Analyzing The Health Information Exchange Staffing Environment

AHIMA Testifies at eHealth Summit

No Health Information Exchange (HIE) initiative, no matter how technologically robust, can operate effectively without the proper level of skilled staffing and support.

Meryl Bloomrosen, MBA, RHIA, FAHIMA, vice president of Thought Leadership, Practice Excellence and Public Policy at the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), highlighted the importance of considering current and future staffing needs of Health Information Organizations (HIO) in a featured panel Friday at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) eHealth Summit.

“While significant focus is placed on the governance, business models, policies, standards and technical infrastructure required for long-term sustainability, additional attention must be focused on fulfilling the staffing needs for trained personnel,” Bloomrosen said.  Bloomrosen also emphasized the need for HIOs to have an ongoing focus on data integrity, quality and governance.

Bloomrosen participated in the panel, “Health Information Exchange Staffing Environmental Scan,” with AHIMA member Cynthia Hilterbrand, MBA, RHIA, the HIE network coordinator for the Greater Oklahoma City Hospital Council. Other panelists were Scott MacLean, MBA, CPHIMS, FHIMSS, chairperson of the Board of Directors, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS); and Charlie Rogers, CEO of Core Health Technologies and a member of the HIMSS HIE Committee. The panel was moderated by Robert Anthony, deputy director of the HIT Initiatives Group, Office of E-Health Standards and Services at CMS.

In 2012 AHIMA teamed with HIMSS to develop the white paper, “Trends in Health Information Exchange Organizational Staffing (http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_050044.pdf).” The white paper analyzed the results of a survey of representatives from 35 HIE organizations and focused on operational strategies, current staffing profiles and anticipated education, training and hiring needs. One finding was that HIEs needed to find skilled and trained personnel to manage certain functions such as the Master Patient Index as well as overseeing the privacy and security of health information maintained and used by the HIOs.

“Technology is an important tool but core knowledge of health information management (HIM) is at the heart of these roles and functions,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “HIM professionals are well suited for these critical positions and already have valuable experience with patient matching work flow and process as well as with privacy and security of health data within provider organizations. HIM professionals can play a critical role within HIOs to ensure the proper matching and protection of healthcare information.”

At the time of the survey, recruiting efforts showed a need for positions at the bachelor’s level with areas of specializing such as finance, accounting, HIM, HIT, business, provider relations and computer science.

To help with these staffing challenges and to build the HIM and HIT workforce, AHIMA offers continuing education such as products, events, and webinars, as well as certifications and educational support including virtual lab enhancements for more than 200 subscribing colleges and universities. AHIMA’s system of component state associations offers additional education options as well.

Looking ahead, AHIMA and HIMSS will likely consider additional collaborative activities to update and refresh the 2012 survey and to possibly expand the data collection to explore implications for newer delivery and financing mechanisms such as accountable care organizations (ACOs) and patient centered medical homes (PCMH).

About AHIMA
Celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) represents more than 71,000 educated health information management professionals in the United States and around the world. AHIMA is committed to promoting and advocating for high quality research, best practices and effective standards in health information and to actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is quality healthcare through quality information. For more information, visit www.ahima.org.