By Ty Greenhalgh, HCISPP


In 2014, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act required and incented hospitals to demonstrate “meaningful use” of an electronic health record (EHR). Hospitals, desiring to maintain existing Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement levels and av....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2019

Editor’s Note: This Practice Brief supersedes the July 2013 Practice Brief titled “Recruitment, Selection, and Orientation for CDI Specialists.”


The goal of a strong clinical documentation improvement (CDI) program is to validate that the documentation supports t....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2018

From its founding era to present day, AHIMA’s signature event has been its annual convention and exhibit. The event has consistently drawn the most talented health information management (HIM) professionals for educational sessions and keynote speakers, sporting ba....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2018

They say that everyone has a price, and according to a new survey of healthcare workers—for whom a commitment to patient privacy is sacrosanct—that price is lower than you think.


One in five healthcare workers said they would be w....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2018

When a new technology emerges, there’s always a split between the early adopters and their more cautious counterparts. So when it comes to using a digital voice assistant like Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, or Apple’s Siri in a hospital’s intensive care unit (ICU), do....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2018

Doctors and nurses get to witness firsthand how their interventions can save or lose a life. People who work for payers, like medical directors, may get a charge out of covering treatments for chronic conditions or lifesaving treatments. But for....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2018

Whatever the size and structure of the practice, and regardless of who is responsible for the query, general practices for escalation and retention should apply.

Timeframes


A pre-visit review of documentation may be usefu....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2018

Example #1: Diagnosis is documented but is not clinically validated




Dear Doctor,


COPD exacerbation is documented within the clinic note dated 3/5/xx.


There is no documentation in the current h....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2018

Physician practices vary greatly in terms of number of physicians, size of staff, type of setting, management structure, and even whether they have CDI and/or credentialed coding professionals. As the healthcare industry moves toward population....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2018

1930






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Redisclosure of Protected Health Information (PHI) (2018 Update)

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2018

Editor’s Note: This update supersedes the 2013 Practice Brief “Redisclosure of Patient Health Information.”


Redisclosure is the act of sharing or releasing health information that was received from another source, such as an extern....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2018

It’s not at all uncommon for organizations to change their names several times before landing on one that captures their presence in the past, the present, and the future—especially if they are technology-focused. Take NCR Corp., which today sells every....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2019

By Moira Hunger, RHIT


Though hard to believe, a new fiscal year (FY) is already well underway. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) on August 17, 2018. All changes were e....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2019

Most hospitals weathered the dreaded Y2K glitch with nary a problem, but nearly 20 years later, for even the largest electronic health record (EHR) vendors, turning the clock back for daylight saving time is a bridge too far.


“It’s an hour where you’re sort of flying blind,” said....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2012

HIM directors and managers may be greatly underestimating the amount of money it will take to train their coding staff on ICD-10-CM/PCS, according to survey results from AHIMA.

The survey, conducted with more than 600 HIM professionals this past fall, showed that department heads who....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2011

AHIMA held its 83rd Annual Convention and Exhibit October 1–6 in Salt Lake City, UT. Practitioners, educators, students, and exhibitors came together to share ideas, challenges, and solutions and hear about some of healthcare's hottest topics from industry experts.


A full ex....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2008

The content in this practice brief has been retired. It is made available for historical purposes only. More recent information is available here.

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2012

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

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2012

If patients have never requested their medical records from their doctor or hospital before, the process can seem complicated. However, a few basic steps can help streamline the process:

Read online or call the facility's HIM department for information specific to your request. This....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2013

The majority of US hospitals are still assembling their ICD-10-CM/PCS preparation efforts, with larger facilities faring better than smaller providers, according to a recent survey conducted by vendor TrustHCS and AHIMA (see "ICD-10-CM/PCS Status Check", Journal of AHIMA 84 (6):38-40).

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2009

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

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2010

The final rule on the EHR incentive plan offers more "flexibility and choice" than the daunting proposed rule, adjusting the objectives and scaling back some of the measures. Now interested providers just need to figure out how to get with the program.

After perhaps the longest six m....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2012

If you bill fee-for-service programs, your claims will be subject to review by the Recovery Audit Contractor Program (RAC). That was the promise made by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services when it expanded its once-experimental program to all 50 states in 2010. The RAC's mission....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2011

Effective July 1 the federal government will prohibit Medicaid payments to states for services treating healthcare-acquired conditions. Compliance begins July 1, 2012.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published the new policy in a final rule June 6. The changes and the e....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2012

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

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2011

The most common type of media used in healthcare practices in the past several decades has been text. Text is comprised of printed words, letters, and numbers translated into information used for diagnosis and treatment.

Today's healthcare practices have adopted more sophisticated me....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2010

Editor's note: This update replaces the June 2004 practice brief "Homeland Security Act and HIM."
After the terrorist attacks in New York City, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001, the United States Congress enacted the Patriot Act in 2001 and the Homeland Security Act....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2011

The laws surrounding release of a deceased patient's records can lead to complex and frustrating situations in the HIM department. Just who has access rights depends on federal law, state law, and individual circumstances, illustrated by the two scenarios below.

Last summer the Office....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2003

Background: It is customary for family members, legal guardians, and friends of patients at [name of hospital] to telephone the hospital, inquire in person about the condition of a patient, or to request other health information. Privacy regulations require that a patient’s identity or oth....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2011

The vinyl record is gone from music, and the paper record is exiting healthcare. But the music keeps coming-in fact, more of it, in smaller and smaller pieces. What does the future hold for that touchstone of health information management-the record?

Not that long ago, the music indu....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2010

In a ceremony at AHIMA’s 2009 Convention and Exhibit, AHIMA president Vera Rulon and AHIMA Foundation board president Keith Olenik announced the creation of a scholarship honoring Linda Kloss’s 15 years of service as AHIMA CEO.

“To recognize your many accomplishments and reaffirm your....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2011

Presenters from AHIMA's 2011 Leadership Academy share their perspectives on what it takes to lead in the current changing healthcare environment.



In the midst of the myriad changes occurring in healthcare today, it is easy to get lost and become a follower. However, ARRA....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2013

A study comparing how physicians, Congressional members, and the media type and tweet about healthcare has shown significant differences-and the need for greater alignment-among "key influencers" on health issues facing the US population.

The online data analysis, conducted by WCG's M....

Author: AHIMA

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2012

The health information management (HIM) field is growing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified medical records and health information technicians as one of the 20 fastest growing occupations in the country, with between 12,000 to 15,000 new HIM jobs expected in the market in the next f....