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Happy Winter! Friday
brought snow and Monday brings rain. You have got to love Missouri
weather. There is great information for you in this e-blast. I hope you
take the time to read each article and volunteer where you feel your talents
can be used.
Enjoy the many seasons of
February.
Julie Wolter, MA, RHIA
President, MHIMA
Great speakers and topics are planned for this year's MHIMA annual meeting.
Some of the hot topics are legal EHR; POA; Advanced ICD-9-CM Coding; Auditing
and compliance issues facing CPT; Implementation of an EHR for small to
mid-sized hospitals; what's the latest in government and advocacy challenges;
how to negotiate for off shore transcription; what does your GPS have to do with
your PHR; and lots more.
Full online agenda and registration will be out soon. Keep your eyes posted on
the MOHIMA website for all the latest.
If you know someone who wants to make a difference in our
state organization, please go to the website and
nominate them! Or better yet, nominate yourself! Don't think you are
qualified? See the Call for Nominations page for the qualifications of each
position. The Nominations Committee would like to give you a terrific ballot
of nominees - please submit as soon as possible!
Online Call for Nomination Form
 Dear
HIM Professional,
MHIMA
would like to honor the excellence, dedication and service of professionals
whose efforts better the Health Information Management field in the state of
Missouri.
Think of
people who have made an impact on your HIM career. What better time than
NOW to honor extraordinary colleagues, educators, students, volunteers, and
boosters with a nomination to the state recognition they deserve.
The 2008 Award
categories are:
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Distinguished Service Award: This is MHIMA’s highest
honor. It is awarded to an individual whose record of contributions to
the HIM field over many years is truly exceptional.
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Rising Star: This award honors a gifted new
professional (practicing in the HIM field for less then 3 years)
who embodies great hope as we look to the future of the HIM profession.
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Outstanding HIM Educator: This award honors those who
demonstrate excellence in preparing the next generation of professionals
for their HIM careers.
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Outstanding HIM Student: This award recognizes the best
of the new talent being trained in our 6 HIT/HIA programs in the state.
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Outstanding MHIMA Booster: This award recognizes a
vendor that has shown continued support of MHIMA and the HIM profession.
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Outstanding MHIMA Volunteer: This award recognizes an
individual that has devoted extraordinary time to the HIM profession
through volunteering at the state and local levels in Missouri.
No one can
win unless they are nominated. So, please take the time to show your
appreciation for contributions made by a remarkable individual by nominating
someone for a 2008 MHIMA Award. Forms can be found on the MHIMA web site –
www.mohima.org/MHIMAAwards.html
Thank you,
Jeff McGraw,
RHIT
Project Team Leader
2008 MHIMA Awards Committee
 In his final State of the Union Address to the nation this past Monday
night, President George W. Bush again called on Congress to promote health
information technology. Although health IT did not receive an expanded
mention this year, the call for health IT progress has been a regular staple
of the president's State of the Union Addresses during his two terms. The
president mentioned a number of health policy issues that he wants Congress
to address, including the need to “…promote health information technology…to
ensure that decisions about your medical care are made in the privacy of
your doctor's office, not in the halls of Congress.” In the coming weeks,
the president's budget will be released and will include his designated
amounts for health information technology and the Office of the National
Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). In 2007, the president
called for $118 million for ONC activities. Congress ultimately appropriated
ONC $60.56 million.
To review the president's address, visit
http://www.whitehouse.gov/stateoftheunion/2008/index.html.
 The
revamped myPHR.com has already appeared in news article within the health
care industry—just one day after its relaunch. myPHR.com is providing
consumers with an improved, streamlined process for learning how health
information is collected and disseminated as well as how to create their own
personal health records. The Web site is an excellent tool for community
education and training purposes.
New
features available on myPHR.com include:
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Health forms available in
Spanish
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An online newsroom
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New media player with video of
personal health testimonials, AHIMA corporate documentary, and public
service announcement
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Glossary of terms
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Additional resources for
consumers
Check
out
http://www.myphr.com for more valuable information on PHRs.
 As a
part of the e-HIM® initiative, AHIMA is convening a volunteer
work group to develop working business practices to combat medical identity
theft. This group of volunteers will advance work toward identifying
policies, procedures, and practices to monitor, prevent, and mitigate the
effects of medical identity theft. Healthcare professionals seasoned in data
integrity, healthcare fraud monitoring and prevention, or response to
medical identity theft challenges are encouraged to apply. The work group
will gather and review resources and current health information practices at
a detailed level and develop HIM guidelines for medical identity theft
monitoring, prevention, and mitigation. The deliverables will educate
members and the industry on the important role HIM practices and standards
in the prevention of medical identity theft. The Medical Identity Theft
e-HIM Work Group is supported in part by FORE. The group will conduct its
work virtually in a private Community of Practice and via weekly conference
calls. There will be no face-to-face meetings. Weekly conference calls will
take place on Wednesdays between February 13 and April 30 from 11 a.m.–12
p.m. CST.
