Author: Sandefer, Ryan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2019

By Ryan Sandefer, PhD, and Amy Watters, EdD, RHIA, FAHIMA


The May 2014 cover of Journal of AHIMA featured an image of a chameleon and the words “Adapt or Disappear.” This hyperbolic warning for health information management (HIM) professionals was delivered in the context of the r....

Author: Bowman, Sue E

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: April 05, 2012

HHS’s intended delay of ICD-10 implementation has led to suggestions that the US simply skip ICD-10 altogether and wait for the next revision. It is true that ICD-11 is under development, but it is not as close as many perceive and the US simply cannot wait any lon....

Author: Dunagan, Betty

Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: January 19, 2017

We have arrived in the era of Big Data in healthcare, where digital transformation is a major driving factor. A variety of healthcare settings are currently using their electronic health record (EHR) systems to their full capacity, using databases that are just as large as their onsit....

Author: Warner, Diana

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2014

Editor’s note: This article introduces Standards Strategies, a new Journal of AHIMA department that will provide guidance to HIM professionals on applying health data standards in areas including business, clinical care, and compliance.


AHIMA has always been committed t....

Author: BRG HIM and Healthcare Technology Staff

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: November 11, 2016

This article is published in sponsorship with Berkeley Research Group (BRG).



A physician approaches a health information management (HIM) staff member, upset because the location of a document in their office is not in the same location in the hospital record.....

Author: Meehan, Ann M.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2018

Editor’s Note: This Practice Brief supersedes the February 2016 Practice Brief “Why Information Governance Means Real Return on Investment.”

Securing the support of executive leaders for information governance (IG) requires demonstrating how the program enables the organiz....

Author: Reeves, Mary G

Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 0001

Editor’s Note: This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.


Securing the support of senior leaders for information governance (IG) requires demonstrating how the initiative enables the organization....

Author: Bowman, Sue E

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2008

Transitioning to ICD-10 is a major disruption that providers and payers may prefer to avoid. But it is an upgrade long overdue, and the benefits are far-reaching.

It has been nearly five years since the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics recommended to the secretary o....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2008

In August the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published two notices of proposed rule making (NPRMs): one for the adoption of ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS and one for an upgrade to the HIPAA transaction standard. Comments on the proposed rules are due on October 21. Once the comment p....

Author: Sheridan, Patty Thierry

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 2012

An HIM colleague recently asked me why everyone seems to be talking about innovation lately. Innovation might seem like a buzzword, but it’s also important to the future of healthcare and health information. Innovation isn’t just about generating new ideas-its primary goal is to develop a diff....

Author:

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2018

In an article that likens the fax machine to “the cockroach of American medicine,” Vox explores why, in the midst of the tech revolution, healthcare organizations are still relying on the antiquated fax machine to exchange medical records. Their conclusion is clear—health record sy....

Author: Kloss, Linda L

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: October 1999

Author: Drazen, Erica

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 1996

In 1991 the Institute of Medicine produced a report that came to the unequivocal conclusion that to make advances in the quality of care, efficiency of process, and containment of costs, we needed to adopt computer-based patient records. They even subtitled the report "An Essential Technology....

Author: Butler, Mary

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: April 2015

The HIM Problem


As HIM becomes increasingly data-centric, knowledge of informatics is becoming an essential tool.


Today, it’s hard to identify even one aspect of health information management (HIM) as a profession that isn’t profoundly affected by the use,....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: February 2010

The Department of Health and Human Services mandated that HIPAA-approved transaction standards be upgraded, tested, and in use no later than January 1, 2012. However, even though this requirement is less than two years away, few healthcare providers and plans have begun upgrading and testing t....

Author: Wing, Paul; Langelier, Margie; Continelli, Tracey; Armstrong, David

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2003

What does AHIMA's membership look like as a whole--and how will it look in the future? Early findings from the Association's work force study paint a diverse and dynamic picture?
Health information management is a fascinating set of professional disciplines, roles, and functions that rev....

Author: Pritts, Joy

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2006

You receive a request for medical information from a third party. Generally HIPAA would prohibit releasing the information, but would allow disclosure when “required by law.” State law, however, generally requires disclosing the information, unless disclosure is prohibited by another law.

Author: Friedman, Emily

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2001

How can HIM professionals balance the data demands of outside parties with the patient’s assumption that health information will be kept private? The author examines this question through the lens of ethics.
And yet, and yet, one thing I keep from you...."
<....

Author: Heubusch, Kevin

Source: Journal of AHIMA - website

Publication Date: October 2009

Kevin Heubusch


Oct 12, 2009 12:05 pm

In one sense, the future is already here for those who manage health information. The skills HIM professionals need today are not very different from those they’ll need in 10 years, according to a new survey of practitioners, recruiters,....

Author: Rode, Dan

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: March 2001

One of the mysteries of the administrative simplification section of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is determining who is covered or comes under the requirements of the act. This article will examine HIPAA to unravel some of the mystery of &quo....

Author: Fenton, Susan H.; Gamm, Larry D.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: July 2007

A survey of physician practices finds that most use multiple documentation and coding methods, few of them involving new technologies.

Author: Palkie, Brooke; Kerr, Katie MA, RHIA

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

Publication Date: October 2018

By Katie Kerr, MA, RHIA, and Brooke Palkie, EdD, RHIA


The World Health Organization (WHO) released ICD-11 in June 2018, 18 years after the launch of ICD-10. It has been hailed as a vast improvement and was released in a completely electronic format th....

Author: Klein, Jared W.; Jackson, Sara L.; Osteer, Natalia V.; Peacock, Sue; Delbanco, Tom; Walker, Jan; Elmore, Joann G

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: January 2018

By Jared W. Klein, MD, MPH; Sara L. Jackson, MD, MPH; Natalia V. Oster, MPH; Sue Peacock, BS; Tom Delbanco, MD; Jan Walker, RN, MBA; and Joann G. Elmore, MD, MPH

Patients who use online portals to review their clinicians’ notes may become more actively involved in their healthcare, bu....

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:

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: September 2014

For consumers in the United States, the answer to the question “Who are you?” is becoming increasingly important, especially in relation to one’s healthcare. Safe and secure access to a person’s health information hinges on how their online identity is established and used—especially as m....