It has been quite a year in the privacy world, hasn't it? The OCR website has reported 500 breaches of unsecured PHI affecting 500 or more individuals, totaling more than 12 million patients. There has been an increase in HIPAA-related criminal sentences involving jail time. And private lives are no longer private.
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) wants improved and unified health information governance to standardize EHR use. AHIMA says the move will lead to technology that provides better, more efficient patient care.
It's December, the end of a long 2012 for you and your HIM staff. Whether you have 50 coders or five, you may be putting the final touches on an end-of-the-year celebration.
As an HIM professional, you have long managed the quality and integrity of the health record. You know all components inside and out, aid in the design of forms to accurately and completely capture the necessary information, and point out potential data discrepancies in the record prior to finalization.
The monetary reward offered through the second stage of the Medicare and Medicaid incentive program shouldn't be the only reason HIM professionals embrace the concept of being "meaningful users" of certified EHR technology (CEHRT).
In the final quarterly benchmarking survey of 2012, MRB examined the release of information (ROI) practices of hospitals with hybrid or fully electronic records-just as we did nearly two years ago.
Editor's note: The following scenario is provided by Laurie A. Rinehart-Thompson, JD, RHIA, CHP, assistant professor of clinical allied medicine in the School of Allied Medical Professions at Ohio State University in Columbus. Present the scenario portion to your HIM staff to see how they would handle the issue.
Over the last six months, The Joint Commission's survey have continued to show a pattern in regard to findings related to the Record of Care and Treatment chapter of the Joint Commission accreditation manual. The challenging standards are outlined below, including tips for compliance.
