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In This Issue:  President’s Message 2010 National Long Term Care Spring Meeting VOTE in the AHIMA Election WCU Award & Scholarship Recipients MEMBER SERVICES UPDATE HIMSS Inaugural HIT Day NCHIMA 2010 Awards ICD-10 CE Requirements for AHIMA Credentials 2010 AHIMA Computer-Assisted Coding Summit WCU Recognizes StudentsPresident’s Message
Wait no more…summer is here! Congratulations to those of you who may have children or grandchildren graduating from preschool/kindergarten, high school or college! What an accomplishment! Although school is out, the NCHIMA board is still pressing on. The Governance Team met on May 21, 2010 at OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, NC. I will share a few meeting highlights with you: 1) We recapped our very successful Annual Meeting, which was held in April. The program committee, chaired by Audrey Chase, did an outstanding job with this year’s meeting! 2) We received an update on the upcoming ICD-10 Summit. NCHIMA is partnering with NCHICA, NCHA and NCHFMA on this education effort. The Summit will be North Carolina's primary source for our state’s healthcare providers to gain information, education, and resources that will ensure preparedness and strategic implementation guidance. We have over 200 people registered! Lee Ford is leading the efforts for this event on behalf of NCHIMA. Because of Lee’s active involvement on NCHICA’s ICD-10 Task Force, he was asked just last week to assist NCHICA on a collaborative effort with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on a statewide ICD-10 implementation campaign. This is a great opportunity for NCHIMA! 3) We have been in discussions with AHIMA about bringing their ICD-10 Academy to North Carolina in the spring of 2011! We hope to confirm a date and location within the next few weeks. The purpose of the academy is to train the individuals who will be training coding professionals on the ICD-10-CM/PCS coding systems, which will go into in 2013. For more information in ICD-10, visit AHIMA’s ICD-10 website . 4) We are working to develop our 2009-2010 annual report so that our membership and corporate partners can review all of our accomplishments during the last year. Our goal is to post the report on theNCHIMA website by the end of July. The New/Old Executive Board Retreat was held on June 4th at Alamance Regional Medical Center. The meeting was well attended and gave us the opportunity to orient our incoming board members. We are looking forward to another successful year! Please welcome your new board members who will assume their new roles on July 1, 2010. They are engaged in the mission of NCHIMA and are ready to embrace the many responsibilities and opportunities that await them: Many “thanks” to those of you who responded to the Environmental Scan Survey. We received 171 total responses. I will be submitting the survey responses to AHIMA this month. Based on your feedback, the #1 priorities identified are: Our Nominating Committee, chaired by Laura Pait, worked diligently to prepare two nominations for AHIMA Triumph awards. Nominations were submitted for Jean Foster, RHIA, for the e-HIM award and for Kay Gooding, RHIA, for the Pioneer award. Award recipients will be announced at the AHIMA convention this fall in Orlando, FL. I wish both ladies much luck! You only have a few days left to vote in the AHIMA election. Voting is a member privilege so be sure to cast your vote. Show your support to Susan Parker, who is running for President-Elect! Polls close on June 25th and elected offices will be announced mid July. As a reminder, please mark your calendars for the dates below: This has been an amazing year with many accomplishments. If you have exciting news to share with the NCHIMA membership, please let me know! We want to recognize members for their participation in initiatives that impact HIM. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your President. It has been a pleasure! Serving you, Amy VOTE in AHIMA Election! Susan Parker for AHIMA President-Elect Please make sure you cast your vote for AHIMA officers this year and be aware that one of our own is on the ballot for PRESIDENT-ELECT. Susan Parker has served AHIMA and NCHIMA in multiple capacities and would make an excellent President-Elect of AHIMA. Please do your part and VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Polls close Friday, June 25, 2010 @ 11:59pm. MEMBER SERVICES UPDATE Sherry King, RHIA, CTR – Chair, Member Services Team
