200 results.
[1] 2
Healthcare Mergers and Acquisitions have a Profound Impact on the need for IG
Author: White, Jim
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: April 20, 2017
One of the more significant healthcare trends we see today is the consolidation (mergers and acquisitions) of hospitals, physician groups, and insurance companies into larger integrated systems. The goal of this activity have been focused on: increased market share, increased financia....
Making Amendments to Health Records (2017 Update)
Author: Burton, Ben; Downing, Katherine
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2017
Editor’s Note: This Practice Brief update supplants part of the 2013 Practice Brief “Patient Access and Amendment to Health Records.”
Before April 2003, a patient’s legal right to amend his or her health records was limited to those patients treated at hea....
Long Term Digital Preservation and IG: The Evolving When, Where, and How Strategy
Author: Palkie, Brooke
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: March 16, 2017
As I begin digging into the intricacies of long-term digital preservation (LTDP) of electronic healthcare data, I am realizing how little I knew. The ever-changing formats and standards for accessing personal health information (PHI) come to mind. Once obsolete, how will this information b....
Keep Out: Unsecured PHI Inside
Author: Journal of AHIMA Staff
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: March 2017
Crumbling, decaying, and abandoned hospitals aren’t just physically dangerous examples of urban decrepitude—they also could be prime targets for medical identity thieves who know what they’re doing.
Take the case of Chicago, IL’s Edgewater Medical Center, a....
Information Asset Inventory for Information Governance - Retired
Author: Downing, Kathy; Fahy, Kristi; Foster, MeShawn; Hermann, Michelle; Meehan, Ann M.; Washington, Lydia; Woebkenberg, Jami
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2017
When an organization begins to implement an enterprise information governance (IG) program, one of the major initial tasks is to understand the scope and types of information in its possession. An inventory of an organization’s information is necessary in order to facilitate decision maki....
From the HIE Point of View: When is Data Too Old to Use? It Depends
Author: VanOver, Jennifer; Lusk, Katherine
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: November 16, 2016
When health information management involved keeping paper records in file rooms, a rule of thumb was that after two years with infrequent activity, medical records were often moved to off-site storage. This reduced the cost of maintaining medical records onsite long term. The records often....
Facility Closure: How to Get In, Get Out, and Get What Is Important
Author: Lail, Pamela J; Laird, Sarah S; McCall, Kris; Naretto, Joe; York, April
Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management
Publication Date: October 2016
Abstract
This article examines the current state of affairs of the health information management role in facility closure as well as the impact on revenue cycle operations. Health information management professionals are uniquely positioned to assist an organization in closure eff....
Pain at the Printer: How To Stop HIM's Addiction To Printing Records From The EHR
Author: Carey, Susan; Beahan, Sally
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2016
Historically, health information management (HIM) staff has provided paper copies of medical records in response to authorized requests. No specialty patient education was needed because the paper record was essentially self-explanatory.
But with the ongoing industry trans....
Making HIPAA Work for You: Discussing Record Access (and More) for Consumers
Author: Butler, Mary
Source: Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: August 01, 2016
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken many steps to try and clear up consumer confusion regarding the more consumer-centric aspects of HIPAA’s Privacy Rule and Security Rule. The most recent efforts include the Office of the National Coordinator’s Patien....
Healthcare Privacy Considerations of Body-Worn Cameras
Author: DeMasters, Dana; Deanna, Peterson
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2016
A police officer with a body-worn camera records video of an altercation in an emergency department involving a patient who has become violent. During the recording another patient not involved in the altercation has their image captured. The officer leaves the facility wit....
Consumer-Facing Health Information Practices (2016 update) - Retired
Author: Kadlec, Lesley
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: January 2016
Increased adoption and use of health information technology by healthcare providers has made greater consumer access to health information possible, as well as increased general engagement in health maintenance and care. The opportunities for improving quality and efficiency afforded by this ne....
Relating Effective Information Governance and Litigation
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: October 15, 2015
As stated in the preamble of AHIMA’s Information Governance Principles for HealthcareTM (IGPHC), “AHIMA defines information governance as an organization-wide framework for managing information throughout its lifecycle and supporting the organization’s strategy, operation....
Legal Survey Responses Offer Window to IG in Healthcare
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: September 16, 2015
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author alone and should not be interpreted otherwise or as advice.
