Author: Teslow, Mary; Harris, Susie T.; Wilfong, Denise

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2009

HIM professionals can expand their understanding of the healthcare continuum by becoming more familiar with hospital emergency care and documentation.

Emergency medical services (EMS) has evolved into an integral part of the healthcare system. The field is working to integrate itself....

Author: Teslow, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: November 01, 2011

The IT help desk is an ambassador for any IT-enabled project. It plays a key role in maintaining user productivity and satisfaction in today’s increasingly complex and rapidly changing health IT environments.


HIM professionals have much to gain by par....

Author: Terry, Glenda A.

Source: AHIMA Foundation | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2001

Editor's note: This project was made possible through a grant from AHIMA's Foundation of Research and Education (FORE) Grant-in-Aid Award program. In 2001, FORE funded more than $50,000 in HIM research grants. For information on the 2001 Grant-in-Aid program visit www.ahima.org/fore/ [link....

Author: Terry, Eugenia

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2006

Change, new opportunities, and new challenges are the reality for HIM-more so than ever before. As we navigate through HIM’s ever-changing environment, many are finding that though the nature of what we manage may be changing, the practice of management continues to be a key skill set for our....

Author: Terlep, Minnette

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: October 01, 2012

Though the implementation deadline delay for ICD-10 came as a disappointment to health information professionals, it may actually be a blessing in disguise. This extra year provides HIM and other industry professionals with a window of opportunity to perfect one’s ICD-1....

Author: Tercero, Wendy

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 1999

Additionally, as managed care grows, quality and cost will reach equilibrium, and today's economically driven model will have stabilized, turning into one that truly balances cost and quality. Healthcare organizations of the future will need to implement information systems that support decisi....

Author: Tegen, Anne; O'Connell, Jennifer

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2012

Using scribes to document patient encounters for physicians offers both benefits and challenges. A pediatric hospital recounts its experience adding scribes to its inpatient rounding teams.

The use of scribes to assist providers with documentation is gaining popularity for....

Author: Taylor, Nathan Patrick

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: January 25, 2016

If you are new to healthcare analytics, it can be quite expensive to get up and running with a statistical application. Between the cost of the software itself and the instructional courses—not to mention your investment of time—just getting started could run several thousand dollars. Than....

Author: Taylor, Nathan Patrick

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2015

Many people in healthcare tend to think simply about data “in” and data “out.” They see the process of data conversion as cost effective and expect it to be easy. It’s not easy.


Data conversions are commonplace in healthcare today, especially with constant improvements and....

Author: Taylor, Lisa Brooks

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2013

An engaged patient more effectively communicates with providers, participates in decision-making, manages their own care, and complies with healthcare regimens. "Ensuring that each person and family are engaged as partners in their care" is one of the priorities of the National Quality Str....

Author: Taylor, Lisa Brooks

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2013

Each year the AHIMA national convention ends with an inspirational speaker. In 2012, in a personal and well-received chat, comedian Joy Behar shared in her emblematic, witty, and straight forward style a three-step life motto that led to her success:


Show up

Warm....

Author: Taylor, Lisa Brooks

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2013

Set on course by the National Quality Strategy (NQS) and fueled by the "meaningful use" EHR Incentive Program, clinical quality measurement is entering a new era. A primary objective of the NQS, which was developed by a multistakeholder collaboration convened by the National Quality Forum....

Author: Taylor, Lisa Brooks

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2013

As involved members of the healthcare industry, health information management (HIM) professionals can envision a future state of healthcare that is effective, safe, accessible and affordable. The National Quality Strategy (NQS), developed through the National Quality Forum (NQF), presents....

Author: Taylor, Lisa Brooks

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2013

With the establishment of the National Quality Forum's National Quality Strategy, which sets the direction for achieving better, affordable care and healthier people and communities, providers, payers, and patients are seeing a shift in payment methodologies from volume-based to value-base....

Author: Taylor, Christine; Fahy, Kristi

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2017

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh installment in an ongoing series highlighting information governance case studies.


Consistency in any enterprise-wide initiative is a key for success. To achieve this, it is often as simple as policy and procedure updates and education....

Author: Tabisula, Braden

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2018

By Braden Tabisula, MBA, RHIA, CHDA


Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of the new Advancing Analytics department, which will feature articles that provide best practices and practical resources for HIM professionals who are involved i....

Author: Sykes, Catherine

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: September 2004

Classifications are an essential part of health information infrastructures—they "group and organize information meaningfully and systematically into a standard format that is useful for determining the similarity of ideas, events, objects or persons."1 Nationally endorsed classification....

