A National Patient ID is Essential for Patient Safety

Misidentifying patients can have tragic consequences. In their op ed published this week in STAT, Wylecia Wiggs Harris and Tom Cox discuss real-life consequences of patient identification mistakes and how we can make more meaningful steps toward addressing the issue.

Information Blocking Recommendations Sent to HHS

AHIMA and several other organizations urged the Secretary of Health and Human Services to direct the ONC, OIG, and CMS to work together to provide additional education to providers related to information blocking laws and requirements.

AHIMA Comments on FY 2023 Hospital IPPS Rule

AHIMA submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule.

The Use of DMAIC to Improve Quality Vaccination Recommendations in Chain Community Pharmacies

This research, published in the Winter 2022 issue of Perspectives in Health Information Management, is a case study that utilizes the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) model of Lean Six Sigma and aims to use this quality improvement process to identify, measure, analyze, and implement a training program to facilitate pharmacists in high-quality vaccine recommendations to promote higher rates of pneumococcal vaccinations in community settings.

Interoperability: Best Practices in Patient Amendments to Protected Health Information

Since April 2003, patients have had the right to request amendments to protected health information contained within the designated record maintained by a covered entity or its business associates. As patients have become more engaged in their care, the number of requests for amendments has increased.

Field Notes: Transforming the Idaho Health Data Exchange’s HI Infrastructure

Idaho Health Data Exchange (IHDE), located in Boise, is Idaho’s statewide health information exchange. IHDE needed to find a way to match more than 5.1 million inbound clinical messages from multiple healthcare delivery settings to build comprehensive, accurate patient records that would enable better care coordination to improve patients’ health statewide.

AHIMA Responds to OCR RFI

AHIMA has submitted a response to a Request for Information (RFI) from the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR), Considerations for Implementing the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, as Amended. Click here to read the comments and recommendations.

Updated FAQs Regarding ICD-10-CM/PCS Coding for COVID-19

These questions and answers were jointly developed and approved by the American Hospital Association’ Central Office on ICD-10-CM/PCS and the American Health Information Management Association. Click here to view additional COVID-19 resources from AHIMA.

Field Notes: Mayo Clinic Project Team Removes SSN Requirement in EHR

In 2017, the privacy officer at Mayo Clinic's integrity and compliance office initiated a project team to identify and mitigate unnecessary risk resulting from a potential data breach. The team's focus was removing certain patient identifiers from its electronic health record.

Claims Denials: A Step-by-Step Approach to Resolution

For hospitals, denial rates are on the rise, increasing more than 20 percent over the past five years. But a denial does not automatically relegate claims to the write-off bin. In fact, as many as two-thirds of rejected claims are recoverable.

CE quiz available.

Using Telehealth to Provide Behavioral Healthcare to Young Adults and College Students

This research, published in the Winter 2022 issue of Perspectives in Health Information Management, investigates the perception of students about the need and use of telehealth and virtual appointments to provide students additional opportunities to receive the care they need.

Field Notes: Tackling CDI Query Response Time

This article from Journal of AHIMA discusses how North Mississippi Health Services, a rural healthcare system with locations throughout north Mississippi and northwest Alabama, increased provider response time to clinical documentation integrity (CDI) queries.

Podcast: Safeguarding Against Cybersecurity Threats

On this episode of the HI Pitch podcast, we discuss the key role of health information professionals in a cybersecurity-inflicted downtime event, including preemptive preparation and post-event operations.

Building a Culture of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Healthcare

Simply acknowledging that diversity and bias exists is not enough. When implementing a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program, it is essential that the program be embedded, and behaviors modeled, by leaders at every level in the organization.

HI Professionals Advocate for Patient Safety, Health Equity at Advocacy Summit

“The Advocacy Summit is a great opportunity for HI professionals to share their expertise, knowledge and personal stories with policymakers,” said Lauren Riplinger, AHIMA vice president of policy and government affairs. “We’re thrilled by the level of commitment and engagement from our members as they discussed the critical issues facing healthcare.”

Perspectives in Health Information Management Winter 2022 Issue

From healthcare fraud to telehealth documentation during COVID-19, the Winter 2022 issue of AHIMA's peer-reviewed research journal Perspectives in Health Information Management explores a range of issues facing the industry today.

New ICD-10-CM/PCS Codes Become Effective April 1

Sue Bowman, MJ, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA, senior director of coding policy and compliance at AHIMA, discusses the three new ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes and nine new ICD-10-PCS procedure codes that will be effective April 1, 2022

AHIMA Comments on PREVENT Pandemics Act Legislation

AHIMA CEO Named to Top Women Leaders

Katherine Lusk Recognized as a DirectTrust Interoperability Hero

Podcast: The Future of Healthcare

AHIMA and ONC Release Companion Guide for New Technical Specification

Download: New CDI White Paper

Senate Removes Ban that has Stifled Progress on a National Patient Identification Strategy

“We thank the Senate for putting patient safety first and removing the ban from the Labor-HHS appropriations bill that hinders innovation on the critical issue of patient identification,” said AHIMA CEO Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE. “This is an important step to help ensure patients are matched accurately to their medical records in the years to come.”

How to Solve SDOH Challenges with Data Governance

Release of Preliminary Report: "Defining EHI and the Designated Record Set in an Electronic World"

AHIMA, the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), and the Electronic Health Record Association (EHRA) released a preliminary report that examines key issues related to the operationalization of the definitions of electronic health information (EHI) and designated record set (DRS).

AHIMA Publishes Public Policy Statement on Health Equity

HI Pitch Podcast: My Life, My Story Project

Thor Ringler, writer/editor at William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital; Eric Yanke, MD, chief informatics officer at William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital; and Mara Feingold-Link, MD, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, discuss the My Life, My Story project and how it’s being used in the electronic health record to improve care for veteran patients, address issues of bias in healthcare, and counter physician burnout.