For this month’s post, I’d like to discuss the results of the 2015 Legal Hold and Data Preservation Benchmark Survey re....
Evaluating the Information Governance Principles for Healthcare: Retention and Disposition
Author: Datskovsky, Galina; Hedges, Ron; Empel, Sofia; Washington, Lydia
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2015
Editor’s Note: This is the final installment in a series of four articles that discuss the eight Information Governance Principles for Healthcare™.
AHIMA’s Information Governance Principles for Healthcare™ (IGPHC) provide a framework for healthcare organizations to enhance....
Legal Perspective on the Importance of Effective Information Governance
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: August 21, 2015
Editor’s note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author alone and should not be interpreted otherwise or as advice.
AHIMA’s newly developed Information Governance Principles for Healthcare (IGPHC)TM offer healthcare professionals an informat....
Considering the Implications of a Court Order for ESI
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: July 15, 2015
In last month’s Legal e-Speaking, “ESI Meets Court Order,” I posed a series of questions about preservation and spoliation of electronically stored information (ESI) in the context of an actual order entered in a state court. I also posed those questions to members of The....
ESI Meets Court Order
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: AHIMA blog post | Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: June 11, 2015
I’ve written for AHIMA on various subjects, including preservation and spoliation of electronically stored information (ESI). This month, I want to ask you to think about both.
To start, consider this premise: The parties to a civil action agreed to an order “on D....
Retention and Disposition Policies Could Soon Become Irrelevant
Author: Butler, Mary
Source: Journal of AHIMA - website
Publication Date: May 20, 2015
As the costs associated with data storage and storage infrastructure continue to shrink—thanks to innovations such as cloud computing—individuals who manage records for a living must accept a new reality: destroying information and setting retention schedules will soon b....
Digging Out from Data Hoarding: Using Governance to Manage Information Assets and Prevent Digital Data Avalanches
Author: Butler, Mary
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: October 2014
If a brazen television show producer were looking to cash in on the popularity of shows about hoarders, observing a health information management (HIM) department could be a good place to start.
Stories about hoarding records abound. Some hospitals have reinforced their fl....
Risks and Results of Data Spoliation
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: October 2014
The September e-HIM Best Practices article answered some basic questions about preservation of records in the context of civil litigation. This article will consider the question, “What if something goes wrong?”
Spoliation Defined
Health information management (H....
How and Why to Preserve Health Records During Litigation
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2014
The term preservation, when used in a legal context, refers to placing information identified as relevant to a civil or criminal US court case in a legal hold to ensure the data is not destroyed or tampered with.
Health information managers, or anyone who works with records....
Healthcare On Demand: An Expanding World of Telemedicine Raises New Questions for HIM Professionals
Author: Eramo, Lisa A
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2014
It’s midnight, and your cough has been unrelenting. You power up your laptop and visit one of the many websites that feature online access to physicians 24/7. Within minutes, you’re engaging in a video consultation with a board-certified physician who evaluates you, provides clinical inst....
Federal Changes Proposed for eDiscovery Litigation Rules: Several Modifications will Directly Impact HIM
Author: Hedges, Ron
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: August 2014
Courts don’t remain civil on their own. It takes well-crafted procedural rules, enforced by knowledgeable attorneys and judges, to keep the American legal system humming along in an orderly fashion. Aiding with the civility of the law is the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (Federal Rules....
Governance Apples and Oranges: Differences Exist Between Information Governance, Data Governance, and IT Governance
Author: Dimick, Chris
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2013
Though sometimes used interchangeably, data governance and information governance are two distinct terms with very different meanings. And information technology (IT) governance is something completely different as well. With AHIMA pushing its members and the healthcare industry to embrace information governance as a major tent pole of HIM work, it is important for HIM professionals to understand the difference and interrelation of these governance terms and just what an individual can do to help foster governance initiatives that aim to improve health records and patient care....
Retention and Destruction of Health Information
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: October 2013
Editor's note: This update supersedes the August 2011 practice brief "Retention and Destruction of Health Information."
Health information management professionals traditionally have performed retention and destruction functions using all media, including paper, images, optic....
Patient Access and Amendment to Health Records (2013 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: October 2013
This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.
Rules for Handling and Maintaining Metadata in the EHR
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2013
Metadata is the foundation on which information management systems are built. It is required to support the various uses of data, to manage the information and record lifecycle, to verify data integrity, authenticity, and reliability, and to evaluate the relative importance of data and informat....