The Annual Meeting was a great success and the Membership Committee worked diligently to improve member communication and Corporate Sponsorship. Of note, the Membership Committee has mailed post cards to members who are currently listed in the AHIMA Membership database with an “opt-out” status. You may also receive a post-card if your email address has been returned to us as “undeliverable”. It is important that you verify your AHIMA Member profile often to ensure the appropriate options are selected to receive national and region communications of importance to you. If you receive a post-card, please verify your member communication preferences for accuracy. You do not want to miss out on important updates and opportunities for FREE continuing education hours. We would like to thank all NCHIMA members who served on committees under the direction of the following Member Services Team Chairs this year: · Cornelia McClure – Strategic Planning · Annette Morrison – Regional Liaison · Audrey Chase – Program Committee · Cory Grimshaw – Education Committee · Dina Williams – Coding Roundtable · Lisa Ramsey – Website · Valerie Dobson – FootPrints (E-newsletter) · Membership Committee: Pamela Lail, Georgia Mayo, Rhonda (Lofton) Herring, and Jennifer Cheetham-Smart As we leap into another exciting year, we look to our NCHIMA Members to assist us by volunteering your talents and ideas. If you know of dynamic speakers or companies willing to assist with webinars, please contact a Member Services Team Member. HIMSS Inaugural HIT Day NC General Assembly On May 18, 2010, HIMSS, in cooperation with NCHIMA, NCHICA, NC CACHI, NAMI NC and CHIME held their first Advocacy Day or Hill Day in Raleigh, NC. There was no cost to attend this event and CEUs were approved by AHIMA for NCHIMA members. The program began with opening remarks by Ray Dyer, NCHIMSS President, Holt Anderson, NCHICA Executive Director, and Tom Leary, Senior Director, Federal Affairs HIMSS. Two panel discussions followed the opening remarks. The panelists responded to questions regarding where we are with HIT in healthcare and where we want to be with HIT in healthcare. After lunch, Tom Leary, Senior Director, Federal Affairs HIMSS, provided advocacy training for the participants prior to their meeting appointments and discussions with members of the General Assembly. Mr. Leary’s message addressed how to approach legislators, staying on the message, and advocating for HIT support. One of our well known members, Kay Gooding, received recognition by several key speakers for submitting a proposal to lead the work of establishing new ARRA certificate programs. Pitt Community College (PCC) in Greenville, NC, is a CAHIIM-accredited HIT program and has been named one of five institutions across the country to lead a regional consortium of community colleges to train thousands of new health IT professionals. The PCC-led consortium received a $10.9 million grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for the first year. Additional funding is available for a second year after successful completion of a mid-project evaluation. The grant provides assistance for PCC to set up the consortium of 21 community colleges, including Central Piedmont Community College and Catawba Valley Community College, across a 13-state region that stretches from the southeast to New Mexico and includes almost one-third of the nation’s population. Each community college will create non-degree training programs designed to be completed in six months or less. We are very proud of Kay for her tireless hours dedicated to this endeavor and it was great that leaders within North Carolina recognized her for this as well. Vendors were available for one-on-one discussions and demonstrations of their products from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Door prizes were given at the end of the day. Overall, attendance was very good with approximately 100 people taking part in this very special event. Based on the evaluations by attendees, the first HILL DAY was a success. NCHIMA members assisting with this event were as follows: Patt Peterson, an AHIMA employee who resides in the Raleigh area, deserves an award for her coordination, persistence, and follow-up throughout the planning stages of this event. Thanks to everyone who assisted and also to those who participated in this special event. For several years, the NCHIMA Board has discussed having a Hill Day and now we have a better understanding of when and how this can be accomplished. Plans will be underway soon for the 2011 Hill Day in Raleigh. NCHIMA 2010 Awards Committee Thanks to all that participated in our awards program this year by nominating some terrific volunteers. We would not have had the successes we celebrated at the annual meeting had it not been for our membership stepping up and using their talents in so many different ways. On behalf of the Awards Committee we announce these winners. NCHIMA 2010 Awards went to: Region Award To recognize and honor regions/sections whose membership has the highest level of activity on regional and state levels. This year’s recipient of $100 was the Triangle Region. Region Activity Award To recognize and honor regions/sections whose membership has the highest percentage of registered members in attendance at meetings. This year’s