"The Link" Newsletter of WHIMA

Happy Summer! Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was in Green Bay celebrating WHIMA’s 76th Annual Conference networking with friends and making new ones, discovering new technology in the exhibit hall, building my HIM skills, learning how to add balance to my life but, most importantly recognizing and thanking our HIM professionals and supporters that stand out from the rest…our Volunteers and Business Partners! “Thank you”…It is because of YOU and all that you GIVE that WHIMA is as strong as it is today.

To recap quickly, if you were unable to attend the conference, our teams are moving WHIMA forward. First, hats off to the Annual Conference Team along with the VIP and Spirit teams for a job well done. It was, in the “The Spirit of 76”, a fun filled conference! The Scholarship team had another successful silent-auction and gave out scholarships to great students. The Professional Practice Team unveiled their new manual. It is ready for purchase. The Legal Resource Manual Team has the new Legal Resource Manual ready for publishing. The Policy and Legislative Team partnered with WHA for a fun Hill Day and have been busy advocating for HIM. See the WHIMA CoP for the new copy fees that recently went into effect. The Ambassador Team launched WHIMA on Linkedin. I invite you to join in the discussion. The Workshop Team had a successful ROI workshop along with coding webinars. The E-communication Team gave our website a wonderful new look and continue to add resources. The ICD-10 Task Force partnered with AHIMA to bring an ICD-10 CM/PCS Academy to Milwaukee and is on the fast track with setting up educational opportunities for our members. The Fall Conference Team is ready for you to “Take Your Career to New Heights” by attending the conference in Green Lake, at the Heidel House, in September. I look forward to seeing you there! The Link Newsletter Team continues to bring you the latest news and the Nominating Committee put together a great slate of candidates. Thank you for voting. Whew! It has been a busy year...

Speaking of which, I cannot believe it is July already and my reign as president has come to a close. The year just flew by. It has been a wonderful year filled with excitement along with some dynamic challenges. Of course, I like to look at these as opportunities for us as HIM professionals to grow. And grow we have this year in many exciting ways. Our CSA has grown in number of members, in number of volunteers, the number who participated in the environmental scan survey, and in the number who voted in our election. This did not happen overnight and first, I want to say “Thank You” to my mentors, WHIMA Past President’s, especially Sandy Stevens-Berens and Barb Savagian, for paving a great path for me to follow. It was one of them who first described their year in picture to me as a “yellow brick road” and it has truly been a wonderful “yellow brick road”. Second, I would like to say “Thank You” to the Executive Office, AHIMA Board Liaison, Board of Directors, Team Leaders and all our Volunteers. I attribute our many successes this year to all of YOU. WHIMA would not be WHIMA without YOU…Thank You for all YOU do!

Not only has it been busy in WI, but also at AHIMA. Have you heard the buzz? There have been some changes in the AHIMA executive office. I invite you to watch and listen first hand to Bonnie Cassidy’s latest message with Rose Dunn for the information on “You Tube”. You can find the link on the AHIMA Home Page under News/Alerts “New AHIMA Here and Now Video" or by clicking on "Here and Now July 2011”

And, now it is time to look forward! Dawn Paulson is eager to be your new President and Susan Summerfield will be assuming the role as President-Elect. Both have been in Chicago at Summer Team Talks preparing for their new roles. The new Board of Directors and Team Leaders will be gathering soon to work together to ensure WHIMA and you, as members, another great year. I look forward to my continued involvement in the role as Past President.

Thank you for the very rewarding opportunity to serve!!

Victoria "Vicky" Wolf, RHIT, CPHQ
WHIMA President

2011 Fall Conference
Take Your Career to New Heights"
by Anna Alexandrov, RHIA

Don’t miss out on this year’s Fall Conference in Green Lake, WI, September 15 – 16. There is not a better way to enjoy the beauty of Wisconsin than to visit Green Lake in the summer! Spend your days soaking in the educational sessions and your nights under the stars relaxing by the lake shore.

We have an exciting speaker lineup that’s sure to impress. And, we have educational sessions on ICD-10, EHRs, coding and coding queries, how to take your career to new heights, and others. Thursday evening will be our networking event in which you can mingle with your close friends and colleagues around a summertime bonfire.

Remember to register by September 1st to receive a discounted fee.

Anna Alexandrov is a member of the Fall Conference Team.

2011 Legal Resource Manual
by Debbie Case, RHIT

The WHIMA Legal Resource Manual Team is pleased to announce the release of the FY10-11 updates! The robust 2010-2011 update to the manual includes revisions to the following sections:

• Health Care Records • Advance Directives • HIV • Unauthorized Use of PHI • Community Substance Abuse • Access to Vital Records • Adoption Records • Copy Fees • Electronic Medical Records • Mental Health Records • Responding to Requests • Retention

In addition, the following has been added to the manual: • Sharing PHI with Family and Friends • Oversight of Advanced Health Professionals • HIPAACOW Breach Notification Policy • HIPAACOW Records of Minors Grid

For an order form click here 2011 Legal Resource Manual.