Segmenting Data Privacy: Cross-industry Initiative Aims to Piece Out Privacy Within the Health Record
Author: Coleman, Johnathan
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2013
Not all protected health information (PHI) is created equally. Some health data requires special handling according to law, organizational policies, or patient preferences. For appropriate sharing of health information to occur, a patient must trust that a provider organization will proper....
Rebooting Release of Information: Patient Portals are Changing ROI, but Analog Record Release is Still Necessary
Author: Crawford, Mark
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2013
Patient portals are becoming commonplace in healthcare facilities, which have installed the technology to provide patients and physicians immediate online access to electronic medical records. Adoption of patient portals will continue to increase, driven in part by stage 2 “meaningfu....
Consumer-Facing Health Information Practices - Retired
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2012
Increased adoption and use of health information technology by healthcare providers has made greater consumer access to health information possible, as well as increased general engagement in health maintenance and care. The opportunities for improving quality and efficiency afforded by this ne....
Data Ownership Evolves with Technology
Author: Demster, Barbara
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2012
Technology has transformed the world of health information management (HIM), bringing about change for many of the field’s longstanding professional concepts and work methods. The classic rule of ownership in the words-on-paper era of health records was that “the paper (physical medium) belong....
Identifying Issues in Facility and Provider Mergers and Acquisitions. Appendix A: Information Management Checklist for Mergers and Acquisitions
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: February 2012
Action Item Responsible Party Comments Completion Date
Obtain a list of all health information and technology systems. For example:
Practice A Encoder
Practice B Encoder
Practice A Lab Module
Practice B Lab Module
Practice A Billing System
Practice B Billing Syste....
Identifying Issues in Facility and Provider Mergers and Acquisitions (2012 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: February 2012
Editor's note: This practice brief supplants the November 1996 brief "Managing Health Information in Facility Mergers and Acquisitions."
Healthcare's rapidly changing environment has prompted an increase in mergers and acquisitions as facilities and providers strive to s....
Identifying Issues in Facility and Provider Mergers and Acquisitions. Appendix B: HIM Worklist: Setting Up a New Clinic
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: February 2012
Purpose:
To ensure all health information-related tasks are addressed in the process of setting up a new clinic.
Departments Needed: Contracting, Marketing, IS, HIM, Patient Management Systems, EMR Team, Clinic Management, Billing/Coding Questions to Answer:
1. What is the legal name....
Managing Nontext Media in Healthcare Practices - Retired
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2011
The most common type of media used in healthcare practices in the past several decades has been text. Text is comprised of printed words, letters, and numbers translated into information used for diagnosis and treatment.
Today's healthcare practices have adopted more sophisticated me....
Document Management and Imaging Best Practices to Manage the Hybrid Record
Author: Dooling, Julie A; Downing, Kathy
Source: AHIMA Convention
Publication Date: October 02, 2011
Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009, Stage I meaningful use incentives focus on electronically capturing health information in a structured format. While scanned images do not meet these requirements, electronic document management syst....
Understanding Patient Access and Amendments
Author: Wiedemann, Lou Ann
Source: AHIMA Convention
Publication Date: October 02, 2011
The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA, 45 CFR, section 164.524 and 164.526) and subsequent privacy rule revisions under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act changed how covered entities approach a patient’s right to ac....
Retention and Destruction of Health Information. Appendix D: AHIMA's Recommended Retention Standards (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: August 2011
This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.
Protecting Patient Information after a Facility Closure. Appendix B: Sample Notice When Records Will Be Transferred to a Storage Facility (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: August 2011
Protecting Patient Information after a Facility Closure. Appendix E: Sample Certificate of Destruction (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: August 2011
Protecting Patient Information after a Facility Closure. Appendix D: Health Information Management Checklist for Acquisitions and Closures (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: August 2011
This document is intended to be used as a guide and is not intended to be all-inclusive. It should be adapted to the setting or organization type.
Purpose: To ensure appropriate health information management tasks are processed during the acquisition, closure, or dissolution of an org....
Protecting Patient Information after a Facility Closure. Appendix A: Sample Notice When Records Will Be Transferred to Another Healthcare Provider (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: August 2011
Retention and Destruction of Health Information (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: August 2011
This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.
