Author: AHIMA Physician Practice Council

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2010

Arguably, the greatest challenge for a medical practice implementing an electronic health record (EHR) system is change. Setting up new software and hardware is typically easier than disrupting and reconfiguring the practice’s processes and determining how to handle its existing paper records.....

Author: Dimick, Chris

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2010

The federal government is creating a stripped-down version of the nationwide health information network to aid the meaningful use program. What does it mean for HIEs?

Simple is not a word typically associated with electronic health information exchange. For years, the act of sending....

Author: Dinh, Angela K.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2010

Data errors are inevitable, and they happen every day. Various types of errors can occur in electronic health records (EHRs), including errors in dates of service (DOS). DOS errors happen for a number of reasons, such as a user choosing the wrong encounter or entering the wrong date.

Author: Fernandes, Lorraine M.; O'Connor, Michele

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2010

Federal dollars are spurring efforts for health information exchange, but to say there is more than one approach is an understatement. Providers and payers are taking local, state, regional, and federal routes in search of connected healthcare.

The last year has seen tremendous excit....

Author: Spencer, Gregory

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2010

Healthcare organizations, just like individuals, can suffer from information overload. Increasingly tasked with linking quality data to reimbursement parameters, providers now attempt to capture every piece of possible data.

The problem is that data collection has a price tag. Someti....

Author: Giannangelo, Kathy; Hyde, Linda A.

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2010

Plans and preparation for the October 2013 ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation center on educating the people who collect and store coded data. But equally important is educating the individuals and organizations that use these data for analysis and reporting on the quality of patient care.

Author: Lee, Lorraine; Whitcomb, Kathleen; Galbreth, Michael; Patterson, David

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: June 2010

Backed with fresh ARRA funding, SCHIEx blends business models with a strong state role and a belief that HIE is a public good.

The field of health information exchange is littered with examples of failed or defunct efforts, such as those in Santa Barbara (CA), Seattle, Cle....

Author: Washington, Lydia

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: May 2010

For decades, HIM professionals have been called upon in court cases to enter the medical record into evidence under the business records exception to the hearsay rule. This typically required the “custodian” or keeper of the physical record to testify under oath that the records were made in t....

Author: AHIMA Clinical Terminology and Classification Practice Council; Garrett, Gail S.; Jorwic, Therese M; Novak, Natalie; Ruhnau-Gee, Becky; Safian, Shelly C; Zeisset, Ann M.

Source: AHIMA practice brief

Publication Date: April 2010

Editor’s note: This update replaces the October 2006 practice brief “Key Points of the UB-04.”

In 2005 the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC) approved the Uniform Bill (UB-04) paper claim and data set as the replacement to the UB-92 paper form.1 Currently, all paper claims must....

Author: Seidl, Patricia

Source: Journal of AHIMA

Publication Date: April 2010

Health information collected in electronic health records (EHRs) can support a variety of initiatives, including clinical research. However, technical standards are needed to enable EHRs to communicate with clinical research applications.

Work from the American National Standards In....