Debbie Case, RHIT is Director, Health Information & Transcription Services, Wheaton Franciscan Medical Group and co-leader for the Legal Resource Manual Team.

Fees Charged for Medical Records Increase
by Chrisann Lemery, RHIA


Chrisann Lemery

The state budget act (2011 Wisconsin Act 32) signed by Gov. Scott Walker increases the maximum statutory fees that a health care provider may charge for copies of patient health care records.

Effective July 1, 2011, the following fees may be charged to recipients for the duplication of patient information:

• for paper copies, $1 per page for the first 25 pages, 75 cents per page for pages 26 to 50, 50 cents per page for pages 51 to 100, and 30 cents per page for pages 101 and above • for microfiche or microfilm copies, $1.50 per page • for a print of an x−ray, $10 per image • if the requester is not the patient or a person authorized by the patient, a single $8 charge for certification of copies and a single retrieval fee of $20 for all copies requested • actual shipping costs and any applicable taxes

Each July 1, beginning on July 1, 2012, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) shall adjust the dollar amounts of these fees by the percentage difference between the consumer price index (CPI) for the preceding year and the CPI for the year before the preceding year. The adjusted amounts will be published in the Wisconsin Administrative Register.

A Medical Assistance patient requesting copies may not be charged more than 25 percent of the above fees for their request. Currently, these copies were received without charge.

The budget bill is located at Budget Bill. Pages 405 and 406 address the changes to Wis. Stat. 146.83. Wis. Stat. 146.83, with the budget revisions incorporated, is available at http://www.ahima.org in the Wisconsin Community of Practice (CoP).

Chrisann Lemery, RHIA is employed by WEA Trust as the HIPAA Security Officer & Assistant Privacy Officer. Lemery is co-leader of the Policy & Legislative Team for WHIMA.

The WHIMA Professional Practice Manual
by Cheryl Olson

You can now order your updated version...the Professional Practice Manual that is a must have for yourself or your department! If you are just starting out and looking to get a jump in the field or have been in the health information field for years, this book will give you the information and tools to better write your policies and procedures and manage your department. The WHIMA Professional Practice Manual provides baseline plans, policies, and forms for key practice areas that can be customized for your department and organization. Here are just a few examples of the chapters and forms you will find in the WHIMA Professional Practice Manual.

Policies
• Release of Patient Information Policy, • Record Retention Policy • Monitoring Incomplete Medical Record Policy • Ongoing Record Review Plan • Electronic Signature • Ambulatory, Inpatient and Physician Clinic Coding • HIPAA Policies Security & Safeguarding of Health & Hospital Information • HIM Department Management • Advance Directives • Long Term Care

Forms
• Ongoing Record Review Form • General Review Ongoing Record Review Form • Focused Review Ongoing Record Review - Scheduled Abstracting Competency Review • Release of Information Competency Review • Sample Summary of Performance Improvement Activities

Need a reliable resource to develop standardized policies and procedures for HIM practices? Look no further than the WHIMA Professional Practice Manual. The WHIMA Professional Practice Manual is now available for purchase through the WHIMA web site by clicking here for an order form Professional Practice Manual for HIM

Cheryl Olson is Data Integrity Analyst for St. Vincent Hospital, Green Bay, WI and the Professional Practice Manual Team Leader

How I Found My Role in Health Informatics
by Anna Alexandrov, RHIA

During my second year of studying HIM, the Department Chair announced that the program’s name would change to Health Informatics and Information Management (HIIM). I had no idea what informatics was, but it piqued my interest. I grew ever more excited seeing as how I thought having informatics on my résumé would be the golden ticket to getting any job I wanted. To me, informatics seemed to be the next big thing; it was cutting-edge and skills in it would be in high demand. Mind you, I made these assumptions without understanding what informatics was. Perhaps, its ambiguousness is what made me value it so highly.

Things began to change for me in my third year. Up until that point, my equation for success after college was very simple: informatics = job = success. But a new variable was added to the equation that year: the Great Recession. After seeing so many of my friends and fellow classmates turn up unsuccessful in their job hunt, I decided I needed to understand how I could effectively market myself as someone who had skills in both HI and HIM. Before I could do that, I needed to fully grasp what is HI, what is HIM, how are they similar/different, and where can I find my niche.