Author: Swope, Shana

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2000

After Medicare regulations and the accompanying paperwork threatened to overwhelm an outpatient rehabilitation center, staff took steps to simplify the recertification process. The result was improved efficiency plus increased commitment to the electronic medical record. He....

Author: Sweet, David A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2009

Medical librarians are a key source of information on healthcare topics. Their role is expanding with the boom in personal health record (PHR) products. In May 2007 Jean Shipman, president of the Medical Library Association (MLA), and Donald Lindberg, MD, director of the National Library of Me....

Author: Sweet, David A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2008

Participating automotive manufacturers plan to introduce a voluntary, nationwide database designed to put emergency contact information for motor vehicle owners in the hands of emergency responders quickly, dramatically reducing the time it takes to identify accident victims and notify their e....

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: Sweet, David A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2001

"The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it,” said eighteenth-century English lexicographer Samuel Johnson. This axiom is as true today as it was in Dr. Johnson’s time; perhaps more so, due to the ever-growing store of knowledge on the Internet.

Search....

Author: Sweeney, Loralie; Miller, Judith A.; Ludwig-Beymer, Patti

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 1998

Advocate Health Care, a multiple-hospital integrated delivery system in the Chicago, IL, area, recently established its Advocate Adult Asthma Clinical Improvement Team. The team undertook the data planning and analysis needed to start up a complex continuous quality improvement (CQ....

Author: Swanfeldt, Melissa

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2006

Is there something missing from your request for proposal (RFP)? You and your colleagues on the EHR selection team have sweated through identifying and detailing the clinical functions and features required of your new system. But what about the business requirements? The RFP you send vendors s....

Author: Sullivan, Tori E.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2002

It's April 10, 2003, and a privacy officer is reviewing her policies for the imminent privacy regulations, title II of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. The compliance deadline is April 13, 2003, and she is already feeling stressed about meeting the date.....

Author: Sullivan, Tori E.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2010

Breaking down costs by category helps tackle a complex task. Different expenses will peak in different years, and not all costs will be obvious.


Implementing ICD-10-CM/PCS will be one of the most expensive endeavors the healthcare industry has faced in recent history. Cost....

Author: Strong, Karen

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2008

The convergence of litigation and electronic records is raising the bar on managing content from multiple systems and multiple departments. That need is introducing healthcare to the practice of managing content and records enterprise-wide.
We’ve come a long way since the days of microfil....

Author: Strauss, Jeff

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: May 15, 2013

Implementation of the new ICD-10-CM/PCS (ICD-10) codes has proved an enormous tactical and strategic effort for healthcare payers and providers alike. Many organizations are searching for a strategy that will allow them to implement the new codes with the least disrupti....

Author: Stratton, Scott D.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2001

The third installment of the Journal of AHIMA’s special series on managed care focuses on informatics-methods that add value to data, turning it into useful information. How do informatics and managed care fit together, and what is HIM’s role in this picture?

The HIM professional’s knowl....

Author: Strafer, Paul; Milligan, Cassie

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2016

In an increasingly interconnected world, offshore coding has piqued the interest of many health information management (HIM) directors hoping to cut costs, alleviate staffing shortages, and tap into a new pool of talented individuals. Coding companies have worked earnestly to train overse....

Author: Stoltz, Paul G

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: August 2013

It’s the Big One. By all indicators the seismic shift currently upending the healthcare industry-electronic health records, health information exchange, healthcare reform, ICD-10-CM/PCS-scores a 8.0-plus on the Richter scale. Make no mistake, the entire career landscape will be forev....

Author: Stine, Kevin; Scholl, Matthew

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2010

Not everyone in the organization needs to know how to secure the e-mail service, but anyone who handles patient information must understand e-mail’s vulnerabilities and recognize when a system is secure enough to transmit sensitive information.


E-mail messages are gen....

Author: Stine, Kevin; Dang, Quynh

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2011

Healthcare and health IT professionals are entrusted with protecting the privacy and confidentiality of patient data. To provide this protection, these professionals frequently look to commonly accepted technologies and methodologies to safeguard the data while at rest and in transit. One tech....

Author: Stewart, Rachelle S.; Garvin, Jennifer Hornung

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2009

HIM professionals can play an important role in reducing disparities in care that result from race and ethnicity. One practical step is by increasing the diversity of the HIM workforce.

Race and ethnicity are significant predictors of the quality of care a person receives, and minori....

Author: Stewart, Margaret

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 1998

As I look at my year as president of AHIMA, and all that I want to accomplish, my feeling is that I do not want to waste one day as I fulfill my commitments. One of my driving passions and goals is to enhance the position, respect, and perceived value of the HIM professional in the mar....