recipient of $100 was the Western Foothills Region. Special Regional Member Recognition Award Recognizes and honors an outstanding member of the NCHIMA who exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism at the regional/sectional level upon which the Association is dependent. This year’s winner of the Special Regional Member Recognition Award was: Amy Cheshire – Triangle Region Honorary Member Award Recognizes and honors an outstanding professional who has made a significant contribution to NCHIMA but is not credentialed in the HIM field. This year’s recipient of the Honorary Member Award was Barry Herrin with Smith, Moore, Leatherwood. Spotlight Award Recognizes and honors outstanding members of NCHIMA who advance specific projects or initiatives that promote the interests and leadership position of NCHIMA or the HIM profession. The Spotlight Award can be given to more than one member. This year we awarded Carol Thompson, Cory Grimshaw, and Valerie Dobson – a Spotlight Award. Marybeth Hurst Award Recognizes and honors an NCHIMA member who has made a significant contribution to the profession by having a positive effect on others through dependable and consistent performance and whose contributions may be overshadowed because of personal humility and/or modesty. This year’s recipient of the Marybeth Hurst Award was Pamela Lail. PRISM Volunteer of the Year Award Recognizes and honors an outstanding member of NCHIMA who exemplifies the spirit of volunteerism upon which the Association is dependent. This year’s winner of the Volunteer of the Year Award was awarded to: Lisa Ramsey Distinguished Member Award Recognizes and honors an outstanding member of NCHIMA who best exemplifies the professional image of the Association and has made significant contributions in promoting the profession through visionary leadership in key practice areas. Must be an active member of NCHIMA for five or more years and actively displayed leadership in regional, state, national, or international health information associations. This year’s winner of the Distinguished Member Award was – Lisa Walter. A big shout out to a great committee this year, you made this process move along so very nicely!! CCHIIM CE Requirements The upcoming transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS is quickly approaching. The transition is anticipated to improve the capture of healthcare information and bring the United States in step with coding systems worldwide. The value of this transition will be broad and far-reaching throughout the healthcare industry. It will result in greater coding accuracy, lower costs, and countless other benefits. With these important changes on the horizon, the next few years will be an exciting and critical time for HIM professionals. The transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS will require all certified professionals to demonstrate knowledge in domains that are not currently addressed in the recertification policy. As a result, the Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM) has implemented a new recertification policy specific to ICD-10-CM/PCS. CCHIIM has determined that continuing education hours based upon ICD-10-CM/PCS content will be required, as applicable to the specific AHIMA credential(s) held by the individual. Earning these CEUs validates that certified professionals have gained knowledge of the new coding system and are able to integrate this knowledge into their positions. The new policy requires AHIMA certified professionals to participate in a predetermined number of mandatory baseline educational experiences focusing specifically on ICD-10-CM/PCS. These ICD-10-CM/PCS specific CEUs will count as part of AHIMA certificants total CEU requirements for the overall purpose of recertification. The total number of ICD-10-CM/PCS CEUs required by AHIMA credential is as follows: In other words, the above ICD-10-CM/PCS CEUs are included as part of the existing total required CEUs for each cycle. For example, as stated in the Recertification Policy, an RHIT must complete 20 hours of continuing education. With this new policy, six of those hours must focus on ICD-10-CM/PCS training. An RHIT is not required to earn 20 CEUs and then 6 additional CEUs on ICD-10-CM/PCS. Certificants who hold more than one AHIMA credential will only report the highest number of CEUs from the credentials held. For example, if a certificant holds both an RHIA and CCS, the certificant would normally report 50 CEUs per recertification cycle, and 18 of these CEUs will be required to cover ICD-10-CM/PCS. AHIMA-certified professionals will be able to begin earning ICD-10-CM/PCS specific CEUs during on January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2013. Additional information on reporting these CEUs and more specific recommended training areas/educational activities will be released no later than September 30, 2010. Please visit AHIMA for more information. 