MAJORITY OF HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONALS PREPARED FOR ELECTRONIC HEALTHCARE

CHICAGO, February 11—While facilities are proceeding with electronic health record (EHR) plans at various speeds, health information management (HIM) professionals are preparing themselves now, according to survey results of HIM professionals attending last year’s American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) National Convention and Exhibit. Nearly 70 percent of respondents reported they have medium to high levels of personal readiness to participate in an electronic healthcare information management (E-HIM™) environment.

“The expertise of HIM professionals will become even more critical as the healthcare moves further into the information age. It’s encouraging to see the majority of our members are prepared,” stated Linda Kloss, RHIA, CAE, AHIMA’s CEO.

The October 2004 survey, conducted by AHIMA and Healthcare Informatics magazine, and sponsored by McKesson Corporation and EMC, was designed to benchmark the level of readiness of HIM professionals to contribute to e-HIM™ and to gauge the extent of EHR implementation in their organizations. Results of the survey found that at least 42 percent of respondents’ facilities have partial or extensive implementation of an EHR system.

“If President Bush’s goal of an EHR for every American by 2014 is to be met, all HIM professionals will need to take a leadership role in their own organizations,” said Charlene Marietti, editor of Healthcare Informatics. “Healthcare organizations are going to need HIM professionals with a deep understanding of the technologies involved.”

The survey also identified the most effective steps to building an effective EHR. The top three steps are implementation of a clinical support systems, clinical documentation and clinical data repository.

Of the 30 percent of respondents who believe they are less ready for e-HIM™, 56% believe they need more process reengineering skills; 53 percent need more database technologies skills; and, 48 percent need more project management skills.

AHIMA and Healthcare Informatics both seek to contribute to the understanding of the future needs of the EHR.

Complete research results appear in the February 2004 issue of Healthcare Informatics and more in depth analysis of the findings can be found in the March issue of the Journal of AHIMA.

The AHIMA National Convention, held in conjunction with the International Federation of Health Records Organizations’ 14th Congress, brought 3,000 HIM professionals to Washington DC. The survey gathered information on respondents’ work settings, titles, time in profession and education.

About AHIMA
AHIMA is the premier association of health information management (HIM) professionals. AHIMA’s 53,000 members are dedicated to the effective management of personal health information needed to deliver quality healthcare to the public. Founded in 1928 to improve the quality of medical records, AHIMA is committed to advancing the HIM profession in an increasingly electronic and global environment through leadership in advocacy, education, certification, and lifelong learning. For information about the Association, go to www.ahima.org.

About Healthcare Informatics Magazine and The McGraw-Hill Companies
Healthcare Informatics, an award-winning monthly journal published by The McGraw-Hill Companies, provides timely, high-quality intelligence about information technology systems and services for IT teams in care provider and payer organizations of every type. Reaching 40,000 professionals, Healthcare Informatics covers the $35 billion healthcare IT market's news and trends, and delivers in-depth articles on critical issues such as patient safety, records privacy and security, and electronic health records.

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, BusinessWeek and McGraw-Hill Education. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2003 were $4.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/.