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

Health informatics is an evolving specialization that links information technology, communications and healthcare to improve the quality and safety of patient care.  Health Informatics is "the interdisciplinary study of the design, development, adoption and application of IT-based innovations in healthcare services delivery, management and planning.

Though the concept of health IT includes the use of technology in the healthcare field, health informatics is not synonymous with health IT. Instead, informatics is “the science, the how and why, behind health IT,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health informatics applies informatics concepts, theories, and practices to real-life situations to achieve better health outcomes. This includes collecting, storing, analyzing, and presenting data in a digital format.

The tremendous growth in the health informatics field was spurred in large part by the acceleration of electronic health record (EHR) adoption brought about by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ “meaningful use” incentive program.

As providers move quickly to embrace EHRs, which are designed to store and share information from all providers involved in a patient’s care, health informatics specialists will continue to be in high demand as healthcare facilities implement new systems, upgrade existing databases and work toward achieving the three stages of “meaningful use.”

CareerBuilder.com ranks health informatics as the No. 1 job opportunity in an emerging industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of health information specialists is projected to grow 22 percent through 2022, far faster than the average growth for all occupations in the U.S.

 

Job titles in this industry include medical records and health information technicians and health information clerk.

 

 

 

http://www.usfhealthonline.com/resources/healthcare/what-is-health-informatics/#.VDV3O8J0yM8

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hsrinfo/informatics.html

Will We See ICD-10 in 2015?

We all geared up for the ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation in October 2014.  Hospitals and others spent millions of dollars training staff and getting systems ready to handle the implementation of ICD-10-CM/PCS.  Coders spent hours training to become proficient in using ICD-10-CM/PCS and physicians attended education sessions to learn how ICD-10-CM/PCS would affect them and what was required of their documentation in medical records. Students were prepared to code ICD-10-CM/PCS and then struggled with learning ICD-9-CM/PCS. Most everyone was ready for the implementation and anxious to begin this new chapter in coding. 

To everyone’s surprise, word came earlier this year that congress had delayed the implementation of ICD-10-CM/PCS.  Immediately AHIMA went to work to get questions answered regarding the delay and began a campaign to pressure CMS to finalize a date for implementation of ICD-10 CM/PCS.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did issue a rule finalizing October 1, 2015; the new compliance date for health care providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses to transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS.  

What can you do to help see that ICD-10-CM/PCS is implemented October 1, 2015?  AHIMA has sent several emails encouraging members to write their Congressman or woman and express their support for the new ICD-10-CM/PCS date.  Additionally, let Congress know that the code sets must be implemented to improve patient care and reduce healthcare costs.  The more HIM professionals get involved and educate others on the importance of ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation, the stronger the message to CMS that we support ICD-10-CM/PCS implementation and that we believe there should be no more delays. 

Stephanie Selsor CCS, CCS-P

Congratulations to our 2014 RACE Awards recipients from Missouri!

AHIMA Coding Roundtable Coordinator Recognition for Excellence

2nd Place – Coding Roundtable Coordinator Recognition for Excellence – Kay Piper

AHIMA CSA Team Recognition for Coding Roundtable Activities

2nd Place – AHIMA CSA Team Recognition for Roundtable Activities

Determining a Productivity Benchmark

Most of the traditional HIM roles are straight production based.  Chart analysis, coding, release of information, scanning/filing, etc., are all about completing tasks in a set amount of time.  While newer HIM roles in areas such as auditing, patient portal support, Information Governance and the like are not set tasks, the core functions of your department are, and as such, setting meaningful and justifiable production standards is an important practice.

I’ve had the unfortunate opportunity to have to testify in an employee separation case about how we came about our production standards and whether or not they were “fair.”  Developing standards is as important to keeping the hospital running as it is to protecting you and your organization.

Thus, I’ve always used a three part plan when I need to create or update a production standard.

Step 1: Are there national benchmarks?  What are other hospitals doing in this area?

