The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has issued the Health IT Patient Safety Action and Surveillance Plan for public comment.
As we begin a new year, AHIMA Director of HIM Solutions Karen Kostick, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, discusses HIM’s path to computer-assisted coding, along with other hot topics facing HIM in 2013.
Though previous studies have shown the ability for portals to increase healthcare efficiency, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association questions whether online access to records reduces the number of patient visits.
Healthcare and health information technology (health IT) are undergoing transformative change at an unprecedented pace. Strategic planning has become a major discussion point among CIOs, CTOs, CMIOs, and IT Directors. It is imperative to view health IT strategically from an IT management perspective. Based on developing and institutionalizing health information and health IT strategic planning for large-scale integrated healthcare organizations, lessons learned can be distilled to 10 practices.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued revised requirements to auditors for reviewing pre- and post-payment claims when EHR templates are used. While CMS does not specifically prohibit or endorse the use of EHR templates, it has instructed auditors to take a closer look at claims involving the use of templates to make sure all services are properly documented.
Many health information management professionals need to increase their data analytic skills in order to stay relevant at their facility, according to Richard Averill, senior vice president of clinical and economic research at 3M Health Information Systems.
AHIMA has published a new toolkit, “Document Management and Imaging,” that serves as a guide for HIM professionals developing document management and imaging processes for the implementation of an electronic health record (EHR).
Developed by an AHIMA volunteer workgroup, the toolkit focuses on document imaging operations and best practices that help support EHR adoption from the beginning stages to ongoing efficiency following implementation.
While the United States has made strides in moving its physicians to electronic health records, it still lags well behind other countries in moving to health IT, according to a study by The Commonwealth Fund.
