Author: Kennedy, Angela

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2014

President Barack Obama signed H.R. 4302, the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, into law April 1, 2014. Though the bill’s main purpose was to create another temporary “patch” to the Medicare sustainable growth rate, language in a section of the bill effectively delayed the ICD-10-....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Bourquard, Karima; Parisot, Charles

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2017

AHIMA, in collaboration with Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) International, has been publishing the findings of the Use Case Task Force in a series of articles in the Journal of AHIMA’s Standards Strategies section. The first article in this series, published in the June....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Bourquard, Karima; Parisot, Charles

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2017

AHIMA, in collaboration with Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) International, has been publishing the findings of the Use Case Task Force in a series of articles in the Journal of AHIMA’s Standards Strategies section. The first article in this series published in the Journa....

Author: Bourquard, Karima; Orlova, Anna; Parisot, Charles

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2017

In computer science, a use case-driven approach is the foundational methodology for documenting user needs.1 This has been adopted by national and international efforts to enable health information technology (HIT) to support HIT systems interoperability and information sharing across syst....

Author: Bourquard, Karima; Orlova, Anna; Parisot, Charles

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2017

AHIMA in collaboration with Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) International has been publishing the findings of the Use Case Task Force in a series of articles in the Journal of AHIMA’s Standards Strategies section. The first article in this series, published in the June 20....

Author: Washington, Lydia

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2008

As national health IT initiatives move forward, it is important that HIM professionals understand the role and functions of use cases. Use cases are an extension of workflow analysis, an early and essential step in selecting or designing new health information technology. This article defines....

Author: Hughes, Gwen

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2002

By now you know that amendments to the final privacy rule were published in the August 14, 2002, Federal Register. The amendments are intended to correct problems identified in the original privacy rule published on December 28, 2000.


This article presents a summary of some of....

Author: Hjort, Beth M.; Hughes, Gwen

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2003

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

Author: Hughes, Gwen

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2002

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

Author: Ulmer, Stephen E.; Fuller, Jan C.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2010

The vocabulary standards adopted in the meaningful use final rule provide the language to capture primary health data required for the meaningful use objectives. It is through these standards that health information will be captured and transmitted. Knowing the vocabulary standards and underst....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2013

The health information exchange (HIE) landscape has changed dramatically since HIE and the Nationwide Health Information Network (NwHIN) was first conceptualized in 2001. The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) published recommendations in 2001 on nationwide electronic hea....

Author: Dougherty, Michelle

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2005

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

Author: Albaum-Feinstein, Andrea L.

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: June 2000

Editor's note: This is the second part in a two-part series on diagnostic coding for mental healthcare.

Documentation differences between DSM-IV and ICD-9-CM continue to challenge coders in mental health settings. Efforts to minimize these differences are evident in curren....

Author: Smith, Diann H.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2018

By Diann H. Smith, MS, RHIA, CHP, FAHIMA


AS HEALTH INFORMATION management (HIM) professionals, we must constantly evaluate our role in the healthcare ecosystem as the industry continues to evolve. After all, healthcare has many stakeholders and H....

Author: Ward, Maria

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

Publication Date: May 2017

Coding respiratory cases can sometimes lead to coding professionals getting bogged down in the circle of sequencing instructions, inclusions, and exclusions. This article will help readers gain a better understanding of the differences in the diagnoses that all come with a majority of the....

Author: Marsh, Carmilla

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2002

Release of information is a perennial challenge for HIM professionals in all care settings. However, long-term care offers some special challenges, especially in the light of the HIPAA privacy rule published in December 2000 (with a compliance date of April 2003). This article reviews the basi....

Author: Vlahos, Nikos F.; Zeisset, Ann M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: May 2003

Coding professionals routinely code abdominal or pelvic adhesions. Recent advances in treatment and a newly approved ICD-9-CM procedure code, however, bring the topic to the forefront. Is your knowledge current?

This article will explain what pelvic adhesions are, the surgical techn....

Author: Cooper, Steve

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: July 2004

Recent legislation included in both the Benefits Improvement and Protection Act (BIPA) and the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) of 2003 has affected the content and implementation processes for Medicare coverage determinations. This column reviews differenc....

Author: Cook, Jane; D'Amato, Cheryl; Garrett, Gail S.; Ruhnau-Gee, Becky; Hyde, Linda A.; Novak, Natalie

Source: Journal of AHIMA - Coding Notes

Publication Date: June 2009

Present on admission indicators, hospital-acquired conditions, serious reportable events, and “wrong” surgical events are each hot topics. However, they also can be a hot topic together, because a number of these reporting requirements are interrelated. HIM professionals must under....

Author: Orlova, Anna; Salyards, Kenneth

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2016

Today, both clinicians and health information management (HIM) professionals have been experiencing overwhelming challenges with the usability of electronic health record (EHR) systems due to shortcomings in supporting user needs.1,2,3,4 A five-year study recently published by the US Nati....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2001

The recently published final regulations for transactions and code sets under HIPAA are the light at the end of the tunnel in the quest for uniform healthcare standards-and the first step on a long road to HIPAA implementation. What are the standard transactions and code sets? This article tak....

Author: Cassidy, Bonnie S.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2000

As we have seen in previous installments, part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act's purpose is to establish standards and requirements that make it easier to maintain and transmit health information electronically. These provisions, known as the administrative simplific....

Author: Munn, Catherine; Backman, Cecilia; Costello, Stephanie; Wise, Lee A; Westhafer, Kathy J

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2015

The future of healthcare continues to evolve with the introduction of alternative reimbursement models. The industry is moving from traditional fee-for-service models to those focused on quality of care and documented outcome improvements. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of....

Author: AHIMA

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2011

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

Author: Davis, Nancy; Glondys, Barbara

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2016

Federal law prohibits the sale of firearms to certain individuals with a history of mental illness. Recent mass shootings have focused attention on the fact that the individuals perpetrating these crimes often had a documented history of mental illness which went undetected despite state a....