A very vague definition of informatics can be thought of as using technology to do work. Perhaps, it is a little more complicated, but let’s start with the barebones definition. Let’s transition to health informatics which UIC’s HIM Program Director, Karen Paten, defined as “the study of the structure, dynamics, design, implementation, and maintenance of information systems used to support processing of health data into information suitable for decision making and the people, technology, and organizational factors that are applied to those systems.” The middle part of that definition was of particular interest to me: “processing of health data into information suitable for decision making.” Isn’t this what we do as HIM professionals? Don’t we process health data? My understanding, then, is that HIM is most concerned with health data regardless of medium and HI about implementing, utilizing, and maintaining technology in healthcare to capture the appropriate health data. There is certainly a lot of overlap between the two. Read More >>

Anna Alexandrov is a Self Employed Consultant, and member of the Link Newsletter Team, Madison, WI

What Social Media Means for Your Organization
by Nancy Davis, MS, RHIA


	Nancy Davis

While I was well aware of social media sites due to the presence of two teenagers in my home, I had very little personal experience myself. In the spring of 2009, I attended a Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA) conference and heard a speaker discuss social media as an emerging challenge for compliance officials. So at that point, it was at least on my radar. Almost immediately thereafter, I received a frantic call for assistance with a patient privacy concern – employees were discussing patients on Facebook. It was then I realized how little I really knew about how these sites worked. As an immediate response to the occurrence, I set up my own Facebook account with the help of my teenage daughter and her friend. That afternoon I received a crash course in social media not from a high level educator but from two super-users (teenage girls).

Fortunately at Ministry senior leadership responded swiftly and we identified the need to provide education and training as well as administrative guidance as a top priority. We went at it from several different perspectives: 1) safeguarding the privacy and security of patient health information; 2) recognizing the value in attracting and retaining a tech-savvy workforce; 3) promoting the organization and marketing opportunities; 4) and potential impact on performance. We developed a policy that provided guidance and thoughtful assistance to staff on the use of social media sites and the importance of how interactions may reflect on the patients they serve as well as the organization they work for. We invested resources in training, education, and awareness activities including leadership training, case examples, newsletter articles, etc. While we seemed to have had an initial rush of privacy incidents and concerns most likely due to the new awareness, for the most part they have tapered off. Some of our experiences have included:

• Discussion of shift activities in a gallows-humor mode which did not compromise patient privacy but reflected poorly on the staff and organization; • A nursing student excitedly sharing her new experiences with patient conditions and procedures as part of her training; and • Condolences to a family member immediately following a tragic accident before information was communicated to the entire family.

What we have learned is that it is important to recognize both the positive and negative aspects of social media and to provide written guidance to staff for appropriate usage. You absolutely cannot underestimate the impact of social media and the challenges it presents to the healthcare industry.

Nancy Davis, RHIA is Director or Privacy and Security Officer for Ministry Health Care residing in Sturgeon Bay, WI

VIP Team Selects the 2011 Leadership Award Winners
Honors all Volunteers!

Celebrating 76 Years of Illumination and Inspiration in Health Information Management, WHIMA recognized the efforts of all the 2010-11 volunteers. Vicky Wolf, President, noted speaking to all volunteers "your efforts make so much of what WHIMA does possible, and we can't get there without your continuing dedication and support".

Loretta Brunell, RHIT, an instructor for the Medical Coding Program at Madison Area Technical College, received the Educator Award. Honoring a member who always says "Yes", Rachelle Buol, RHIA, received the Professional Practice Mentor Award. The 2011 Rising Star Award was given to Christine Williams, RHIA, Manager of Record Quality and Medical Transcirption at UW-Hospital and Clinics, Madison, WI. The Motivator Award identifies and honors outstanding members who are dedicated to continued learning for others and themselves. Julie Andrews, RHIA, received the 2011 Motivator Award. Energizer "shooting star" awards were given to Dawn Paulson, RHIA, Sandy Bissen, RHIA, Jane Duerst Reid, RHIA and Debbie Case, RHIA. The Distinguished Service Award recipient was Barb Savagian, RHIA. Savagian has served as the chief party planner with the Spirit Team, a conference planner, Director, Past President, Conference Speaker and "even sewn and glued for this organization making decorations or favors for all to enjoy".

The Distinguished Member recipient for 2011 was Sue Casperson, RHIT. This is WHIMA's highest award. Casperson has been an active force in the association for many years, served on the Board of Directors, chaired the Fall Conference and Workshop Teams for several terms, spoken and shared her expertise through educational sessions. She has served as a Presiding Officer and represented WHIMA as a delegate at the AHIMA House of Delegates.

You can view the Leadership Award winner flyer at 2011 Leadership Awardees

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ICD-10 Survey Drives Task Force Focus
by Susan Johnson, RHIA & Kris Brukl

With the October 1, 2013 implementation date for ICD-10 on the horizon, WHIMA conducted a benchmark survey of its members to see how to best plan need-based programming for ICD-10 education. We received 470 survey responses, representing approximately 25% of WHIMA membership.