2010 AHIMA Computer-Assisted Coding Summit April 14, 2010 in Washington, DC On April 14th, 2010, I had the privilege of participating in AHIMA’s 2010 Computer-Assisted Coding (CAC) Summit in Washington, DC. It was interesting that this was not the first Summit or forum for this technology with a purpose to bring together experts in a merging technology with coding workflow. Prior to the Summit, a panel was convened to explore roles and competencies required for coding professionals to help in transforming their skills for job success in automated workflow environments. Since there are new tools in the “coding toolbox”, it was felt that it is time to prepare for new challenges and demands. The transformation from paper to electronic records is expected to pick up the pace for automated work flows. So, AHIMA felt the need to solicit advice from the CAC Summit expert panel to guide them towards a comprehensive list of roles and competencies required to thrive as a coding professional ready to meet the challenges. Computer assisted coding software automates steps in the workflow that can be safely and efficiently processed by a system and provides new tools that allow the process to be monitored, measured and improved. As coding professionals move toward hybrid and electronic record environments, they are exposed to new computer assisted coding technologies, including natural language processing, structured input, and common document types. These technologies can be integrated with coding decision support tools, such as logic-based encoders and robust electronic coding reference tools. The traditional clinical coder’s role then is aligned with a clinical coding editor role. The accuracy of codes assigned by a computer-assisted coding tool must be validated. The coding professional as editor will recognize inappropriate application of official clinical coding rules and guidelines and verify the application of coding guidelines. The transformation of a clinical coder to clinical coding editor will require the same critical thinking skills in using clinical decision support tools, but will also engage the coding professional to contribute to design of these support and provider documentation tools. Thus the clinical coding editor will continually improve the clinical coding process at all stages: development, implementation and evaluation. Coding professionals are needed to make sure automation will not adversely affect data integrity and reliability so competencies in data monitoring and analytics are important. It was mentioned during the Summit that the best jobs in 2015 are not yet developed, so it is clear that healthcare information management positions of today may not be the same five years from now. It is natural to be fearful that advancements in technology will eliminate coding positions, but for every task that may be automated, there is another task needed to maintain, monitor and manage systems. Acceptance of change and a willingness to adapt to increasingly automated workflow will be a key factor in coding roles in the future. Additional skills and competencies needed now for using and managing the technology environment supporting the coding process. Today’s coders will be transitioned into the new roles through technology training and orientation to automated workflows. [Note: Kozie was one of 4 panelist participants at the Summit presenting: “Transitioning Coders into New Roles in a Computer-Assisted Coding (CAC) Environment”] WCU's HIA Program Recognizes Students Health Information Administration Program
HIA Seniors/Graduates: Amy Black, Candi Chandler, Megan Donaldson, Alyson Glenn, Amy Ledbetter, Bethany Lee, Julia Martinat, LaToya Petty, Mindy Ramsey, Krista Ray. HIA Juniors: Joshua Bristol, Kao Lo, Tracy McConnell, Maggie Ostwalt, Thomas Rospond, Allie Thompson Congratulations new RHIAs Brook Davey, Jessica Matthews, Ashly Stone THANKS! to the 2010 PPE Instructors Thanks to all the HIM professionals across the state that instructed and mentored our 2010 seniors (some accepted more than one student) during their Professional Practice Experiences (PPEs). These PPEs are essential elements of our educational program and we could not help new professionals enter Health Information Management without you. HIA Faculty Update Irene Mueller has retired from full-time teaching at Western at the end of Spring 2010. Irene is a 1992 alum. She returned to Western as a faculty member and PPE Coordinator in 2001, becoming Program Director from 2003-2009. Irene has been an important mentor to students and guide for the Program. She will return part-time in Spring 2011. Mary Teslow continues as Program Director for both the traditional campus program and our distance learning RHIT-to-HIA progression. Mary won the College of Health and Human Sciences Faculty Service Award for 2009-2010. Visit us on the web and become a Facebook Fan of WCU HIA. |