Qualified individuals are asked to submit a brief narrative qualifications
description, stating background and experience to be brought to the effort,
commit to timely completion of required deliverables, be adept at working
virtually via the CoP, and contribute to project publication results.
If
you would like to be part of this e-HIM initiative, please e-mail your
qualifications statement to
salome.jones@ahima.org. Your qualification statement should include any
relevant experience in the topic area. Volunteer submissions must be
received by the close of business Friday, February 8. e-HIM work groups are
supported in part by FORE.
 The
FORE Merit Scholarship Program enables many students to finish their
education in HIM or to continue in graduate studies each year. In 2007, 95
scholarships were awarded to students all over the country, amounting to
$108,500. Scholarships range from $1,000 to $5,000. FORE will accept
applications for 2008 Merit Scholarship until April 25.
Go to the FORE Web
site,
http://www.ahima.org/fore/student/undergrad.asp, for an application.
 Help us shape the next generation of HIM professionals
The Mentor
Are you an HIM professional willing to teach, guide, share or serve as a
reference person to students entering a HIA/HIT program? If the answer is
yes, a small amount of your time, would assist a student in growing into a
confident and knowledgeable HIM professional, preparing them for greater
success in our consistently changing field.
The rewards of mentoring are immeasurable and the impact you will have on
the student and the HIM profession priceless. If you or others in your
company become a mentor for a student, your reputation for employer of
choice is maximized and the caliber of applicants is vastly improved.
Potential Mentor must be a MHIMA member.
Each mentor that successfully completes one year of this program will
also be placed in the drawing for one free MHIMA annual meeting
registration!!!!
The Mentee
If you are a MHIMA Student member enrolled in an HIA/HIT program or a recent
graduate (within one year!), you qualify for placement. All Missouri HIA/HIT
student members are invited to join.
MHIMA Mentor Guidelines
Visit www.mohima.org and click on the
Mentoring tab to learn more about this
exciting new program.
 The National Governors Association is seeking nominations for
membership on a taskforce of the State Alliance for e-Health that will
examine regulatory and legal issues relative to maintaining appropriate
privacy and security protections while facilitating appropriate
interoperable exchange of electronic health information and the impact of
these issues on health care practices. The State Alliance for e-Health is a
consensus-based, executive-level body of state elected (and appointed)
officials to collectively address state-level health information technology
issues and challenges to interoperable electronic health information
exchange. The State Alliance effort is funded by through a federal contract
from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology, a component of the Department of Health and Human Services
Participation in this taskforce will be a one-year term beginning in
March 2008, unless otherwise determined. Candidates should have expertise
and experience in state-level and/or national-level privacy and/or security
issues related to health information exchange (preferably both),
specifically from a regulatory or legal environment focused on consumer
privacy and data security matters impacting health care practice.
Candidates also should be willing to commit the time to work on issues and
attend taskforce meetings and be a consensus-builder and team player.
Taskforce members are required to attend in-person taskforce
meetings, most of which will be in
Washington,
D.C. At least two taskforce
meetings are tentatively scheduled for April and June 2008. Appropriate
travel and accommodations expenses shall be reimbursed by the National
Governors Association. Taskforce members also will be expected to
participate in conference calls in addition to attendance at in-person
meetings.
All nominations should include the candidate’s complete contact
information and a brief biography (maximum
one page). Nomination materials must be received by
FEBRUARY 20, 2008.
Send Nominations via Email, Mail, or Fax to:
Teresa Cagnolatti
National Governors Association
Center for Best Practices
444 N. Capital St. NW, Suite 267
Washington,
D.C. 20001
Fax: (202) 624-7825
Email:
tcagnolatti@nga.org
If you have any questions about participation on the taskforce,
please contact Teresa Cagnolatti.
