October 2, 2019

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Nominations for CHIA Board of Directors and CHIA Delegates to AHIMA for the 2020 CHIA Ballot are now being accepted through Monday, October 7, 2019. Each term of office will begin July 1, 2020.  

CHIA is seeking nominations for next year’s leaders and we are 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. 

Discover CHIA elected leadership opportunities and consider joining the CHIA team today! 

Become one of CHIA’s content leaders at the 2020 CHIA Convention & Exhibit. Share your knowledge and expertise as we explore Expanding HIM Horizons: Excellence in Health Information Integrity.

CHIA is currently accepting presentation proposals for the upcoming 2020 CHIA Convention & Exhibit in Riverside, California on June 13 - June 17. With hundreds of HIM professionals in attendance, don’t miss this exciting opportunity to present at the most popular HIM event on the West Coast.

Learn more and submit a proposal here .

Convention proposals due October 7 for consideration.

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Provided are excerpts from the  September/October 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!

Celebrating Seven Decades of Commitment: Part Two

by Marilyn R. Taylor, RHIT

CHIA is celebrating 70 years of service to the health information management (HIM) community. This two-part series provides a look down memory lane as we reminisce on CHIA’s humble beginnings, its founding leaders, and seven decades of commitment to California’s HIM professionals. Read part one in the May/June 2019 CHIA Journal.

The first forty years of CHIA’s history were nothing like the past thirty. The 1990s began with an ever-changing environment like never seen before in the HIM-era. Changing times was a constant theme as we headed down the road to the “turn of the century” and the “Y2K” concerns. Technology swiftly rose to prominence in the 1990s; progression from word processors to computers in the early 1980s, but nothing compared to what was about emerge. New skills were to be learned that would change the dynamics of the HIM and medical fields in general for hospitals, clinics, and physician offices, impacting all levels of patient care, medical treatment, surgery, medications and more. At the crux of the movement was the health information field whose workload was about to evolve and include electronic records, new ways to code disease, and new terminology in the current world of technology that includes the Internet. As advances in medical care arose, all aspects of health information were impacted. Read More. 

The Chief Data Officer is the “Lorax” of Data: Knowing, Governing and Protecting the Data for Now and the Future

by Hovannes Daniels, MBA, CHIE

While roles and responsibilities vary from organization to organization, the chief data officer (CDO) typically serves as the Lorax for data – harkening to Dr. Seuss; knowing, governing and protecting the data for analysts of the future is key. To do this, first and foremost, the CDO is responsible for setting the overall data governance strategy for the organization to manage data as a strategic business asset. Deriving guidance from the chief executive officer, chief information officer, chief technology officer, and chief security officer, the CDO is primarily responsible for delivering business insights by leveraging and promoting the use of the organization’s information assets in a manner that is secure and complies with the regulatory requirements of the industry. To be a CDO in the health care industry, one needs to have a solid business background to understand how the payor and provider business runs. A typical incumbent cannot be just a data scientist, although the CDO may have data scientists reporting to him/her.

More than ever before, a health care organization’s ability to deliver on their promise of affordability, quality, access, service, and health equity depends on its ability to manage and use its data in secure and compliant ways. Health equity describes the belief that patients are entitled to the best care, irrespective of where they live, their socio-economic status, gender, race, religion, etc. Care that provides anything other than that is the same as doing harm and violates the "do no harm" standard. Read More. 

CMS’ Discharge Planning Rule Supports Interoperability and Patient Preferences

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Sep 26, 2019

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a final rule that empowers patients to make informed decisions about their care as they are discharged from acute care into post-acute care (PAC), a process called “discharge planning.” In addition to improving quality by improving these care transitions, today’s rule supports CMS’ interoperability efforts by promoting the seamless exchange of patient information between health care settings, and ensuring that a patient’s health care information follows them after discharge from a hospital or PAC provider.

The final rule revises hospital discharge planning requirements for long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, inpatient psychiatric facilities, children’s hospitals, cancer hospitals, (IRFs), critical access hospitals (CAHs), and home health agencies (HHAs). Each of these facilities must meet these requires as a condition to participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. Among other things, it requires the discharge planning process to focus on the patient’s goals of care and treatment preferences. Additionally, the final rule revises the hospital patient’s rights and the facility’s requirements regarding a patient’s access to their medical records. Read More . 

Trump Administration Puts Patients Over Paperwork by Reducing Healthcare Administrative Costs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Sep 26, 2019

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking action at President Trump’s direction to “cut the red tape,” bringing relief to America’s healthcare providers by reducing unnecessary burden, allowing them to focus on their top priority – patients. The Omnibus Burden Reduction (Conditions of Participation) Final Rule strengthens patient safety by removing unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome health regulations on hospitals and other healthcare providers. This rule advances CMS’s Patients over Paperwork initiative by saving providers an estimated 4.4 million hours previously spent on paperwork annually, with overall total provider savings projected to be approximately $8 billion over the next 10 years, giving doctors more time to spend with their patients.

“In my trips across the country, I’ve heard time and again that unnecessary regulations are increasing costs on providers and they are losing time with patients as a result,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “This final rule brings a common sense approach to reducing regulations and gives providers more time to care for their patients, while reducing administrative costs and improving health outcomes.” Read More .