Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2011

To build up competencies in the new code set, AHIMA-credentialed professionals must add ICD-10-CM/PCS continuing education to their credential maintenance through 2013.

The impending coding classification system change from ICD-9 to ICD-10 is the talk of health information....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2009

Forty-four states require organizations to alert customers and employees when data breaches occur. But ambiguity in the laws requires organizations to be capable of making good decisions on their own.

The laptop was missing.

Previously stationed in the EEG department of Nor....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2007

Tracking what should or shouldn’t be included in a healthcare organization’s legal health record can be a dizzying process without ample organization. The increasing mix of digital information with traditional paper records makes good organization all the more essential.

HIM pr....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2008

Change is the constant in coding. And while it is a coding supervisor’s job to stay current and implement these changes, sometimes just getting the day-to-day coding work accomplished is a challenge.

Staying ahead of the changes can be difficult, but it is important that manage....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2011

Lawsuits can hinge on a deposition. And while HIM professionals have long been called on to attest to the production of the paper medical record, electronic health record systems are introducing a whole new set of questions and considerations.

Providing an accurate deposition on an....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2009

Washington State’s experiment in consumer-controlled health records has moved into a pilot phase, transforming the health record banking model from theory to testing. In March the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) announced the launch of three pilot sites that will try out the....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2007

The use of health data for secondary purposes has been increasing, and federal agencies and industry organizations are exploring the need for more guidance.
Data in a health record don’t rest when care is complete and a bill is drawn up. Once treatment and reimbursement ar....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: August 2010

Chris Dimick


Aug 01, 2010 07:15 am


The regional extension center program might have some people experiencing déjà vu.

Granted, the REC program is an unprecedented attempt by the federal government to transition American healthcare to electronic health record sy....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2011

A coding department reorganizes its career paths from the bottom up, creating a culture of professional development.

Six years ago, a limited promotional structure, high turnover, and low recruitment had knocked a dent in the morale of Denver Health's coding department.

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2012

The HIPAA transaction standards-meant to streamline financial and administrative transactions-have instead devolved into a kind of free-for-all. Now the first operating rules are in hand to standardize use of the standards and gain the efficiencies originally intended.

When it....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2009

For senior HIM students, a professional practice internship offers real-life experience and a firsthand look at future careers. But PPEs require sites that volunteer as hosts and HIM professionals to serve as mentors.

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2012

Electronic health records could soon become more patient-centered, more secure, and more frequently used for treatment improvement-if provisions outlined in the EHR certification proposed rule are widely implemented.

Under the 2009 ARRA economic stimulus package, healthcare providers....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2008

There is a gold rush in personal health records. Or at least on paper.

Over the last two years, a wave of companies not typically associated with health information exchange have rounded up their technological wagons and headed out into the PHR frontier looking for profit and a chanc....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2008

The medical home model puts the patient at the center of healthcare. It may also save primary care in the process.

Medicine is fighting to save the primary care physician.

With healthcare increasingly oriented around specialty physicians and large practices, market realitie....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2008

Last year federally funded research documented the privacy and security barriers to health information exchange. Now HISPC moves into its next phase, seeking common practices that enable confidential, secure, and timely cooperation.

Individualism is a cherished American institution.....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2007

Industry trends are putting HIM professionals in charge of staffs with diverse expertise. Managing staff in non-HIM roles takes some special skills, but the advantages abound.
Information is a thread that weaves together healthcare staff with a wide range of expertis....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2008

The topic of sensitive health data and how to keep it private in the electronic age is one of the most complex issues facing the development of a nationwide, interoperable health information exchange network.

Physicians need accurate medical records to provide adequate care. Yet pati....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2012

Patient-Centric Stage 2 Meaningful Use Measures Considered Treatment for Ailing US Health System



The US healthcare system is ill. Higher costs, sicker patients, and struggling providers are the symptoms of the disease that has sent industry stakeholders scrambling t....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2007

Varying privacy practices that pose barriers to health information exchange are putting HIM concerns in the national spotlight.
The 35-year-old Minnesota woman’s winter vacation in the neighboring state of Wisconsin was going great, until her ski snapped and the accident happened. B....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2010

Talk is cheap. But learning how to communicate is essential for those working to be leaders within their teams, departments, and organizations.

