Call for Future CHIA Leaders

In This Issue

Call for CHIA Convention Presentations

CHIA Webinars on Demand

ONC Responds to ROI Questions During AHIMA Webinar

CMS Releases Hospice Compare Website to Improve Consumer Experiences, Empower Patients

CMS Proposes Changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model

Ransomware 2.0: It's Coming, and Healthcare Needs to Get Prepared

Check out the CHIA Events Calendar, and Register for an Event Today!

Call for Future CHIA Leaders

CHIA is interested in you! We all have many gifts and talents, why not consider sharing these talents as a CHIA Officer or Delegate? With your help, we can continue the tradition of nominating highly qualified and experienced members for leadership positions.

Nominations for CHIA Board of Directors and AHIMA Delegates for the CHIA Ballot are now being accepted through Friday, September 15, 2017. Learn more about the leadership positions and submit a nomination by visiting the CHIA Leadership Nomination webpage .

"Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others." - John Maxwell

Call for CHIA Convention Presentations

Aren't new opportunities exciting? San Diego, America's Finest City, is the host city for the 2018 CHIA Convention & Exhibit. It is my first time participating on the convention planning committee, and I'm excited to do and learn many new things in this role. And here's one opportunity for you! I urge all HIM professionals to consider educating your peers at the upcoming CHIA convention on a topic you love to talk about. As an HIM professional it stands to reason that we are fairly comfortable, or at least we come across that way, when making presentations!

And I am speaking directly to my SDHIA peers now. Come on, it's your home town, you'll have support of your CLA, and you can do it! Please call me and I'll answer all of your questions. I'll sign up to be your support person when you make your exciting presentation.

Thank you and I look forward to working with you,

Joanne Hewitt, RHIT

Member, CHIA Convention Committee; Past President, San Diego HIA

Submit Presentation Proposal or Learn More

CHIA Webinars on Demand

Did you miss a recent webinar? No problem! CHIA offers a convenient solution for the busy HIM professional. View all CHIA Webinars on Demands, including these latest additions:

What Should be on the Radar for Acute Care Hospital Audits
Transforming Health Care with Connected Health Technology
Leadership as Practice: A Personal Coaching Approach
Pediatric and Neonatal Quality Indicators

What's Happening in HIM This Week

ONC Responds to ROI Questions During AHIMA Webinar

Mary Butler for AHIMA; Aug 23, 2017

This summer has demonstrated hope for consumers and the health information management (HIM) professionals who have long been frustrated by the confusion that can ensue when a patient requests access to their health information. AHIMA and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) both released materials in July aimed at making these processes smoother for everyone involved. And on Wednesday AHIMA hosted a webinar with ONC officials to discuss tips for providers looking to facilitate a smoother, more transparent records retrieval process.

The webinar "Improving the Records Request Process for Patients" featured a discussion with Lana Moriarty, director of consumer eHealth at ONC, and Margeaux Akazawa, a public health analyst at ONC. Terming HIM professionals as the "unsung heroes" of the release of information (ROI) process, Moriarty described ONC's intentions behind its new report, "Improving the Health Records Request Process," which takes an in-depth look at the most problematic areas of requesting and releasing records.

CMS Releases Hospice Compare Website to Improve Consumer Experiences, Empower Patients

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Aug 16, 2017

As part of our continuing commitment to greater data transparency, CMS unveiled the Hospice Compare website. The site displays information in a ready-to-use format and provides a snapshot of the quality of care each hospice facility offers to its patients. CMS is working diligently to make healthcare quality information more transparent and understandable for consumers to empower them to take ownership of their health. By ensuring patients have the information they need to understand their options, CMS is helping individuals make informed healthcare decisions for themselves and their families based on objective measures of quality.

Learn more.

CMS Proposes Changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, Cancellation of the Mandatory Episode Payment Models and Cardiac Rehabilitation Incentive Payment Model

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Aug 15, 2017

CMS announced a proposed rule to reduce the number of mandatory geographic areas participating in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation's (Innovation Center) Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model from 67 to 34. In addition, CMS proposes to allow CJR participants in the 33 remaining areas to participate on a voluntary basis. In this rule, CMS also proposes to make participation in the CJR model voluntary for all low volume and rural hospitals in all of the CJR geographic areas.

CMS also is proposing through this rule to cancel the Episode Payment Models (EPMs) and the Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) incentive payment model, which were scheduled to begin on January 1, 2018. Eliminating these models would give CMS greater flexibility to design and test innovations that will improve quality and care coordination across the in-patient and post-acute-care spectrum.

Learn more.

Ransomware 2.0: It's Coming, and Healthcare Needs to Get Prepared

Bill Siwicki, for HealthcareIT News; Aug 8, 2017

Some cybersecurity experts say healthcare has only dealt with "Ransomware 1.0" to date, which begs the question: How much worse will "Ransomware 2.0" be for a sector already under siege?

"The latest variation on a theme regarding this threat is what can appropriately be called a ransomworm," said Rich Curtiss, managing consultant at Clearwater Compliance, a former hospital CIO, and liaison for cybersecurity vulnerability projects with the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. "This is a combination of two types of malware, ransomware and a worm. While we have become all too familiar with ransomware in the healthcare sector, we have ignored other forms of malware."