November 14, 2018

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Provided are excerpts from the  November/December CHIA Journal . CHIA members receive a mailed hard copy, and all CHIA and AHIMA members can access the digital version online to view, read, and enjoy now!

Comprehensive Emergency Management:

How HIM Professionals Contribute

Article compiled by: Paradigm Education Solutions 

The role of health information professionals during an emergency or disaster may not be obvious to an outside observer. When one thinks of emergency responders one may think of firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical service (EMS) personnel. Doctors and nurses may also come to mind when one considers the activities within a hospital or clinic during a disaster, but many other health professionals take part in comprehensive emergency management and are essential for its effective implementation and success. 

Health care professionals and facilities must be sufficiently trained to collaborate, cooperate, and act effectively in times of crisis. All health care services rely heavily on digital information systems and these systems may not be accessible during an emergency event. Emergency management teams within health care facilities must work with health information personnel in its overall emergency planning.

Health information professionals must work with the medical staff and facility planners to prioritize data; they determine which information and files are most important for patient care and maintaining core business operations. Health information professionals also assess data risks that might affect that data, such as natural disasters, power-outages, or cyberattacks.  Read full article .

CHIA, AHIMA and the AHIMA Foundation express support for the victims of the recent wave of wildfires across California. 

HIM professionals in areas affected by disasters face a unique challenge as they struggle to piece back together their own lives while working to recover as much of their community’s patient information as possible.

That is why AHIMA, through the AHIMA Foundation, has established the Health Information Relief Operation (HIRO) Fund to assist communities of health information professionals whose personal or professional lives have been severely disrupted by a natural or man-made disaster.

If you’re an HIM professional affected by the California wildfires, find out how the HIRO Fund can help .

CHIA is currently seeking volunteers to join these CHIA committees. Whether you are a new or seasoned volunteer, we need you! Your knowledge and support can help guide this important association functions. Consider becoming a CHIA Volunteer today . 

The CHIA Awards and Scholarship Fund offers CHIA Student and Active members, and California’s CAHIIM-accredited programs a variety of scholarships, awards, and grants. The purpose of these programs is to promote the importance of HIM professional credentials, strengthen the HIM profession, promote the value of AHIMA and CHIA membership, identify and engage future leaders, and support HIM-related research. 

Learn more or apply for one of these opportunities .

December 8-9, 2018 | Glendale, CA

Are you a coding professional interested in learning about clinical documentation improvement (CDI)? Are you a retired nurse or a nurse who wants to explore other career options? There are enormous needs in the health care industry to become a CDI Specialist where you will assist physicians to accurately document how truly ill patients are with severity ratings. The trend nowadays is quality documentation and this course will teach you how to achieve this. 

RN Link is offering a 10% discount to CHIA Members . ​ Learn more and register today !

Securing Our Future: Announcing AHIMA's Vision for Transformation & 2019 Strategic Plan

Nov 9, 2018  

A strong healthcare ecosystem requires the skills of the HIM professional. With rapid changes due to trends in technology, proliferation of data, consumer access, and more, healthcare organizations are assessing the impact upon operations.

Recognizing the challenges and potential opportunities before us, the AHIMA Board of Directors has been working to develop a plan to increase our long-term viability and relevance. In doing so, we’ve asked for input from members, staff, and the industry. Our goal? To envision a multiyear transformation process so that AHIMA, our members, and other stakeholders can solve the big problems that we are uniquely positioned to address. Read Alert.

Revised Implementation Dates for Recertification Cycle and CEU Reporting Domains

Nov 1, 2018

 

Changes to the recertification timeline and the new CEU domains that were previously announced would be effective on November 1, 2018, have been delayed by the Commission on Certification of Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM) to ensure strategic alignment and an effective, error-free implementation.

 

The previously published information was approved by the CCHIIM and allowed for an individual to report in the CEU Center (starting on November 1) using either the new domains or the existing domains until December 31, 2019. The revised plan will be to use only the new domains starting on January 1, 2020. 

HHS Secretary Azar Declares Public Health Emergency in California due to Wildfires

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; Nov 13, 2018

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar today declared a public health emergency in California due to wildfires. The declaration follows President Trump’s emergency declaration for the state and gives the HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services beneficiaries and their healthcare providers and suppliers greater flexibility in meeting emergency health needs created by the wildfires.

“We are working closely with state health authorities and monitoring the needs of healthcare facilities to provide whatever they may need to save lives and protect health,” Secretary Azar said. “This declaration will help ensure that Americans who are threatened by these dangerous wildfires and who rely on Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program have continuous access to the care they need.” Read Release

Big Changes in 2019 for Medicare Telehealth Policy

Center for Connected Health Policy; Nov 6, 2018

Last week CMS released its finalized Calendar Year (CY) 2019 Physician Fee Schedule containing momentous changes for Medicare, aiming to modernize the healthcare system and help “restore the doctor-patient relationship” by reducing administrative burden. Among the changes, the proposed rule not only expands telehealth reimbursement, but communicates a new interpretation by CMS of the applicability of their statutory requirements for reimbursement of telehealth. Telehealth-delivered services under Medicare is limited in statute by 1834(m) of the Social Security Act which limits the use of telehealth to certain services, providers, technology (mainly live video) and patient locations (needing to be in certain types of healthcare facilities in rural areas). CMS, in their rule, expresses concern that these requirements may be limiting the coding for new kinds of services that utilize communication technology.

The new rule expresses CMS’ belief that their obligation to impose those restrictions only apply to “the kinds of professional services explicitly enumerated in the statutory provisions, like professional consultations, office visits, and office psychiatry services.” These are services that are paid for as if they were furnished during an in-person encounter between a patient and health care professional. Certain other kinds of services that are furnished remotely using communications technology are not considered “Medicare telehealth services” and are not subject to the restrictions. This includes interactions between a medical professional with a patient via remote communication technology. Thus, CMS has finalized reimbursement for virtual check-ins, remote evaluation of pre-recorded patient information and interprofessional internet consultation, which CMS believes fall outside the scope of Medicare telehealth services.  Read Alert

CMS Announces New Medicaid Demonstration Opportunity to Expand Mental Health 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Nov 13, 2018

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent a letter to State Medicaid Directors that outlines both existing and new opportunities for states to design innovative service delivery systems for adults with serious mental illness (SMI) and children with serious emotional disturbance (SED). The letter includes a new opportunity for states to receive authority to pay for short-term residential treatment services in an institution for mental disease (IMD) for these patients. CMS believes these opportunities offer states the flexibility to make significant improvements on access to quality behavioral health care.

Medicaid is the single largest payer of behavioral health services, including mental health and substance use services in the U.S. By one estimate, more than a quarter of adults with a serious mental illness rely on Medicaid. Approximately 10.4 million adults in the United States had an SMI in 2016, but only 65 percent received mental health services in that year. Serious mental health conditions can have detrimental impacts on the lives of individuals with SMI or SED and their families and caregivers. Since these conditions often arise in adolescence or early adulthood and often go untreated for many years, individuals with SMI or SED are less likely to finish high school and attain higher education, disrupting education and employment goals. Read Release