Author: Stewart, Margaret

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 1998

As I write my last message, it seems hard to believe that my year as president will soon be over. It has been a great experience—one that I would highly recommend to anyone. I have enjoyed every minute of it, and I have the wonderful Board of Directors, the great AHIMA staff, and....

Author: Stewart, Margaret

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 1998

When I walk into a bookstore I see titles like 14,000 Things to Be Happy About. Such books remind us that birthday parties, sunsets on the beach, puppies, and other things can help us renew our resources of happiness. With that in mind, this month I decided to write about things that....

Author: Stein, Todd

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2006

When IT projects start, CIOs say they turn to HIM for detailed workflow knowledge combined with a high-level understanding of technology.
When Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital decided to go paperless with an electronic record two years ago, CIO Tim Zoph saw that the key to the hos....

Author: Stein, Todd

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2006

Fledgling RHIOs get a head start with new model policies and technical guidelines from Connecting for Health.
When Chuck Fitch first began to promote a regional health information network for Memphis’s far-flung hospitals, medical centers, county clinics, and physician groups thre....

Author: Steindel, Steven J

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: January 01, 2011

On October 1, 2013, healthcare providers will start reporting HIPAA claims using the ICD-10 counterparts to the current ICD-9 code sets. The vastly expanded code space of ICD-10-CM should prove familiar to most ICD-9-CM users and very approachable for new learners. With the exception....

Author: Steindel, Steven J

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: February 09, 2011

On October 1, 2013, healthcare providers must begin reporting HIPAA claims using the ICD-10 counterparts to the current ICD-9 code sets. In presenting these code sets two points come to the forefront: the code structure has changed and the number of codes has drastically increased. This ar....

Author: Stegman, Melinda

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2001

You’ve adapted processes to the APC system, but do you really understand the financial impact of APCs on your organization? The author shows you how to analyze your billing data to assess the impact of APCs on your facility’s bottom line.



Since the implement....

Author: Stearns, Mike; Fuller, Jan C.

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2014

The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and SNOMED CT are similar in that both systems have alphanumeric codes associated with clinical concepts. But the systems differ in their purpose and structure, and are best used in different ways in healthcare. For starters, ICD is a cla....

Author: Stearns, Michael

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2016

President Obama signed into law the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 on April 16, 2015. This legislation repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) but also introduced a number of provisions designed to compensate physicians and other healthcare professionals ba....

Author: Stearns, Michael

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: September 2015

The ICD-10-CM/PCS code set offers substantial clinical value to healthcare which includes new diagnoses and treatments. There has been a fair amount of emphasis on ICD-10’s value in clinical research and population health, but less on its value at the point of care—while a physician is car....

Author: Stavely, Starla

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 1999

Never have so many HIM professionals had so much to worry about in the area of coding. Combine the need to keep an eye on case mix and a vigilant effort to prevent fraud and abuse, throw in a lack of physician documentation, increasingly stiff competition for the chart on nursing units, and co....

Author: Staszel, Karen M.; Paluck, David B.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2000

In 1999 Angela Hospice, a small organization with no affiliation to a larger healthcare system or managed care plan, faced a challenge. How could we most appropriately use our limited resources to implement a compliance program?

Our goal was not only to reduce the risk of fraud and....

Author: Stark, Marilyn

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2006

Advanced health data exchange requires that organizations agree on how to transmit and label the data they share. Organizations need standards for transmitting messages, and then they need standards for identifying the data inside them.

One set of content standards is well ahead....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2015

The call for HIM professionals to develop measures and metrics that guide HIM efforts is not entirely new. Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, FAHIMA, president of Kloss Strategic Advisors and former chief executive officer at AHIMA, discussed the importance of these measures in a Journal of AHIMA art....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2019

By Mary H. Stanfill, MBI, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, FAHIMA


People like benchmarkS. They like to know how they are doing in comparison to someone else. In health information management (HIM), a common benchmark is the de facto standard of 95 percent accuracy rate for medical coding. HIM pr....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2006

It is widely known that health IT adoption has lagged behind other industries. For more than a year, the federal government has encouraged strategic efforts to foster IT adoption.1 And it appears that momentum is picking up in physician practices. According to the Medical Group Management....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: September 2002

Have you ever had a physician ask if you can put the encounter form on her hand-held computer? Or maybe the physicians in your medical group have been offered free personal digital assistants (PDAs) if they use a certain application and they want you to find out if these devices can expedite c....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2014