The HIM profession has never offered more opportunity for leadership than it does right now. EHR implementations have HIM profession....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2008

Just how complicated is defining the legal electronic record for disclosure? There’s nothing new to the need for a legally sound record of care. HIM professionals have helped meet that requirement with paper-based records for years. But just how new and complex is it to define the content....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: June 01, 2010

Health information exchange (HIE) networks have always understood the importance of gaining patient and provider trust. However, beyond describing the privacy and security policies and procedures they establish to protect the information they exchange, they have largely had to ask pat....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2007

For physicians trained to see the medical record as an archive, maximizing EHR potential comes in using it as a tool to improve care.
When it comes to implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems, physicians in small practices have an abundance of deterrents. Cost is one; disrupti....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2007

Any change brings with it uncertainty, doubt, and fear of the unknown.

These are strong emotions, and it takes strong-willed and confident leaders to combat them. An organization is only as good as its leaders-a statement especially true in the fast-changing world of h....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 2010

Sep 24, 2010

The EHR is a valuable clinical tool for streamlining and improving patient care. But it is complicating and confusing the courts.

As the first cases involving electronic health records make their way into legal proceedings, everyone involved is discovering th....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: May 2011

May 10, 2011


Payers and providers must work their way through the transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS only once, and by the end, few will likely choose to do it again. System vendors and consultants, however, will have been through many, many implementations before it’s all over.

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2008

Students often learn about health IT by reading books and looking over someone’s shoulder. Now schools can offer hands-on access to IT programs provided over the Internet.

The scavenger hunt had begun.

Scanning the list of items on her worksheet, Lois Hitchcock carefu....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2010

Even small departments may never experience complete harmony in their assignment of codes, but they have good motivation for achieving as much consistency as they can. Training, communication, monitoring, and coding reviews help reach that goal, HIM experts say.

Coding manager Julie....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2010

Provisions within the HITECH Act require that covered entities notify individuals if their protected health information is breached. However, the current regulation allows an exemption if the risk of harm is slight. Assessing risk can be subjective, and privacy officers have been working to cr....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: March 2011

Note: this article has been updated to reflect changes implemented through the HITECH Act.

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: April 2011

Apr 18, 2011

ICD-10-CM/PCS offers organizations better data about their patient populations and the services they provide them. The code set’s greater specificity allows coding professionals to more accurately reflect the details of physician documentation.

However, an....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2013

Though sometimes used interchangeably, data governance and information governance are two distinct terms with very different meanings. And information technology (IT) governance is something completely different as well. With AHIMA pushing its members and the healthcare industry to embrace information governance as a major tent pole of HIM work, it is important for HIM professionals to understand the difference and interrelation of these governance terms and just what an individual can do to help foster governance initiatives that aim to improve health records and patient care....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2008

No matter their specialty, physicians share a common purpose in their work. They aim to improve patients’ quality of life. To do this, physicians are forever learning from their peers and their own experiences with patients. Improving the quality of the care they provide is always a goal....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2008

Those excited about the electronic health record, welcome to the meeting! Those nervous or stressed, pull up a chair!

That could be a greeting for the Connecticut Health Information Management Association’s (CTHIMA) EHR Roundtables, which occur each quarter around Connecticut.....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2010

The healthcare forecast for 2010 includes a strong chance of audit. HIM professionals in many organizations will be busy responding to a shower of external record requests and internal compliance checks.

Stormy systems of audit programs, compliance initiatives, and fraud preventi....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2012

Increased quality measurement, better patient access to health information, and greater volume of information exchange is in store for providers and hospitals participating in the federal stage 2 meaningful use incentive program.

On March 7 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Servi....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2011

The legal issues healthcare organizations must consider when joining a health information exchange (HIE) go far beyond the standard HIPAA-related concerns.

HIEs are rapidly gaining prominence in healthcare, bolstered by federal initiatives like the meaningful use program, which requ....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2008

Maintaining dual paper and electronic systems is often a necessity in the transition to digital record systems. The challenge in reporting data is keeping track of what data reside where.
The transition from paper to electronic records is occurring in many HIM departments across the coun....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2008

Transitioning to ICD-10-CM may seem like a distant problem. But SSM Integrated Health Technologies began its preparations about three years ago. Its reason is simple: “Something of this magnitude, you don’t want to be scurrying,” says Anne Stuckel, SSM’s manager of clini....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2012

Step up, or step out of the way-that could be a motivating motto for HIM professionals when it comes to developing, critiquing, and using quality measures.