Protecting Patient Information after a Facility Closure (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: August 2011
Editor's note: This update supplants the November 2003, March 1999, and September 1996 practice briefs "Protecting Patient Information after a Facility Closure."
Today's healthcare environment fosters competitiveness and complex business relationships. These environment....
Retention and Destruction of Health Information. Appendix C: Accreditation Agency Retention Standards (2011 update)
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief attachment
Publication Date: August 2011
This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.
Managing Legacy Systems for Compliance and Data Protection
Author:
Source: AHIMA online training
Publication Date: May 17, 2011
This webinar addresses the management of legacy systems around patient care and compliance directives, how to manage, retain and maintain legacy systems to limit the amount of lost data, and preserve important data to expedite legal cases and payments.
Physician Practices, E-Prescribing and Accessing Information to Improve Prescribing Decisions
Author: Center for Studying Health System Change
Source: External web site
Publication Date: May 05, 2011
Privacy Rights Never Die: And Sometimes Complications Linger On
Author: AHIMA
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2011
The laws surrounding release of a deceased patient's records can lead to complex and frustrating situations in the HIM department. Just who has access rights depends on federal law, state law, and individual circumstances, illustrated by the two scenarios below.
Last summer the Office....
HIE Management and Operational Considerations
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2011
Editor's note: This update supplants the November-December 2006 practice brief "Privacy and Security in Health Information Exchange".
The primary function of a health information exchange (HIE) is to permit access to clinical information on demand at the point of care. HIEs enabl....
DIY ROI: Putting Release of Information in the Hands of Patients
Author: Haas, Mark
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2011
Since 2007 Massachusetts General Hospital has been working toward a do-it-yourself model for records requests. Not only does the organization save time and money when patients fulfill their own requests, the model also aligns with the emerging philosophy of patient-centered care, wher....
Cloud Computing 101
Author: Dinh, Angela K.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2011
In the past several years cloud computing has gained substantial recognition. However, it is still a relatively new concept for those in the healthcare industry.
Before adopting cloud-based services or applications, organizations need to understand how cloud computing works, the typ....
Enabling Patient Access: Data Stewardship Involves More Than Data Use and Disclosure
Author: Rode, Dan
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2011
Data stewardship is a hot topic. As this issue went to press, the Department of Health and Human Services was expected to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking on accounting of disclosures, an expansion of the HIPAA requirements mandated by the HITECH Act.
Rulemaking was also expe....
Preparing for a Deposition on an EHR: New Types of Information Lead to New Types of Questions
Author: Dimick, Chris
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: March 2011
Lawsuits can hinge on a deposition. And while HIM professionals have long been called on to attest to the production of the paper medical record, electronic health record systems are introducing a whole new set of questions and considerations.
Providing an accurate deposition on an....
Managing External Reviewer Requests in the EHR: Considerations, Requirements, and Associated Expenses
Author: Wiedemann, Lou Ann
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: March 2011
Managing third-party requests for health information is a routine function for every HIM department. HIM professionals regularly receive record requests from third parties for a variety of reasons, such as revenue integrity audits or admission validation reviews.
Historically, fulfi....
Power of Attorney? The Unexpected Is Always One Record Request Away
Author: AHIMA
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: January 2011
A 45-year-old man rushes into a Maryland hospital's HIM department requesting the full medical records of both his 70-year-old mother and father. Both had been previously treated by the hospital for complications from Alzheimer's disease.
Some years previously the mother and father e....
Print Restrictions in the EHR: Pros, Cons, and Recommended Practices
Author: Dinh, Angela K.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: January 2011
The electronic health record's promise of a paperless environment has been around for decades, but it has proven difficult to keep. Regardless of how an EHR is implemented or the phase of implementation, paper remains a staple of the health record for quite some time after conversion and, in m....
Sorting out Advance Directives
Author: Dimick, Chris
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: January 2011
Important differences exist in advance directives. Only some grant access to another person's medical records, and that can change with time.
After 50 years of marriage, Rosa Taylor-Payne noticed even the slightest change in her husband, Marvell Payne. So she started to worry when he....
Streamlining Patient and Physician Communication: IT Systems and Internet Offer Paths for Effective Communication for Patient Care
Author: Warner, Diana
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2010
Many organizations still struggle with ongoing and timely clinical communication among physicians and between physicians and their patients. Physician-to-physician communication for ongoing patient care is especially complex. It requires identifying all physicians involved in the care of a pat....
