AHIMA Summit Will Provide Insights To HI Professionals on How To Navigate Artificial Intelligence

David Marc, PhD, CHDA, has advice for health information (HI) professionals who might be reluctant to embrace artificial intelligence (AI)—use AI in your personal life to get comfortable with it before you use it in your job.

Dabbling in AI to write emails is one place to start. Asking AI to help balance your household budget is another way to dip your toe into the technology.

One way Marc uses it is to troubleshoot issues at home, like the time he had an electrical problem and ChatGPT helped him resolve the dilemma in 15 minutes.

“What you need to first figure out is what can these tools do for you as a human, like the things that you're burdened with day-to-day. Log into one of these tools and start with just testing out some prompts,” says Marc, associate professor, department chair, and graduate program director at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN, where he teaches courses on AI, data analytics, healthcare research, and HI systems.

AHIMA Virtual AI Summit

Marc will discuss foundational skills for AI literacy that enhance efficiency as part of a presentation on AI Upskilling and Workforce Training at the AHIMA Virtual AI Summit at 9 a.m. CT on June 6—an event that will offer HI professionals a comprehensive exploration of non-clinical AI applications transforming healthcare.

The one-day virtual summit will feature six targeted sessions delivered by industry experts, covering essential topics from AI workforce development to practical implementation strategies. The event is designed to equip HI professionals with the knowledge to confidently navigate AI integration, ensuring compliance while maximizing operational benefits.

Whether you're beginning your AI journey or looking to enhance existing implementations, the summit provides actionable strategies to thrive in healthcare's AI-enhanced future. HI professionals, students, and others will also be able to later view the summit on demand with the opportunity to earn six CEUs.

Full descriptions of six summit presentations and registration are available online. The six presentations are:

• AI Upskilling and Workforce Training. Presented by Marc and Eric Nordgren, MBA.
• Non-Clinical AI Tools in Use: Meet Your Invisible Workforce. Presented by Kelly Canter, MHA, CPM, RHIT, CCS, CRCR, FAHIMA. 
• AI Literacy and Governance: Best Practices Before Regulations Catch Up. Presented by Ammon Fillmore. 
• Digital Teammates: Leveraging AI Tools for Real-World Efficiency. Presented by Megan Pruente, MPH, RHIA, FAHIMA, and Alex Gelvezon, DHA, CPHQ, LSSGB.
• Between the Lines: HI Professionals Role in Ambient Documentation. Presented by Roberta Baranda, MS, RHIA, CHP.
• Panel: AI in Action—Real-World Health Information Use Cases. Panelists will be Rachel Podczervinski, MS, RHIA; LaSha Cofer, MSHSM, RHIA; and Lori Diederichs, MS, RHIA.

Upskilling and Workforce Training

Marc says a workforce shortage means fewer skilled workers and a growing need to learn and advance understanding of emerging technologies such as AI. A survey of HI professionals by NORC and AHIMA, released in 2023, found that 66 percent of respondents reported understaffing of HI professionals at their organizations within the last two years. The survey found that despite workforce shortages, HI professionals indicated AI and machine learning (ML) showed promise in alleviating some of the workforce burden while increasing the need for upskilling within the profession.

“It's not really an option for people to make up their mind if they want to adopt and use AI,” Marc says. “It's going to be mandated because these tools have the potential to make the work that we do more efficient and more effective and potentially more accurate as well.”

That will require the profession to be upskilled and trained in using AI at work, he says. HI professionals can get trained in AI at their workplace and pursue AI education through webinars, workshops, and conferences outside the workplace. Marc says employers also are partnering with universities to deliver education to their employees.

“I understand that people are fearful, but the only way to overcome that is to learn more about these tools. And honestly, even if people don't have the time to go through the education, the best way is through trial and error,” Marc says.

Non-Clinical AI Tools in Use

On the job, AI does well when it’s used in areas of coding that are highly repetitive and where there are large data sources that match, says Canter, an AHIMA Board Member and senior director of product management at Anomaly, an AI-powered payer management company. But the data isn’t robust enough yet for AI to fully tackle denials management, inpatient coding, and clinical documentation improvement, she adds.

“We’re going to have jobs for quite a while,” says Canter, whose summit presentation will be Non-Clinical AI Tools in Use: Meet Your Invisible Workforce. “Once the AI does get that good, you still need somebody that’s maintaining that data, that’s looking at the data and making sure it’s good quality data that’s being fed into these truth sets that they’re being trained on. So you’re always going to need some form of health information professional. Data governance, data integrity—that’s what our focus should be on now.”

The 2023 survey by AHIMA and NORC found that 45 percent of respondents reported their organization uses AI or ML tools for coding, documentation, or other HI-related workflows. With AI evolving, autonomous coding and predictive denials are big areas where AI will affect HI professionals, Canter says. However, there needs to be more guidance from companies on how AI should be used by their employees and which regulations need to be followed to protect patient privacy.

“We’re relying on HIPAA and a few other well-known regulations that are out there to get a framework,” Canter says. “But we don’t have any real regulations that have been brought down for healthcare specifically from the federal government. So that is one place where healthcare organizations especially are lacking.”

Leveraging AI Tools for Real-World Efficiency

Pruente, IT director of person identity management at Banner Health, says AI tools can help HI professionals streamline day-to-day tasks, boost productivity, and reduce administrative burdens. Automating routine administrative tasks reduces the workload of healthcare professionals, allowing for higher-level strategic thinking, she adds.

“Many of these tools have been around for a while in coding, release of information, and transcription,” says Pruente, whose summit topic will be Digital Teammates: Leveraging AI Tools for Real-World Efficiency.

She says it’s important for HI professionals to understand ChatGPT’s role in administrative processes and identify practical applications for ChatGPT in healthcare administration. For example, ChatGPT can be used to draft an email to your team requesting them to share project updates or to start creating a sample policy and procedure on the use of ChatGPT in a healthcare organization, keeping in mind concerns around privacy and employees’ potential use of ChatGPT.

“It’s a great place to start rather than starting from scratch,” Pruente says.

Pruente says HI professionals can advocate for the adoption of AI tools within their organizations and should learn how to use these tools effectively to stay ahead in their field.

“I’m so much more efficient when I’m using AI tools,” she says.

Damon Adams is content production editor for AHIMA.