The Role Of Registered Health Information Administrators

1.1 Identify legislation and codes of practice that relate to handling information in health and socail care

HIM Personnel play an important role in the Medicare system. Medicare has transitioned from “fee for service” to providing incentive payments for providers that issue high quality care at affordable prices. In order to achieve the “pay-for-quality” incentives hospitals and health care officials must improve their documentation processes. “If it isn’t documented, it wasn’t done” is more important than ever. It is the responsibility of the HIM professional to ensure the integrity of the patient chart. HIM professionals monitor the quality of documentation and ensure all clinical documentation is complete and accurate. HIM professionals are the key to identifying process problems while keeping in mind patient safety, quality of care, and revenue integrity. Medicare requires that hospitals report quality improvement measures in order to receive payments; HIM professionals can directly impact Medicare incentive payments. HIM professionals are directly involved with the Medicare Audit Improvement Act. The HIM professional collects health data that is subject to the audits; HIM professionals are the point of contact for responding to Medicare audit requests.

Healthcare technology has grown and evolved over time. With the conversion to electronic medical records and the creation of social media just to name a few, ensuring patient privacy is of the utmost importance for healthcare facilities in this day and age. In order for an organization to avoid hefty fines, it is imperative that a healthcare administrator maintains compliance with the standards and regulations associated with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This paper will provide a summary

The fifth member of the team is the medical records manager. She has a bachelors in healthcare management. Her expertise with HIPAA rules and regulations is crucial. It is her job to evaluate security of the new systems to ensure that patient confidentiality is not breached. She will have input form other healthcare managers as well as others in the medical records department.

Responsibility of the medical office specialist she must understand that she is under contract to keep the patients Health information (PHI) confidential. Managed care, and outlines the role of the medical office specialist he/she will have to organize (MCO) contracts. It also explains the importance of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) this person's role and responsibility of the medical office specialist in protecting all patients' protected health information (PHI) (Vines-Allen,D. 4/2015 pg 19). The Privacy Rule pertains to all PHI, including paper and electronic forms.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed by congress in 1996, and helps to ensure the privacy and security of Electronic Health Records (EHR's). By following the rules and regulations set forth under HIPAA, we can ensure the safety of patients' EHR's. We are responsible for protecting patients' records, and there are many measures we can take in order do this. Firstly, we must always keep patients' health information private. This means no discussing the records with people that are not authorized to know, and even then, we should only disclose the minimum necessary amount of information possible. For covered entities, we must designate a privacy and security officer to ensure the privacy

Quality patient care requires the communication of relevant information between health professionals and/or health systems. Healthcare professionals who regularly work with patients and their confidential medical records should contribute to the development of standards, policies, and laws that protect patient privacy and the confidentiality of health records/information.

If you are interested in an exciting career in health information management or getting started in your new career in HIM, then this is your guide to career development, improved salary, and greater success in your chosen profession. Receiving an AHIMA credential puts you in a unique organization. AHIMA credentials are earned through a stimulating platform through extensive education, experience, and maintained through endless review and continuing education. The experience, cost, and education requirements vary between the different AHIMA credentials that are available for you to obtain. Some benefits of attaining the AHIMA certification credentials are demonstrated capabilities, successful income, and devotion to high standards of care, quality,

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.

There are various legal and ethical aspects of Health Information Management. Government regulations in healthcare continue to make drastic changes. In Healthcare, lawsuits become more and more complex and issues increase. It is important for Health Information managers to have knowledge of healthcare laws.

In most offices, and outpatient services has a team where the physician is unable to monitor the team at all times. For example, in a pharmacy setting there are pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and clerks at times. The majority of the time the clerks have the most patient contact where the pharmacists are unable to monitor them at all times making sure protected health information is not spread. In the HIPAA rules, covered entities include health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care professionals who electronically transmit any health information in connection with transactions for which HHS has adopted standards (Tomes, 2007). In writing, the people who are liable for violations are one those providers who bill electronically are covered entities. Directors or officers can commit violations by selling individually identifiable health information to a drug company for marketing purposes, they can also be charged if the director and or officer aided a covered entity’s commission of the HIPAA criminal act, and lastly can be heavily prosecuted if they commit identity theft utilizing patients protected health information (Tomes,

The Health Information Management (HIM) existence to the health care provides quality to patient care from different settings connecting administrative, clinical and operation responsibility. Clinical, legal and financial knowledge allow HIM professionals to manage patient’s health record, capturing healthcare

The department of Health and Human Services protects and guides the health and well being of individuals here in America (Thacker, 2014). They fulfill these duties providing Americans with adequate and efficient health and human services and monitoring services designed to increase the efficiency of care in the health system (Thacker, 2014). One of the services being monitored by the department of Health and Human Services is the electronic health record system, which carries private and vital information of patient’s health record enabling all eligible participating health workers access to these records (Thacker, 2014). A breach of the protective health information of patients in a health organization creates chaos as these are against the health insurance portability and accountability (HIPAA) law (Thacker, 2014). Hence, measure will have to be put in place to determine what caused the breach and how to rectify it to ensure the breach never happens again (Thacker, 2014).

The interesting ways that health information can assist is through healthcare data analyst. With data analyst, this help with managing, gathering, and conforming data for analysis or reports. Healthcare analyst assistances health care providers and patients to appropriately access and securely share a patient’s vital medical information electronically—improving the speed, quality, safety and cost of patient care

Health information managers manage all aspects of the content of patient medical records and patient information systems. Their responsibilities can include aspects of clinical information documentation capture and maintenance, data analytics and interpretation, as well as designing, implementing, and maintaining health information technology systems. They are commited to the timely and accurate collection of health information and its maintenance, storage, retention, and disclosure, Health Information Management Professionals ensure that such information is kept private, secure, and in accordance with the law.