Migrating from Paper to EHRs in Physician Practices - Retired
Author: AHIMA
Source: AHIMA practice brief
Publication Date: November 2010
A successful transition from paper-based charts to electronic health records (EHRs) in the physician practice or clinic requires careful coordination of many moving parts. A myriad of challenging and complex decisions must be made, ranging from selection and implementation to training and maint....
Yes, Virginia, There Is a Paper Record!
Author: Berryhill, Tammy Lynn
Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management
Publication Date: October 2010
Many of us have preconceived notions about how we will work within the new electronic environment as we help the implementation process succeed. Perhaps we need to also look at the negative impact some of these changes have had on HIM personnel. Some may find their tasks outsourced, o....
Data Security Compliance in IT Asset Disposition
Author: Adam, Chris
Source: AHIMA Convention
Publication Date: September 28, 2010
Introduction
Stories about the theft of confidential data have made headlines all too frequently over the past few years. This reality is forcing some businesses to face up to an inconvenient truth: Many organizations have no reliable procedures to ensure that the computers and rel....
Medical Record Retention and Media Formats for Medical Records
Author: Medicare Learning Network
Source: U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Publication Date: August 10, 2010
E-Discovery from the Judicial Perspective
Author: DeLoss, Gerald E.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: July 2010
In a typical legal action, judges have a different perspective on the production of electronically stored information (ESI) than do HIM professionals. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, case law, and past experiences with discovery disputes play an important role in how judges view e-discov....
Managing Existing Patient Records in the Transition to EHRs in Physician Practices
Author: AHIMA Physician Practice Council
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: June 2010
Arguably, the greatest challenge for a medical practice implementing an electronic health record (EHR) system is change. Setting up new software and hardware is typically easier than disrupting and reconfiguring the practice’s processes and determining how to handle its existing paper records.....
Strong State Role in HIE: Lessons from the South Carolina Health Information Exchange
Author: Lee, Lorraine; Whitcomb, Kathleen; Galbreth, Michael; Patterson, David
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: June 2010
Backed with fresh ARRA funding, SCHIEx blends business models with a strong state role and a belief that HIE is a public good.
The field of health information exchange is littered with examples of failed or defunct efforts, such as those in Santa Barbara (CA), Seattle, Cle....
Using Clinical Photos in EHRs
Author: Wiedemann, Lou Ann
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2010
For most organizations, patient-identifiable source data include data from interpretations, summaries, or notes. These data are usually maintained within the originating department, separate from the HIM department and the health record, and sometimes in a different database. Examples incl....
Easing e-Discovery: The Electronic Discovery Reference Model and the Information Management Reference Model
Author: Horn, William S
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: January 2010
The Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) project offers guidelines and standards for e-discovery. It has helped reduce the cost, time, and manual work associated with e-discovery and has proven to be invaluable to those engaged in litigation support since its creation in 2005.
Dispute Resolution: Planning for Disputed Information in EHRS and PHRS
Author: Washington, Lydia; Katsh, Ethan; Sondheimer, Norman
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2009
Healthcare providers receive relatively few patient requests to correct or change information in their records. In part, that has been because patients had poor access to their information. EHRs, PHRs, and private and public initiatives may change all that. Is healthcare ready?
A per....
Managing Electronic Information Beyond the Health Record
Author: Nunn, Sandra L.; O'Connor, Michele
Source: AHIMA Convention
Publication Date: October 05, 2009
Introduction
Health Information Management professionals have embraced the challenge of implementing and managing the Electronic Health Record. This presentation will demonstrate how to stretch the skills the HIM professional developed in building the Electronic Health Record (EHR) to mov....
Managing Audit Trails
Author: Nunn, Sandra L.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2009
Audit trails are records with retention requirements, and HIM professionals should include them in their management of electronic health record content. Legal and compliance needs drive audit trail management, but it is complicated by the challenges that IT departments face in storing these la....
HealthDataRights.org
Author:
Source: External web site
Publication Date: June 23, 2009
Enabling HIE While Protecting Privacy: An Overview of State Legislative Approaches
Author: Mertz, Kory
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: June 2009
States view health IT as a key component of their efforts to improve healthcare, and in recent years they have made significant efforts to address the challenges to its implementation. From 2007 to 2008, state legislatures introduced more than 380 bills with provisions relating to health IT. O....
