Journal Of AHIMA

Specialists in the area of clinical documentation are filling a growing need. Amy L. Gardner, RHIT, CDIP, works at Valley Hospital Rockwood Health System in Spokane Valley, WA. She discusses the skills needed to perform well in this position, what a typical day is like, and her advice for communicating with physicians.

AHIMA's President reflects on the development of HIPAA'S privacy regulations and the possible effects of the HITECH amendments.

Though the transition to the more granular ICD-10-CM/PCS code set may help, documentation processes at most hospitals will need an overhaul to support the type of pay-for-outcomes coding needed to reflect the care delivered and the severity of illness for patients.

When DRGs were introduced in the early 1980s, they dramatically changed the role of HIM professionals—thrusting them into the center of revenue cycle management. Another paradigm shift in payment systems is on the horizon with pay-for-outcomes.

Many health information management professionals need to increase their data analytic skills in order to stay relevant at their facility, according to Richard Averill, senior vice president of clinical and economic research at 3M Health Information Systems.

The way many coders have been assigning their DRG principal procedure codes could be wrong, according to the fourth quarter 2012 Coding Clinic. Hear more in this audio feature.

Hear HIM educator Rebecca Reynolds, Ed.D, RHIA, discuss how education needs to adapt for 21st century HIM.