The National Governors Association is seeking nominations for
membership on a taskforce of the State Alliance for e-Health that will
examine issues regarding state government roles in the exchange of
electronic health information, including options and best practices related
to purchasing health care, funding initiatives, regulating industry, and
protecting consumers. The State Alliance for e-Health is a consensus-based,
executive-level body of state elected (and appointed) officials to
collectively address state-level health information technology issues and
challenges to interoperable electronic health information exchange. The
State Alliance effort is funded by through a federal contract from the
Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, a
component of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Participation in this taskforce will be a one-year term beginning in
March 2008, unless otherwise determined. Candidates should have broad
knowledge of healthcare (including market characteristics, health reform)
and health information technology issues (including technology architecture
and sustainability) and expertise or experience in state government
regulatory health or health information technology issues and health-related
public programs.
Taskforce members are required to attend in-person taskforce
meetings, most of which will be in
Washington,
D.C. At least two taskforce
meetings are tentatively scheduled for April and June 2008. Appropriate
travel and accommodations expenses shall be reimbursed by the National
Governors Association. Taskforce members also will be expected to
participate in conference calls in addition to attendance at in-person
meetings.
All nominations should include the candidate’s complete contact
information and a brief biography (maximum
one page). Nomination materials must be received by
FEBRUARY 20, 2008.
Send Nominations via Email to:
Cara Campbell
National Governors Association
Center for Best Practices
Email:
ccampbell@nga.org
If you have any questions about participation on the taskforce,
please contact Cara Campbell.
If you are making a gift in honor of a
friend or colleague in HIM, a mentor, a co-worker, or a classmate, don't
forget to request your FORE Shooting Star pin when you make a gift. The gold
lapel pin is for you to present to your honoree in recognition of all they
contribute to the HIM profession. Each Shooting Star pin is $25 and can be
mailed directly to you to present to your honoree or (at your request) FORE
can mail it to the individual on your behalf.
Click here for more information.
Reminder! The national House of Delegates
vote on the proposed CAHIIM amendment will be soon. If you have feelings,
either positive or negative, your Delegates want to hear from you! There
will be a live Chat for the Delegates on this issue on February 20 - please
contact any Delegate
with your opinion - your Delegates want to be your voice on the national
level.
Frequently Asked
Questions About HIM Program Accreditation
 Proposed Bylaw Amendment
The 2006 Legal Manual for Management of Health Information in Missouri is
available for purchase. Please
click here
for more information.
Have a best practice in HIM Department management or coding
that you’d like to share with your colleagues?
Want a chance to win a MHIMA or AHIMA gift
certificate to be used toward a continuing education project or purchase of
HIM week products?
Through a grant funded by First Class
Solutions, the Innovation in Current HIM Practice Awards have been
developed. The Awards program is intended to facilitate the exchange of
ideas and solutions that have a positive impact on our practices, the
healthcare systems we work in and the patients we serve and to recognize
those innovative, proven practices applied to the traditional paper-based
and transitional settings.
Please
click
here for an application and more information.
For your chance to win an iPhone or an iPod Nano, complete
the Communities of Practice (CoP) Scavenger Hunt. Complete the quiz and
submit it before March 5, 2008.
Have you visited a CoP lately? If you haven’t, you don’t
know what you’re missing! Log on and discover a virtual world of
indispensable resources, such as:
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Discussion Threads—Put the entire HIM community
at your fingertips! Have a problem you need advice on? Post your
question. Want to know more about a specific topic or where to find
helpful resources? Discussion threads are a terrific way to get
information and to give it, demonstrating your professional expertise.
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Community Links, FAQs, Announcements, and Resources
—There’s a whole wealth of possibilities for boosting your professional
knowledge.
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The FORE Library: HIM Body of Knowledge (BoK)—Quickly
and easily access the information you need to be successful. Spanning
the entire theory and practice of health information management (HIM),
the BoK is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provides you with
up-to-the-minute information from the Journal of AHIMA, Practice
Briefs, and much more! Visit today!
And now through March 5, you have an opportunity to be
entered to win an iPhone or one of two iPod Nanos. Complete the CoP
Scavenger Hunt quiz, submit and you will be entered. You must receive at
least 8 out of 10 correct to be entered to win.
Log on to
https://secure.ahima.org/cop/ScavengerHuntQuiz.aspx today for your
chance to win. Then enter your AHIMA ID number and Password.
What: 2009 Annual Meeting
When: April 29, 30 and May 1, 2009
Where:
Lodge of Four Seasons in Lake of the Ozarks,
MO
The Lodge of Four Seasons is located on Lake of the
Ozarks in Lake Ozark, Missouri, 2 ½ hours from both St. Louis and Kansas
City, and 90 minutes from Springfield. The Lodge offers exceptional Lake
views, a 54 hole championship golf course, and a full-service spa. It is
also home to the lake's largest marina featuring pontoon boats, wave
runners, parasailing, fishing, tubing and much more.
Hope to see you there!
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