Testing Health Record Banking
Author: Dimick, Chris
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2009
Washington State’s experiment in consumer-controlled health records has moved into a pilot phase, transforming the health record banking model from theory to testing. In March the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) announced the launch of three pilot sites that will try out the....
Sequestering EHR Data in IT Systems
Author: Miaoulis, William M
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2009
There can be three situations under which healthcare organizations may need to sequester (or segregate) certain data within a medical record: placing a legal hold in connection with litigation, limiting disclosures of a record pursuant to a request by a patient, and restricting access to sensi....
HIPAA Privacy Rule's Right of Access and Health Information Technology
Author: U.S. Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology; U.S. Office for Civil Rights
Source: Government (U.S.)
Publication Date: December 16, 2008
Help in Setting Access Controls: Using the HL7 RBAC Healthcare Permission Catalog to Reduce Data Breaches
Author: Amatayakul, Margret
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2008
Healthcare providers are looking for ways to reduce the risk of data breaches; however, tighter access controls that would help thwart inappropriate internal access to protected health information have been challenging to implement. Health Level Seven’s RBAC Healthcare Permission Cat....
Jumpstarting Access to Personal Information with Rights-based Legislation
Author: Bernstein, William
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: July 2008
Providing consumers access to their health information seems like a simple concept. In reality, it is fraught with challenges. Records are still largely in paper form, and gaining access to them means contacting multiple parties and paying significant fees. Even when records are in electronic....
Metadata You Need: Determining What Must Be Collected and Retained
Author: Trites, Patricia
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: July 2008
Metadata are not inherently good or bad, they just are. Metadata have been defined as “data about data.”1 They can be further described as the “who, what, where, and when” of electronic documents.2 Their importance depends on who is viewing the information—promine....
Storage Media Profiles and Health Record Retention Practice Patterns in Acute Care Hospitals
Author: Rinehart-Thompson, Laurie A.
Source: Perspectives in Health Information Management
Publication Date: June 2008
Storage Solution: A Plan for Paper in the Transition to Electronic Document Management
Author: Grzybowski, Darice
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2008
For Mercy Health Partners, solving its paper records storage needs was a sound first step in achieving its long-range health IT plans.
Mercy Health Partners, part of the Catholic Healthcare Partners group, knew it couldn’t put the electronic cart before the paper horse.
....
Taking Medical Records to the Bank
Author: Dimick, Chris
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2008
Banking health data like a financial transaction is the simplest solution to healthcare’s networking challenges says William Yasnoff, founder of the Health Record Banking Alliance.
There are a lot of plans for regional and, eventually, nationwide health information exchange, b....
Privacy Consents and HIE: How IHE’s Basic Patient Privacy Consents Profile Helps Manage Privacy in HIE
Author: Berry, Michael
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2008
The potential benefits of health information exchange (HIE) are well documented, as are the privacy concerns of data sharing. In this new environment, patients are seeking increased control and transparency regarding how, with whom, and under what circumstances their electronic records are sha....
Reframing Retention Management in a Multimedia Environment
Author: Nunn, Sandra L.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2008
Within the last decade, the domain of record retention management has exploded in response to the development of electronic records and their storage demands, the mandates emanating from regulations like HIPAA, and the emergence of e-discovery as the requisite method for compelling record prod....
Managing Source System Content in the EHR
Author: Nunn, Sandra L.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: March 2008
Many of today’s healthcare entities have hybrid medical records, and policies abound describing what parts of the record are still accessed in paper and what components are now fully electronic. Wherever healthcare organizations are in the race to create fully accessible and secure elect....
Litigation Response Planning and Policies for E-Discovery. AHIMA Model E-Discovery Policies: Retention, Storage, and Destruction of Paper and Electronic Health Information and Records
Author: AHIMA e-Discovery Task Force
Source: AHIMA web extra
Publication Date: February 02, 2008
AHIMA Model e-Discovery Policy
Subject/Title
Retention, Storage, and Destruction of
Paper and Electronic Health Information
and Records
Page _ of _
Storing Information Online: What Organizations Need to Look for in Online Data Storage Solutions
Author: Moore, Donald B.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2007
The need to secure and streamline the management of medical information has become mainstream news. Medical information exists in various forms—paper charts, x-ray films, electronic health records—and is located in different repositories that often can’t talk to each other. H....