While HIM professionals have traditionally worked with nurses and other clinicians on quality measures, the move to the d....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2007

A model that segments health IT adoption into stages shows a slow climb for US hospitals.
The Big Bang is more than just a theory on how the universe was created. The term also describes the all-at-once implementation of a complete electronic record system within a healthcare facility.

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2014

Majority of Healthcare Organizations Lack Vital Information Governance Strategy


AHIMA has fired the starting pistol heralding in the urgent race to implement information governance (IG) practices within the healthcare industry. While some organizations were quick off the bloc....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: January 2010

Jan 06, 2010 05:23 pm

The social media site Facebook had become more than just a way for staff at Innovis Health to catch up with friends.

In November 2008, nurses at the Fargo, ND–based healthcare system began using Facebook to provide unauthorized shift change update....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2011

Important differences exist in advance directives. Only some grant access to another person's medical records, and that can change with time.

After 50 years of marriage, Rosa Taylor-Payne noticed even the slightest change in her husband, Marvell Payne. So she started to worry when he....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: August 2009

August 4, 2009 @ 8:02 pm


A son calls the HIM department and requests his deceased father’s medical records. Shortly afterward, the man’s wife requests the records, also. Then a man calls identifying himself as the executor of the estate. Who is authorized to access th....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2008

Electronic documentation habits such as copy and paste save valuable time, but they can ruin the record.

As the patient’s health worsened, a hospital stay of days turned to weeks. But through the various tests and physician visits, the progress notes generated in the hospita....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2010

There is increasing recognition that health IT should work for patients, too, providing them with information they need in ways that are convenient to them. But although the journey is beginning, no one has a map.

The health IT landscape is still uncharted territory for most US provi....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2011

Seven stories unfolding in 2011 illustrate the sweeping changes under way in what will be an active and sometimes tumultuous year in health information management.
Each year brings change to HIM, whether it is coding modifications, compliance changes, or new technology. But 2011 promises....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2012

A forest of issues crowds the 2012 HIM landscape. AHIMA practice experts offer a guide for the year ahead.

The seedlings of change planted in 2009 by the announcement of the ICD-10 transition and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have sprouted into a towering forest of....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2007

With the hospital’s emergency department converting to a completely electronic record, the coding department at Cleveland Clinic had a choice. Staff could sit tight, wait for the implementation to roll out, and then be rocked in its wake.

Or they could set out to meet the s....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2008

Banking health data like a financial transaction is the simplest solution to healthcare’s networking challenges says William Yasnoff, founder of the Health Record Banking Alliance.

There are a lot of plans for regional and, eventually, nationwide health information exchange, b....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2010

The calendar is marching steadily toward October 2013, when all healthcare organizations must begin submitting claims using the ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS code sets. Much needs to be done in making the transition, and healthcare organizations should have taken major steps in their preparation al....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 2009

posted by Chris Dimick


Sep 01, 2009 08:05 am

Strike when the ink is wet. 

That is the motto of the clinical documentation improvement specialists (CDSs) at Shands Hospital, based in Jacksonville, FL. They routinely “shadow” physicians as part of their clinical....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2009

Well-trained students make well-trained new hires, which is why professional practice experiences are an important part of HIM education. However, PPE coordinators say it is getting harder to place students in today’s hectic workplace. Yet the benefits, they say, are there for e....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2007

Changes to federal discovery rules will have lawyers searching for newly discoverable electronic data and HIM professionals digging deeper into their computer systems.
Options had dried up for the 58-year-old man. Previous surgery and radiation therapy had failed to eradicate....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2008

While most PHR services strive to keep user information private, one Web site encourages users to make personal information like HIV status and medication lists open on the Internet. In fact, PatientsLikeMe.com thrives on the openness of patients sharing their health information.

Laun....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2011

Adding a project management credential to their professional arsenal opens HIM professionals to new opportunities both within their facilities and in a range of nonprovider settings.

