Coding Benefits -- Truman Medical Centers Case Study

MoHIMA President Seth Katz's department gets profiled in the clip below:

Working With Our Partners

I wanted to let you all in on one of my goals for this term: I want us to better partner with other healthcare entities in the state.

 

Groups like HIMSS or MGMA or HFMA or ARMA have a lot in common with MoHIMA and we all serve the same general group, trying to make healthcare in our state better, faster, smarter.

 

On August 28th, I had the pleasure of having lunch with the presidents of HIMSS and MGMA for our great state.  They were thrilled with the idea of combing forces and partnering on educational opportunities.  Imagine an Information Governance Symposium with HIMSS or MGMA expert's speaking at our annual meeting. 

 

There's a lot of new and exciting opportunities here and I can't wait to touch base with our partners at HFMA and ARMA.  We're going to put together this little "President's Council" which will continue on in the future and allow us find new educational offerings and speakers on new topics. 

Shots from 2015 MoHIMA Annual Convention

Email woe's

In today’s world, everyone is communicating via email. People have their handheld devices, phones and iPads that make them accessible to email contact at any time. This is a wonderful and tragic thing- wonderful because you can be in contact with your employer 24/7 and tragic because you can be reached by your employer 24/7. I have my work email going directly to my cell phone and I often check it several times in the evening and weekends, so that I can be accessible for anyone needing my assistance. Because I am a salaried employee, it is not in violation of our policy to have me checking work email off company time, but I do not make a habit of being too available. Since the email is so readily available, should I ever use my work email for personal reasons? Could there be an instance when someone emails me from my work and the conversation NOT is about work, but be personal in nature?  Everyone communicates using email. If my grandmother were alive, she would have an email. You have to have an email to recite to retail stores to receive their ads and coupons. You even are asked now for an email address at physicians’ offices, health care clinics and hospitals for use in accessing their patient portals which are mandated by the federal government’s meaningful use found within the Hi-tech Act. Some would argue that with all those emails floating around, a company should regulate what is being said to clients and other employees. What have you been e-mailing today?

Nicole Thompson, RHIA

How will Health Information Management Change by the year 2020?

Interoperability solutions for exchanging patient information across healthcare settings are one particular technological development that will shape the future of all healthcare organizations.  By including post-acute care in interoperability strategies, healthcare organizations can ensure that critical patient information across all care settings will be connected, providing a more detailed patient picture for more specific treatment plans and improved patient care.  Health Information Management professionals will be needed to big data being imported into our EHRs.

Another technological development that will shape the future of healthcare in 2020 is the availability of innovative mobile technologies that break down the barriers between patients and providers. Patient monitoring devices are already in high demand. We use Fit Bit to track our activity and our sleep, and EKG Band-Aids to support heart monitoring. As we move into a world that is much more connected, we’ll see many more innovative developments to track our health, from Internet-enabled toothbrushes that tell us who is brushing their teeth and how frequently, to whole house monitors that notify remote caregivers of a person who did not move from their bedroom to their bathroom by a certain time as typically expected, alerting that action may be required.  All this big data will need to be managed by Health Information Management Professionals. 

By 2020, the days of patients waiting for their doctors to call with urgent test results will be behind us. Patients, instead, will consider it a necessity to access critical care information from patient portals and mobile devices. Clinicians will benefit as well from mobile technologies by having instant access to patient data at the point of care, no matter what the care setting is. Post-acute care providers, in particular, will leverage mobile technologies to access evidence-based content at the patient bedside, enabling them to more accurately provide the right care at the right moment while also capturing new problems and modifying the care plan immediately.  These are exciting times, not only for us as consumers but for us as Health Information Management Professionals.

Jane DeSpiegelaere-Wegner, MBA, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA
Past President

Why Get Into HIM? MHA Interview with President-Elect Seth Katz

Social Media in Healthcare

 

A major trend in healthcare today is the use of social media.  Social Media is defined as computer-mediated tools that allow people to create, share or exchange information, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks.  Some of the most common social media sites are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. 

Some successful cases of using social media in healthcare include patient and physician blogs, physicians’ use of Twitter for education; patients sharing outcomes and supporting each other in health-specific communities; physicians discussing treatments with each other using communities and enterprise social media; and hospitals both educating the community and acquiring new patients online.

Some people discourage the use of social media stating it’s invasive and isn’t the same as the talking with your Physician in person.  Others feel it allows them to interact with Physicians/ healthcare professionals that they generally wouldn’t have access to.

In 2013 the Harris Poll EquiTrend Survey named the Mayo Clinic Website the top Health Information Website, ahead of WebMD.  Social Media has helped credible sources get important healthcare concerns out to many patients and is much cheaper from a business budgetary standpoint.

In conclusion, social media is a trend we will continue to see.  Healthcare professionals can utilize these platforms to educate patients, market their practices and interact with fellow peers.  The possibilities are endless and will most likely become an integral part of how health information is dispersed.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

http://hitconsultant.net/2014/02/17/5-reasons-mayo-clinic-dominates-social-media-in-healthcare/2/

Niki Vogelsang, MBA, RHIA