AHIMA Student Membership Paper

There are several professional associations that Hospital Administrators could become members of. These associations provide networking to members within similar fields to conquer adversity and to spread ideas. The first is The American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). ACHE is an international organization. It has over 40,000 members including health care executives

Historical Factors. The issue with obtaining healthcare professionals in the past were not as prevalent as the problems today. The cost education, salaries, and the age in which many healthcare professionals were entering the healthcare field has changed dramatically. Today the cost and access to education for doctors and nurses have increased. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) president and CEO Dr. Darrell G. Kirch,

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is a recognized, respected association of health information management (HIM) professionals worldwide. Founded in 1928, AHIMA has become a respected authority for professional education and training in the effective management of health data and medical records needed to deliver quality healthcare to the public. Throughout AHIMA’s history back to 1928, the American College of Surgeons established the Association of Record Librarians of North America (ARNLA) to “elevate the standards of clinical records in hospitals and other medical institutions” (www.ahima.org, 2015). Since its formation, the Association has undergone several name changes in its evolution of the profession. In 1938 the Association changed its name to the American Association of Medical Record Librarians (AAMRL) for a more concise representation. When the Association became the American Medical Record Association in 1970, health information professionals had increased their involvement in hospitals, community health centers, and other health service facilities. As the health industry continues to evolve, the Association changed its name in 1991 to American Health Information Management Association to capture the expanded scope of clinical data beyond medical records to health information comprising the entire continuum of care.

Healthcare is my field of interest, and I have found that healthcare makes intensive use of information technology to serve the patients. Obviously, Kaiser is one of the nation’s largest non-profit health organizations that serves more than 10 million members. More importantly, it uses modern IT systems for its business operations. Kaiser has been a successful model of integrated and cost effective care with high quality services to their patients. So, I would like to be an important part of such a great healthcare organization.

ACA Medicaid Managed Care Rebates and the 340B Exemption - Wellpartner. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.wellpartner.com/aca-medicaid-manage

Curtis, G. (2006, December 28). The Benefits of Joining a Professional Association. Retrieved February 21, 2015, from Investopedia: www.investopedia.com/articles/financialcareers/06/professionalorganization.asp

Joining the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) benefits individuals and distinguishes them apart from others. AHIMA labels individual’s as competent, knowledgeable and committed to the association through quality healthcare delivery and quality information.

In 190, the AMA (American Medical Association). During the early years, membership in this organization, grew to an outstanding number of 8000 physicians in 1900 to 70,000 in 1910 (PBS.org Healthcare crisis timeline). These years would become known as the start of “organized medicine” (PBS.org)

1929: First offering of prepaid hospital insurance to members of a teachers union in Texas. Offering insurance for the employed

Patient privacy has been a major concern for patients and medical staff for many years. Patient privacy goes hand in hand with HIPPA and the privacy rule. This protects the privacy of any person of all health information (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Even with this a concern for many, a study conducted by Zogby Internation studies more than 2000 adults to obtain their views on patient privacy. This studied determined that individuals would rather have individual choice and control over personal health information instead of others (Patient Privacy Rights, 2010).

A valuable organizational site to look further into would be the Florida Health Information Management Association (FHIMA). This is the sub-compartment state association of AHIMA. In order to be a member of this site you MUST be a member of AHIMA and designate Florida as your state. Once you have done so you will be able to access the resources from this site. Their web outline is pretty basic and easy to navigate. Its goal is to support and promote health information, educate professionals in the field, provide information on technology, development, advocacy and communication. I did not delve too much further into this site as it led me to AHIMA initially to register membership there, but I noticed right away on their home page a list of events such as the upcoming FHIMA annual convention and exhibit taking place next week in Orlando. Combined with membership at AHIMA I will find this site to be a valuable tool in my career of billing and coding. It is important for us to stay informed and cast as wide of a network as possible when trying to further our education and careers. Once I graduate and become certified I will be joining both of these

Research five healthcare provider websites and see if the site mentions HIPAA, HITECH, or The Joint Commission.

The American Health Information Management Association is a body of health information professionals that majorly concerns itself with the improvement of the quality of medical records (Harman 104). These

American Medical Association (AMA) represents the nation of doctor’s. It was founded in 1847 by a group of physicianswho worried about the society's education for health, believing that this education was not an adequate level for the quality of a nation. AMA ensures that schools dedicated to medicine are teaching to an adequate level as well as increasing educational standards.It is considered one of the longest associations of medical specialists and medical students in the United States.

HealthSouth was found by Richard Scrushy in the year 1984 and was called Amcare, Inc. It opened its first facility in Arkansas and later on that year another one in Birmingham. In 1985 the company changed its name into HealthSouth Rehabilitation Corporation, in 1990 the company expanded to 50 facilities around the US.