The HIM professional in Kimberly Miller knows how certain ICD-10 codes will affect billing denials. T....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2011

The federal government has been actively encouraging health information exchange through direct grants and leadership. However, its challenge now is keeping focused and getting the multiple efforts aligned.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT is attempting to do in a....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2007

Editor’s note: In the September issue, we featured a story on training’s growing role in HIM (see “Tips for Trainers”). That discussion continues here with the differences between conducting training in large and small facilities.

The ways in which healthcare fa....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2008

There was no file room in this HIM department. Not a single paper record to be found.
Stepping into Saint Clare’s Hospital for the first time, Kaye Connor was walking into uncharted ground. Anticipation mingled with fear as the hospital’s new health information services director tried to....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2011

A year after opening their doors, the federally sponsored health IT regional extension centers have nearly met their recruitment goals. Now the hard part starts…

The Regional Extension Centers (RECs) faced a near impossible mission.

Develop from scratch 62 RECs nation....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2010

Effective January 1, 2009, California healthcare providers were required to report every breach of patient information to the state. They have sent a flood of mishaps and a steady stream of malicious acts.

While some people go to great lengths to gain unauthorized access to medical r....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: July 2010

Jul 01, 2010 07:02 am

Coding professionals are not alone as they prepare for the sweeping changes that come with the ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation. They only need to look down the hospital hall to find another department grappling with a major shakeup in how it classifies clinical do....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2007

Frank Kribbs, RHIA, couldn’t sit idle while others discussed core HIM issues. As soon as Kribbs heard about the work groups being formed nationwide to discuss privacy and security issues related to interoperable health information exchange (HIE), he volunteered to help.

HIM nee....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2012

Large health systems and their IT vendors are creating private information exchange networks at a time when federally funded state operations are gearing up for launch. Is there room for private and public offerings in the new HIE marketplace?

Many state level health information....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: AHIMA regulation analysis | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2013

At 138 fine-print pages, the final rule detailing the HITECH Act’s modifications to HIPAA privacy and security requirements is not a quick or easy read. But it is an important read since the content of the Federal Register post drastically impacts HIM professionals and their business....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2009

Get hip with HIPAA.

That’s just one tagline attached to Sharp Healthcare’s HIPAA education modules. Photos from the age of hip—the late 1960s and early 1970s—permeate the online HIPAA training modules. Musicians Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan and era-TV icons like the....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2010

This is HIM’s time to shine. Rita Bowen, MA, RHIA, CHPS, SSGB, sees the current debate on national healthcare reform as a great opportunity for HIM professionals to increase their prominence in the healthcare world. The new AHIMA president feels HIM has a lot to offer the conversation and....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2009

In California, teasing apart state and federal breach notification laws highlights the challenges organizations everywhere face in determining their responsibilities under ARRA’s new privacy regulations.

Within healthcare organizations, the temptation for some staff can be great: wh....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2008

Clinical documentation improvement programs are increasingly common, but who leads them varies. Here’s a look at three successful programs led by HIM departments.

Tammy Love knew they were coming. She needed to take action.

It was April 2006, and Love, RHIA, CCS, knew....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2008

On the third anniversary of the hurricane, staffing shortages still plague some HIM departments, and many EHR implementations remain on hold.

In a matter of hours, 400,000 medical records were reduced to pulp.

Dorothy Jones, RHIT, health information supervisor at Medical Ce....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2011

After debate, speculation, and anxiety throughout the industry, the first physicians and hospitals have embarked on stage 1 of the meaningful use program. So far… so good.

The first physicians and hospitals have embarked on stage 1 of the meaningful use journey; it has been nin....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2007

Electronic record systems can compound errors quickly. When they do, it’s time to call in the detectives.
When information goes bad, Exempla Healthcare employees turn to documentation detectives—data integrity specialists who ensure that corrupted records are caught....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2009

Gradually HIM professionals are expanding their roles to advise, manage, and regulate nonclinical records through enterprise-wide content and records management initiatives. The principles and practices that HIM professionals bring to managing electronic clinical data and records can make them....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2009

Benefits can follow when coding packs its bags and moves to the revenue cycle. But all realignments have their opportunities and risks.

HIM and coding are breaking up.

Once a common couple, the two departments are beginning to split at some facilities, moving on to differen....