HIM Professionals Helping To Solve Common EHR Issues

Journal of AHIMA Examines the State of EHRs

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) hold immense promise for improving healthcare delivery and have reached the stage of critical mass.

The March issue of the Journal of AHIMA highlights the key role health information management (HIM) professionals will play in helping EHRs reach their potential. The story, “Fixing A Broken EHR,” looks at current challenges with EHRs and how HIM professionals are resolving problems.

“HIM professionals are go-to people with respect to EHRs and this is another prime opportunity to show leadership within their respective organizations,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA.

Currently, HIM professionals are playing critical roles in helping to meet meaningful use criteria, encouraging physicians to realize the benefits of EHRs, adjusting workflows and auditing records to ensure document integrity.

In the article, Anna Orlova, PhD, AHIMA’s senior director for standards, indicated that participation in standard-setting organizations will help the industry make the most of EHRs down the road. “I believe that AHIMA, now, holds the key role in addressing the current challenges of our health record. And based on lessons learned over the last five to 10 years, I would say, to be able to bring together the industry to move forward with records that work.”

Also in this issue:

• The article, “Ready or Not, HIM is Changing,” reviews the results of a new HIM competencies survey. The AHIMA members who received the survey were broken down by educational level: high school diploma or equivalent, two-year degree, four-year degree and graduate degree. An important finding was that it’s critical for HIM professionals across the spectrum to be well-educated and knowledgeable in key emerging content areas such as project management, information governance and informatics.
• The practice brief, “ICD-10-CM Coding Guidance for Long-Term Care Facilities,” looks at some of the challenges of assigning ICD-10-CM codes in Long-Term Care Facilities (LTC). These organizations are unique in the sense that residents often remain in facilities after their initial episode of illness is resolved. The authors conclude, “Credentialed HIM professionals possess valuable knowledge and expertise that will benefit LTC facilities, especially as the industry prepares for ICD-10-CM.”

Read these articles and more in the March issue of the Journal of AHIMA or online at journal.ahima.org.

About AHIMA
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) represents more than 101,000 health information 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. For more information, visit www.ahima.org