One of the goals of information governance (IG) is to continuously improve the value and trustworthiness of the information asset by ensuring that data and content are valid, accurate, reliable, current, and comprehensive. Another goal is to improve the efficiency and quality of data coll....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: June 2001

Feeling the pain of claims processing with backlogs and high dollar amounts in accounts receivable? Is your practice at risk for fraud and federal sanctions? Coding and claims processing software may be the antidote to medical practice business ailments. There are several products ava....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: January 2002

The inhalation anthrax identified by a Florida physician in October 2001, during the recent series of bioterrorist attacks, was the first case of reported inhalation anthrax in the United States in more than 25 years.1 With the threat of anthrax as a biological weapon, correct coding could be....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2006

Code assignment for physician evaluation and management (E/M) services is inherently problematic because of the multiple coding rules and reporting guidelines that must be applied and the subjectivity of the codes. Consistent E/M coding practices are critical in the physician practice setting.....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2012

Taking the right steps now will allow hospitals to improve emergency department documentation and adequately prepare for the future implementation of ICD-10-CM coding.

Obtaining the sufficient clinical documentation needed to support code assignment is a challenge in ICD-9-CM....

Author: Stanfill, Mary H

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: February 2004

The physician section of the 2004 OIG work plan includes a focus on appropriate use of modifiers used to bypass National Correct Coding Initiative edits and modifier 25 (Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician on the same day of the procedur....

Author: Stambaugh, Robyn

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: October 13, 2016

A new season in my life always lends itself to reflection and realignment of goals. With a freshly finished HIM graduate program in the rear view it’s time to map out where both personal and professional intellectual curiosities will lead. As luck would have it, I have a bucket list o....

Author: Stambaugh, Robyn

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: August 17, 2017

In the era before computers and search engines, libraries would use the card catalog—a paper database ordered by the Dewey Decimal System—to find a book or information. The Dewey Decimal System, a hierarchical scheme, is the means with which to identify, classify, and retrieve....

Author: Srinivasan, Anil

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2006

As Web-based personal health record (PHR) systems grow in popularity, it is important that they be managed and maintained responsibly. Online PHRs must provide the same security and privacy controls required of other electronic systems that handle personal health information. This article pres....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2003

“When I was director of medical records, the part I seemed to like the most was the training of new employees,” says Ellen Jacobs, MEd, RHIA. Though Jacobs began her HIM career in a professional setting and is now an educator, it seems as though she’s been teaching all along.

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2003

There are very few medical records departments that have a position as unique as mine,” says Karen Santoro, documentation coordinator at Banner Thunderbird Medical Center in Glendale, AZ. The fact that many organizations don’t have a documentation coordinator position on their roster....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2002

Wondering how your peers across the country are managing the myriad challenges that confront HIM professionals? We assembled a panel of experts to address common problems and concerns.

With changing technology on the horizon, HIPAA deadlines fast approaching, and staff shortages at....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2003

When many HIM professionals might have shuddered at the thought of taking on HIPAA implementation, LaVonne Wieland, RHIT, decided to stare it right in the face. For Wieland, the information privacy director for HealthEast Care System in St. Paul, MN, the privacy director position seemed like a....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2003

“[Teaching] attracted me because I had always liked school,” she says, matter-of-factly. Bowman also liked explaining things to people and has been doing it for almost 30 years as a professor in the College of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Cente....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2002

“I became a strong advocate for HIM when I was a junior [in college],” she says. “I really wanted to give HIM a voice and create awareness for it.”
—Erin Blume, RHIA, director of quality management at The Ambassador Health System
Not too many recent college gradua....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2002

"I envision the future of the HIM profession through an IT perspective. HIM managers need to focus on the quality, security, and access to patient information. The profession is expanding beyond the medical record."
--Genet Kidane, RHIA, product manager, Mobile Computing Group, McKesson I....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2003

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: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2003

“Teaching is one of the best jobs that I ever had,” says Cathy Flite, MEd, RHIA, assistant professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. When Flite says that, she’s speaking from experience.


She entered the academic world midway in her HIM career, after wor....

Author: Squazzo, Jessica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2003

“Managing change is always going to be a challenge. We're always learning and there's always going to be change.” —Christina Janus, MBA, RHIA, manager of medical record services at Akron General Medical Center in Akron, OH
Christina Janus, MBA, RHIA, has a steadfast approach....

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: 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: Spooner, Bill

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: October 10, 2011

For some healthcare providers, meaningful use is a carrot being offered in reward for implementing an EHR system. For other organizations, however, meaningful use is affirmation that their EHR strategies—often devised before the HITECH Act and meaningful use program—are on the right t....