ACT NOW: Urge the US Senate to Address
Patient Misidentification
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In June, the US House of Representatives adopted an amendment striking language in the House FY20 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill that prohibits the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from using federal funds to promulgate or adopt a unique patient identifier. Striking this language will give HHS the ability to evaluate a range of patient identification solutions that protect patient privacy and are cost-effective, scalable, and secure.
Now that a budget deal in Congress has materialized, we expect the US Senate to move quickly to consider the Senate FY20 Labor-HHS appropriations bill this fall.
Before Congress returns in September, CHIA asks that you contact your US Senators via
AHIMA's Advocacy Action Center
to encourage them to remove this archaic ban.
For nearly two decades, innovation and industry progress has been stifled due to broad interpretation of this language included in Labor-HHS bills since FY1999. More than that, without the ability of clinicians to correctly connect a patient with their medical record, lives have been lost and medical errors have needlessly occurred. These are situations that could have been entirely avoidable had patients been able to have been accurately identified and matched with their records. This problem is so dire that one of the nation's leading patient safety organizations, the ECRI Institute, named patient identification among the top ten threats to patient safety.
The absence of a consistent approach to accurately identifying patients has also resulted in significant costs to hospitals, health systems, physician practices, long-term post-acute care (LTPAC) facilities, and other providers, as well as hindered efforts to facilitate health information exchange. According to a 2016 study of healthcare executives, misidentification costs the average healthcare facility $17.4 million per year in denied claims and potential lost revenue. More importantly, there are patient safety implications when data is matched to the wrong patient and when essential data is lacking from a patient's record due to identity issues. The 2016 National Patient Misidentification Report cites that 86 percent of respondents said they have witnessed or know of a medical error that was the result of patient misidentification.
Contact your US Senators today and urge them to strike this archaic ban from the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2020.
To contact your US Senators, visit
AHIMA's Advocacy Action Center. To expedite correspondence, AHIMA has generated a message to your US Senators. Members must type in their zip code and personal information to express their support for removal of the ban.
Your support is critical to advancing a nationwide patient identification solution. Thank you for everything that you do for the HIM profession.
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Empower HIM - Become a CHIA Leader
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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.
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Call for CHIACON20 Presentations
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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.
Convention proposals due October 7 for consideration.
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RN Link's CDI Specialist Training -
Discount for CHIA Members
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October 19-20, 2019
in Glendale
Last day to register is September 18
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.
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RN Link wants your feedback. Participate in this
short RN Link poll to let them know your interest in onsite seminar for CDI refresher course.
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Health IT Summit in September -
Discount for CHIA Members
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September 19-20, 2019
Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills
Fuel your Passion. Transform Healthcare.
CHIA is partnering with the Health IT Summit to offer
complimentary passes to CHIA members. Use code CHIACOMP when registering.
Join top executives, physicians, practice management and IT decision makers from North America’s leading provider organizations and physician practices in Los Angeles, CA for a two-day executive Health IT Summit. We've developed a concise program where leading health care thought leaders interact with their fellow executives and solution providers to discuss the latest strategies and tactics to address a wide range of issues and topics, including: data security, population health, data analytics, accountable care, telemedicine, and more. This exclusive, high-level program is a great opportunity to stay ahead of the challenges we all face and to network with other health care leaders and colleagues.
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Presbyterian Healthcare Phishing Scam Hits 183K Patient Records
Nathan Eddy for Healthcare IT News; Aug 28, 2019
The health system, which is based in New Mexico and operates nine hospitals statewide, issued a statement on its website confirming the email phishing scam and noting it had secured the affected email accounts.
The statement also said the organization has already begun a "thorough review" of the impacted emails and alerted federal law enforcement agencies, and also detailed the attack, which was initially discovered in June, but occurred in May.
The statement explained the anonymous, unauthorized access from an unknown source was gained through a deceptive email to some of Presbyterian's workforce members.
Read More
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CMS Guidance to States Outlines Sponsor Deeming and Repayment Requirements for Certain Immigrants seeking Medicaid and CHIP Coverage
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Aug 23, 2019
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued guidance to states today regarding how they should determine certain sponsored immigrants’ eligibility for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Today’s guidance follows the issuance of the Presidential Memorandum on Enforcing the Legal Responsibilities of Sponsors of Aliens, which directs relevant federal agencies to update or issue procedures and guidance as needed, to ensure compliance with the sponsor deeming and repayment obligations under current law.
The CMS guidance, contained in a State Health Official Letter (SHO), provides direction to states on provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The INA generally requires that the income and resources of the sponsors of certain immigrants be counted in determining the immigrant’s eligibility for federal means-tested benefit programs, including Medicaid and CHIP. Under the INA, the sponsors of the affected immigrants are also responsible for reimbursing the state agency for the cost of most benefits provided to the sponsored immigrant. These rules only apply to Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) who have a sponsor who has executed an Affidavit of Support (Form I-864 Affidavit of Support).
Read More.
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ClinicalBox Improves Surgery through Enhanced Prior Authorization and Clinical Coordination
Chris Muir and Brett Coughlin for HealthIT; Aug 19, 2019
We recently checked in with ClinicalBox and Lowell General Hospital about their progress since being selected as one of six winners of ONC’s 2015 Market Research and Development (R&D) Pilot Challenge in 2015.* This challenge broke down the barriers between promising start ups and healthcare stakeholders by helping early stage health information technology (health IT) companies connect with healthcare organizations that were willing to host pilot programs.
ClinicalBox offers a tool for surgical practices that improves coordination on three fronts: clinical, payment, and patient engagement. Among the company’s clients are surgical groups, hospitals, surgery centers, health plans, and patients.
Since winning the ONC challenge, ClinicalBox expanded its focus to digitizing prior authorizations, automating proof of medical necessity for claims processing, and integrating health plans (based on cost and quality) at the site of surgical care.
Read More
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CHIA Town Hall: AHIMA House of Delegates Discussion
Wednesday, August 28 - Live Webinar
The Patient-Driven Payment Model and ICD-10
Thursday, August 29
- Live Webinar
FY2020 ICD-10-CM/PCS Update
Tuesday, September 24 - Ontario
Thursday, September 26 - Dublin
The Next Generation in Quality Improvement: eCQMs
Thursday, September 26 - Live Webinar
Diaries of a Professional Fee Coding Compliance Auditor
Tuesday, October 8
- Live Webinar
CHIA Student Chat
Thursday, October 8 - Live Webinar
Confidentiality and the ROI in California
Wednesday, November 13 - Garden Grove
Thursday, November 14 - Pleasanton
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