I want to be upfront and let you know that when it comes to setting production rules, I think national benchmarks or hospital comparisons can be a big waste.  It’s been said hundreds of millions of times, but no two organizations are alike.  No two hospitals have their EMR’s set-up exactly the same to make chart analysis equal between facilities.  No two document imaging processes are alike.  Think of all the differences in volumes, systems used, whether forms have barcodes or not, etc.  I think that, for production at least, it’s too hard to say that what hospital X does, hospital A can copy.

Having said that, by understanding industry numbers, it can give you some cover should you ever have to justify it down the road because if you say you want your inpatient coders to code 37 charts per day, but everyone else is doing ~21, something tells me you’re going to have problems.

When we updated our scanning production rates about two years after go-live, one of the first things we did was ask our system vendor about their recommended standards.  We asked an outside consultant we’d used what her thoughts were for the go-lives she’s supported.  We posted on list serves such as – shameless plug alert – AHIMA’s Engage site to solicit numbers.

The goal was just to get an idea of what was going on in the industry at that point.  We would try to stratify responses to find likes institutions – Academic medical centers, safety-nets, same EMR vendor, etc. – but in the end, this was really just used as support should we need it.

Step 2: Perform a time study by the staff doing the task

Soliciting staff input, whenever possible, is definitely the way to go. I know that’s not earth-shattering stuff, but if people feel like they had some say in how they’ll be judged, their more prone to go along with it.

Thus, obtaining staff input, even if it ends up on the cutting room floor, is a good idea.

So when it comes time to update production standards, we sit down with staff and ask them to conduct their own time study – typically over a two week period at a minimum – and then share their results with us.

Some staff will continue to work just fine and do as they’ve always done, while others may use this opportunity to go slower trying to get a lower – and thus more easily attainable – production standard.  I’ve always been a fan of the saying “Don’t assume your staff are malicious,” and for the most part I don’t, but it’s human nature and some staff will dip their production thinking they’re helping themselves.  News flash: they aren’t.

Anyway, by having staff perform these time studies, it makes them feel like they have some control.  We sometimes perform blinded time studies to get a more accurate count, meaning the management team will pick a two week period and use it for determining staff production times, without letting the staff know.  It’s kind of sneaky, but offsets people who under perform on purpose.

Step 3: Have the management team perform a time study

My last step is always to have the rock stars of a role – typically the team lead, supervisor or manager – then do their own time study.  They typically work faster – maybe even better – than staff who do the work day in and out.  They’ll follow the exact same parameters as the staff in the Step 2, but they almost always have a higher production rate. 

So what happens next?

What I’ve typically done is averaged the time study results from the staff and management team, and then add 10%.  So, for example, if when doing an ROI time study we found that the staff processed, on average, 50 requests per day and the team leader did 60, their average is 55, with 10% added on top to make our goal 61 (I always round up for production).

You  might think that this method isn’t exactly the fastest way to get this done, and hey, I 100% agree.  But coming from someone who has had those standards scrutinized under oath, taking a little longer to make sure you have a justifiable standard isn’t a bad thing.

One other thing to keep in mind: I like to think that most standards should be checked and reviewed at least annually.  It doesn’t mean that you’ll update them each year, but with the HIM functions changing so quickly now, the days of having that one standard for filling paper charts and having it set for years is a thing of the past.  It also keeps your staff on their toes and working to the top of their abilities.

Seth Jeremy Katz, MPH, RHIA

President Elect

Welcome to MoHIMA's New Blog!!!!

Hello all.

Let me be the first to welcome you to the latest venture into social media by the MoHIMA board.  The 2014 board will use this blog to accomplish a few things.  First, it’ll be an open forum for the each board member to discuss a topic that interests them.  Each month, a different board member will write a post about an aspect of HIM from their perspective.  Another use for this blog is to post articles and links that may be of interests to our members. 

It may start off slow, but we hope that you’ll find this blog useful and will provide us feedback about how we’re doing, and future topics you may want to see.

With our further delay….our first post…