Developing a Legal Health Record Policy
Author: AHIMA EHR Practice Council
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: October 2007
This practice brief has been retired. It is made available for historical purposes only.
Health Record Banking: an Emerging PHR Model
Author: Wolter, Julie
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: October 2007
Many patients have their personal health information scattered across various practitioners and settings. Personal health records (PHRs) can help patients keep track of all their medical information. There are many different PHR products and models available today.
Cu....
Digital Disclosure and Discovery: the Sedona Conference Counts the Ways that Electronic Documentation is Different
Author: Quinsey, Carol Ann
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2007
Capturing data digitally is one thing. Producing it later is another. Any organization required to produce electronic documentation for any reasonwhether for discovery in a legal proceeding or disclosure in support of ongoing patient careknows that producing documentation....
Health Data Access, Use, and Control
Author: Burrington-Brown, Jill; Hjort, Beth M.; Washington, Lydia
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2007
This practice brief has been retired. It is made available for historical purposes only.
Printing Electronic Records: Managing the Hassle and the Risk
Author: Rollins, Gina
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: May 2007
Paper copies of electronic records pose more than administrative hassles, they raise liability concerns as well.
As healthcare providers move closer to fully electronic health records, paper remains, frustratingly, part of the equation.
Some elements, like authorizat....
Getting Information Rights Right: Identifying the Rights-related Issues in Health Information Exchange
Author: Waller, Adele A.
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2006
To protect the information rights of both individuals and organizations, RHIOs must identify and address the issues from the outset.
The exchange of health information among disparate organizations raises significant issues concerning the rights and responsibilities of all pa....
Privacy and Security in Health Information Exchange
Author: Carter, Patricia; Lemery, Chrisann; Mikels, Debra A; Bowen, Rita K.; Hjort, Beth M.
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: November 2006
This practice brief has been updated. See the latest version here. This version is made available for historical purposes only.
Exploring Record Retention Practices Among the Nation's "Most Wired" Hospitals
Author: Rinehart-Thompson, Laurie A.
Source: AHIMA Convention
Publication Date: October 31, 2006
Introduction
The importance and challenges of health record retention are not new to the HIM professional; however, the practice of health record retention has shifted into high gear in today’s fast-paced healthcare environment. The healthcare industry has embraced electronic health....
New Electronic Discovery Civil Rule
Author: AHIMA e-HIM Work Group on e-Discovery
Source: AHIMA practice brief | Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: September 2006
This practice brief has been retired. It is made available for historical purposes only.
Running out of Room for Data: HIPAA Requires Healthcare Organizations to Re-assess Data Storage
Author: Brick, Frank
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2006
Computer systems are feeling the effects of HIPAA. That's because the act's privacy and security rules require covered entities to securely store and manage more data than ever before. The latest computers to feel the effect are those in small covered entities, where the security rule takes ef....
Lessons from Katrina: In the Hurricane's Wake, Lessons for Records Management
Author: Carol, Ruth
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: April 2006
EHRs demonstrated their promise during Hurricane Katrina. But the storm's greatest lesson for HIM is the necessity of contingency planning for health information.
By now we've heard numerous stories about the piles of pulp that used to be patient medical records and the shelves of mildewe....
Following the Digital Trail: Weak Auditing Functions Spell Trouble for an Electronic Record
Author: Rollins, Gina
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: March 2006
Not all EHR products deliver strong audit and verification functions. A key HIM consideration is not always a key product feature.
Given the ability of computers to log each user's every keystroke, electronic health records (EHRs) have great potential for robust auditing and record verif....
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule and Patient Access to Medical Records
Author: Tossell, Beth; Stewart, Emily; Goldman, Janlori; AARP Public Policy Institute
Source: External web site
Publication Date: February 15, 2006
You Can't Throw IT in the Dumpster Anymore: Tips for Finding a Qualified Electronic Waste Disposal Service
Author: Harford, Joseph P.; Rizzo, Karen
Source: Journal of AHIMA
Publication Date: January 2006
One of the many challenges of the HIPAA age is handling the millions of outdated computers and associated peripheral devices. Once a back-burner issue, computer disposal is now front and center in the healthcare industry. The need to secure a health organization’s network goes well beyon....
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