We were surprised that 23% of respondents were unaware of ICD-10 planning within their organization. This raised some important questions: Are organizations taking a “wait and see” or “head in the sand” approach thinking that CMS will delay the implementation date? Is leadership not effectively communicating the status ICD-10 planning within their organization? Are HIM professionals not involved in planning within these organizations?

Of the organizations planning for ICD-10, 47% have HIM professionals leading the efforts. Training, readiness timelines, assessments, and ICD-10 hotlines were among the top concerns of our responding members. We also learned that most of our responding members were with organizations that have budgeted for coder training.

WHIMA has formed an ICD-10 Task Force that will focus on developing appropriate and convenient training in response to our member feedback. Watch for future WHIMA communications and resources as planning for ICD-10 rolls into coder education. Survey results can be found at the WHIMA CoP.

To read the complete survey results: WHIMA ICD-10 Survey Results

Join Your Colleagues in the WHIMA LinkedIn Group

WHIMA and the Ambassador Team announced the launch of the WHIMA LinkedIn group in July 2010. The LinkedIn group was designed to be all about networking. What's happening? What are topics that are relevant to you? We hope that you have already visited the new networking site, but if not please come and see what the WHIMA LinkedIn group can do for you. Join 151 of your colleagues.

WHIMA ICD-10 Coding Webinars

If you missed the "live" ICD-10 Coding Webinars offered by WHIMA, you can still purchase and listen to the archived sessions. The 2-part series topics are:
Session 1 --- Overview of Code Structures for ICD-10-CM/PCS
Session 2 --- Conducting a Documentation Assessment & Physician Education for ICD-10

For details on WHIMA webinars and to purchase go to 2011 ICD-10 Coding Webinars

Get Well Soon Charlotte Lefert

Best wishes for renewed wellness are sent to Charlotte Lefert, ICD-10 Task Force Member and Long Term Care Consultant, who is recovering from surgery for a brain tumor. To read updates on her condition, and post greetings and messages for Charlotte to read, please go to her Caring Bridge site Charlotte Lefert

Established Professional Scholarships Available
by Kris Brukl

Have you recently completed a continuing education program or passed a credentialing examination? WHIMA has Established Professional Scholarships available for members needing financial assistance for professional development.

Submit your application today to beat the October 15th deadline. Additional information and the application are available by going to Scholarships on the WHIMA Scholarships.

76th Annual Conference Rocks!
by Wendy Crowe, RHIT and Miranda Path, RHIT

We kicked off this year’s conference with an enthusiastic presentation from Jerry Bridges. He advised us all to take an occasional “break” from our e-mail and phones and learn how to handle the technological stress in our lives with his presentation of, Is Too Much Technology Making us Stupid?

While visiting with the many vendors in the Exhibit Hall, attendee’s bid and bid again, at the Not So Silent Auction to raise money for the Scholarship Fund.

Wednesday evening’s Spirit of ’76 Party sponsored by IOD featured The Presidents, who entertainingly persevered through some technical difficulties. Attendees feasted on the “Taste of Americana” menu and enjoyed watching the ladies from Amphion “get their groove on” in their 70’s inspired costumes.

Attendees enjoyed popcorn and drinks while viewing the presentations at the Innovation Theatre, which grew this year to include six exhibitors showcasing their newest and greatest products.

Thursday’s General Session was presented by Donna Hartley. Donna showed us how to adjust your attitude and use positive thinking to live a happier and less stressful, more balanced life.

Over 100 WHIMA attendees toured Lambeau Field on Thursday evening. The attendees shopped, toured, ate, and visited the Packer Hall of Fame where the 2010 Lombardi Trophy was displayed.

This was WHIMA’s second year of going “green” by using CDs instead of paper for the presentations. Watch for more improvements at next year’s conference in Elkhart Lake at the Osthoff Resort.

Amphion Medical Solutions
In the "Spirit of 76"
during the vendor show

Wendy Crowe, RHIT and Miranda Pathy, RHIT work for Tomah Memorial Hospital, Tomah, WI and served as co-Team Leaders for the 76th Annual Conference

Be Ready for
ICD-10-CM/PCS
Check out the
information from AHIMA!

Advance Your Career!
Milwaukee Area Technical College
The time is now to advance you HIM career by obtaining an HIT Certificate in the EHR. And better yet, subject to grant fund availability, it will not cost you a dime!

Milwaukee Area Technical College is seeking HIM professionals for their 6 month HIT Certificate programs and currently offering free tuition to those that qualify. Apply today!

Looking for employment? MATC is also seeking faculty to facilitate student learning. Read more at MATC Jobs. Apply today!

To view new brochure, go to MATC HIT Brochure.

For assistance with your advertising, contact WHIMA at 608-787-0168.

Call 608-787-0168

Find It Online

Here's some quick links to WHIMA resources online:

Heidel House, Green Lake
Join us for the Fall Conference!