The August 2009 cover story focuses on assessing physician practice readiness for electronic health records. Other features report on what physicians need to do to prepare for the transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS, how to make denials management a part of a practice’s daily work, the fundamentals for rapidly implementing an EHR, and how California healthcare facilities are faring under its new privacy breach laws. 

Members may read all stories online in the AHIMA FORE Library: HIM Body of Knowledge. Select features and practice briefs also are available publicly.

August 2009

Features

• Physician Practice Check-Up: Assessing a Practice’s Readiness for Electronic Health Records, by Janice Crocker, MSA, RHIA, CCS, CHP, FAHIMA; Cheryl Gregg Fahrenholz, RHIA, CCS-P; Wanda Johnson, RHIT; Steve Levinson, MD; and Lydia Washington, MS, RHIA, CPHIMS
• Preparing for ICD-10-CM in Physician Practices, by Lynn Kuehn, MS, RHIA, CCS-P, FAHIMA
• Bringing Down Denials: Successfully Managing Denials in Medical Practices, by Cheryl Gregg Fahrenholz, RHIA, CCS-P
• EHR Fast Track: Fundamentals of Rapid Implementation Planning, by Erika Gaudreau, RN, and Denise Palermo
• California’s Privacy Pileup: New State Laws Meet Even Newer Federal Regulations, by Chris Dimick

In Addition

• HIM in Physician Practices, by Diana Warner, MS, RHIA, CHPS, and Lydia Washington, MS, RHIA, CPHIMS
• The RAC Coordinator’s Role, by Shelley C. Safian, MAOM/HSM, CCS-P, CPC-H, CPC-I, CHA

Practice Brief

• Applying the Teaching Physician Guidelines