Author: Wiedemann, Lou Ann

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2012

Managing healthcare issues today places many HIM professionals in the role of consumer educator. This is especially true when consumers are coping with end-of-life issues. Legal documents are imperative for determining a patient's treatment care wishes, managing requests for information, and f....

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: Dill, Mark W; Lucci, Susan; Walsh, Tom

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2016

As protectors of patient health records, health information management (HIM) professionals are developing a keener understanding of the broad topic of cybersecurity and are becoming actively involved in organizational cybersecurity efforts. Information technology (IT) departments typically are....

Author: Mon, Donald T.; Nunn, Sandra L.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 1999

The continued evolution of the CPR offers numerous career opportunities for HIM professionals. But a knowledge and understanding of the fundamental concepts is critical for those who would take advantage of these opportunities. The authors offer an overview of the differences and interaction....

Author: Cassidy, Bonnie S.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2000

Confused about the differences between privacy and security? You’re not alone. Combine these with the jargon-laden chain of trust and business partner agreement issues, and a whole new set of questions about HIPAA implementation emerges.

Privacy, pursuant to HIPAA, addresses the righ....

Author: Combs, Tammy

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: February 24, 2016

Understanding clinical documentation improvement (CDI) metrics can be confusing, especially when you first start reviewing them.


Let’s dive a little deeper into the topic and take a closer look at some frequently reported CDI metrics and evaluate how these measures can reflect the....

Author: DeVoe, Megan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2018

By Megan DeVoe, CCS


Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a three-part series on how to master the information available on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website.


When coding foR outpatient hosp....

Author: Gilles, Kathy

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2004

More than 18 months after the HIPAA privacy rule compliance date, there is still one area that remains problematic for many covered entities—the use and disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for research purposes. One point of significant confusion is the relationship between....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: June 21, 2011

Within the recently proposed rule on accounting of disclosure, the Office for Civil Rights summarizes a 2010 request for information it issued to the providers, payers, and consumer groups. The feedback it received offers an insight into provider and consumer exper....

Author: Bradley, Paul

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2016

A year in and ICD-10 is almost approaching the point of old news.


Of course—I’m kidding! Nothing could be further from the truth. From a data analytics perspective, the impact of ICD-10 is only beginning to be realized and understood.


For one, this first year....

Author: Kuyper, Lynda A.; Shanks, Corrine K.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 1988

Author: Fuller, Barbara P.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2001

What an exciting time for our profession! As the leaders in HIM, we are being recognized as valuable resources in analyzing and assessing the recently published standards for privacy of individually identifiable health information. When these regulations were announced by President Cl....

Author: White, Susan E; Nunn, Sandra L.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2014

The health information management (HIM) field is growing and changing at a swift pace, with HIM professionals having to navigate value-based purchasing, quality metrics, health disparity and population health studies, and a never-ending stream of Big Data. As experienced HIM professionals....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2008

This column often deals with AHIMA’s or the profession’s larger goals and objectives. Important, yes, but often not what HIM professionals are involved with on a day-to-day basis. This article addresses two significant issues that HIM professionals are facing on the job right now.....

Author: Gordon, Lynne Thomas

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2017

In 1941, author Edna Huffman, writing about the management and storage of medical records, introduced readers to “the newest development in storage methods and the method that will conserve the greatest amount of space, known as microphotography.” She described how medical reco....

Author: Dunn, Rose T

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2002

Staring down another backlog in your HIM department? Use routine data collection activities to strengthen your case for additional staff, increased budget dollars, or an incentive program.
Daily challenges in an HIM department include increasing workloads and accumulating backlogs withou....

Author: Anderson, Ellen Miller

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: November 2001

The need for updated technology rarely coincides with enough funds to purchase it. However, disparate technologies can be combined to meet information system needs without a major capital outlay. At Home Care Services, part of Group Health Cooperative (GHC) in Seattle, we created the On Call P....

Author: Featheringham, Meg

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2005

If HIM graduates are in such demand, why is it so hard for them to find their first jobs? The reason, of course, is experience. Most employers require it, but few have the resources to develop it. At a time when employers seem to be finding as many challenges hiring as graduates find in being....

Author: Rollins, Gina

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2003

Kaiser Permanente, the largest nonprofit health maintenance organization (HMO) in the US, is on the forefront of developing and implementing an electronic health record (EHR). The effort involves both the Kaiser health plan and the Permanente Federation, which is the partnership among the Perm....

Author: Dalander, Geoffrey; Willner, Sue; Brasch, Sam

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 1997

Imagine: It has been a productive day. Although it is only Wednesday, you have accomplished all the items on your weekly to-do list. All the hospital and SNF records are coded and analyzed. The discharges from this past Monday have been billed. Ongoing audits of the medical records are now com....

Author: Endicott, Melanie

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: November 15, 2013

With the holidays coming up, it’s time to have a little fun with ICD-10-CM codes.  The following tells the story of a Thanksgiving full of mishaps… if your ICD-10-CM skills are up to the challenge.


Josie and Tom had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal with turkey, stuffing, r....

Author: Crawford, Mark

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2013

HIM professionals have been looking for some truth and straight talk on computer-assisted coding (CAC). The technology has been billed as everything from the savior of coding-based bottom lines due to ICD-10-CM/PCS (ICD-10) to the automated destroyer of human coding jobs. As the technology....

Author: Pringle, Simone L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2010

To date most health information exchanges (HIEs) are sharing only institutional patient health data among providers, insurers, and pharmacies, and a minority of electronic health records (EHRs) support standards-based access to and from untethered personal health records (PHRs). However, there....

Author: Katz, Roberta

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: August 2014

Healthcare organizations are increasingly reliant on electronic health records (EHR) for patient care collaboration with trusted IT becoming a key requirement to share protected health information (PHI).


Trusted IT solutions for Health Information Management (HIM) t....

Author: Sett, Ajit; Hickman, George T; Karban, Karen M

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2014

Coding is an essential task in a care delivery organization (CDO) and represents the convergence of certain clinical and financial processes. It is the culmination of the documentation and codification of provided patient care services and the identification of associated charges and clai....