AHIMA Conference Recap

AHIMA Calls for Improved Health Information Governance to Unify Standards for EHR Use

AHIMA is calling for improved and unified health information governance to standardize EHR use to ensure the technology fulfills its promise of guiding better, more efficient patient care.

AHIMA is ready to work with healthcare industry providers, health plans, quality organizations, and vendors as well as Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish standards so that healthcare providers have clear principles to guide their patient documentation.

Aspects of health information governance were addressed throughout AHIMA’s recent 84th Annual Convention and Exhibit in Chicago. Additionally, the organization will bring together industry leaders to discuss data integrity at its Health Information Integrity Summit: “The Quest for Safe, Usable, Quality Data in EHRs” on November 8 and 9 in Chicago. This spotlight on EHRs provides an opportunity for experts and those working in the field to discuss the latest insights and developments into an issue that affects every aspect of the healthcare system.

“Unified data governance principles will help promote accuracy and consistency and reduce ambiguity,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “AHIMA stands ready to work with HHS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS], and other groups to establish the guidelines that will accurately and fairly represent performance and outcomes of care. Data governance and data integrity have been and will be a critical part of AHIMA’s strategic plan, and we will continue to lead the discussions and the solutions developed in this field.”

AHIMA has demonstrated consistent leadership in assuring that health information used for all purposes is accurate, complete, and trustworthy. AHIMA developed a Code of Ethics and Standards of Ethical Coding, which established ethical expectations for HIM and coding professionals. AHIMA’s HIM Principles of Individual, Integrity, and Protection also have served as the basis of the association’s work in clinical and administrative transaction and vocabulary standards.

For decades, AHIMA has led the call for uniform interoperable data and information including guidelines for coding standards. Since 2003, AHIMA has also urged the CMS to adopt a national set of coding guidelines for hospital reporting of emergency department and clinic visits.

Recent concerns that EHR implementation could lead to fraud further highlights the need to establish these standards. These standards will address data integrity, patient safety, quality measurement, and traditional concerns regarding billing fraud.

In 2005, the AHIMA Foundation led the initiative to develop a report for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology that provided recommendations on what the industry must do to prevent potential abuses in EHR documentation.

“We urge the government to truly investigate the depth of the recently reported problems so we can determine the scope of the issue and take steps to fix it,” said Thomas Gordon. “We will continue to ask our members to share the experiences they have with us so we can develop possible solutions.”

AHIMA will analyze the latest feedback from its members as well as the findings from the AHIMA summit and expects to provide additional recommendations in early 2013.

— Source: AHIMA

 

Chief Privacy Officer: ‘We Are All Responsible for Privacy and Security’

Joy Pritts, chief privacy officer in the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology, called for all parties in the healthcare system to create a culture where the privacy and security of a patient’s health information is a shared responsibility. Pritts delivered her speech during the opening session of AHIMA’s latest annual convention.

The explosive growth in EHRs—more than 300,000 providers will start using the tool—gives patients increased access to and responsibility for their personal health information.

“This will be a huge change for people; more and more, individuals will be central participants in their own healthcare,” Pritts said. “The only way to do that is for them to have access to their own information and understand their rights and responsibilities for securing it once they receive it.”

Pritts said healthcare providers need to set their organization’s tone on privacy and security issues.

“[They] should care about protecting the patient’s health information in the same way as the patient’s physical well-being,” she said.

Pritts said privacy and security training should be ongoing and a key part of the overall strategic plan. She urged providers to put privacy and security at the forefront when building their EHR systems rather than risking the expensive consequences of a breach. “Securing health information is not only good for the patient but good for business,” she said.

The ONC’s Office of the Chief Privacy Officer and the AHIMA Foundation recently collaborated on the "Guide to Privacy and Security of Health Information", which is designed to teach healthcare professionals about the roles of privacy and security in EHRs and in meaningful use.

— Source: AHIMA

 

EDCO Unveils Solarity Software at AHIMA Convention

EDCO Health Information Solutions recently announced the launch of its Solarity software. Solarity, advanced document recognition software for scanning and indexing medical records, has been used by EDCO internally since 2008. Now, it is available to hospitals and clinics throughout North America as Web-based software.

Customers utilizing Solarity can easily index and integrate scanned images from the floors, clinics, and HIM department into a healthcare facility’s existing electronic document management system without the use of bar codes for document recognition, increasing indexing productivity.

For more information, visit www.solaritysoftware.com.

— Source: EDCO Health Information Solutions

 

New Online Certified Coding Associate Exam Prep Course Launched

Barry Libman Inc has launched a new certified coding associate (CCA) exam preparation course. The eight-week, online, self-paced course specifically prepares someone to sit for the CCA certification exam offered by AHIMA.

The course offers valuable study and test-taking strategies that include a review of tested CCA domains, including clinical classification systems, reimbursement methodology, health records and data content, compliance, IT, confidentiality and privacy, review of medical terminology and common diagnoses by body system, and intensive ICD-9-CM and CPT coding practice.

For more information or to sign up for the course, visit www.barrylibmaninc.com/training-education.

— Source: Barry Libman Inc

 

McKesson to Acquire MED3OOO

McKesson and MED3OOO recently announced they have signed a definitive agreement under which McKesson will acquire MED3OOO, a national healthcare management and technology services company that helps improve outcomes for providers, health plans, employers, and the patients and employees they serve.

MED3OOO’s products and services include physician group management, billing and revenue cycle management (all specialties), hosted applications; third-party administrator services, and a proprietary, cloud-based solution that enables practices to rapidly adjust to the ever-changing demands of healthcare without concern for server expansions, software and system upgrades, or extended downtime due to hardware failure. Once complete, the acquisition will complement the medical billing and practice management service offerings of McKesson Revenue Management Solutions and accelerate expansion into growth markets, including the ability to provide new domain expertise, services, and technologies that help customers build and succeed within an accountable care environment.

— Source: McKesson