HIM Department News - AHIMA Advantage

Hi everyone!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break and I am sure you are all ready for the nice long holiday and term break coming up soon!

Have you registered for your January classes?  I hope so!  If not, be sure to contact your advisor right away or go ahead and register if you have already met with your advisor.  Plan early and get your textbooks so you are ready to get 2015 off to a great start.

Today I would like to share the AHIMA Advantage electronic newsletter with you.  There are all sorts of great articles and information.  Please take a little time to look over all the hot topics and stay tuned in to what is happening in the HIM profession.  Here is the link:

http://www.ahimaadvantage-digital.com/ahimaadvantage/december_2014#pg2

Please send me an email if there is anything you want to discuss or if you have a question about anything. 

CAHIIM Update:  Our self-assessment has been approved and accepted.  We are not in the queue for assignment of a review panel and to receive a date for our accreditation visit.  We are almost there!!  I will let you all know as soon as I know the dates.

Thanks for making my job so wonderful!

Cindy Glewwe Edgerton, M.Ed, RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program 

Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(860) 515-3833
cedgerton@charteroak.edu

www.charteroak.edu

Health Information Program Blog - Clinical Documentation Improvement

Clinical Documentation Improvement, or CDI, is a hot topic right now.  It is also a great job opportunity for an RHIA.  It is becomming more and more important as we are nearing ICD-10.  As I look at job sites and the AHIMA job board I see postings for CDI specialists many times a week. 

According to the article that I am sharing with you today,

"In order for the healthcare industry to prepare for new initiatives such as accountable care organizations, pay-for -performance, meaningful use, and a variety of other initiatives, clinical documentation must improve. It is imperative for organizations and providers to continue to seek clarification and guidance on documentation requirements. Top priorities during the next 12 months include identifying documentation gaps, achieving documentation excellence, and providing ongoing education to clinical providers.

Accurate documentation of patient encounters is the foundation for telling the patient’s story, appropriate reimbursement, and quality reporting. As healthcare reform moves quickly towards quality-driven reimbursement, organizations and providers will have to continue to justify care plans and treatment options as well as successfully demonstrate quality outcomes and patient safety. Consistent, complete, and accurate documentation is the key to the economic health of the organization and a key indicator of physician quality. Organizations and providers need to be able to use automated, intuitive tools to successfully implement new technology, new federal requirements, and specific strategic initiatives without comprising patient care."

Here is the article to help you understand what it is all about:

http://perspectives.ahima.org/leading-the-documentation-journey-a-report-from-the-ahima-2014-clinical-documentation-improvement-summit/#.VFIpeU10zIV


Have a great weekend!

Health Information Management Program - Fall Term II

This is just a reminder that Monday begins Fall Term II for 2014.  Are you registered???  If not, call your Advisor right away!  Be sure to stay focused on your goal of graduating with a degree - you can do it!

Cindy Glewwe Edgerton, M.Ed, RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program 
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(860) 515-3833
cedgerton@charteroak.edu
www.charteroak.edu

Health Information Management Program Blog - ICD-10 and Ebola

This is a great ICD-10 reference that was posted by AHIMA last week!

HOW ICD-10 COULD HELP TRACK EBOLA

With concern about Ebola growing worldwide, a recent infographic from the Coalition for ICD-10 highlights the benefits to public health of coding morbidity and reporting disease data in ICD-10, rather than in ICD-9, which lacks a specific code for Ebola. ICD-10, used throughout the world's industrialized nations and slated for implementation in the US on October 1, 2015, assigns code A98.4 to Ebola. The Coalition says ICD-9's lack of specificity makes it more difficult to monitor outbreaks, share data internationally, and report public health emergencies the World Health Organization in real time.

Access the infographic here:

http://coalitionforicd10.org/2014/09/04/icd-10-a-common-language-for-public-health/

HIM Weekly Wednesday - A Great Website to Explore!

Hi everyone, I hope you are having a great week! 

This is definitely not a sales pitch, but there is a website that I have grown to love because of the free webinars that they do on an ongoing basis.  I want to share it with you for that great resource, but also for the nice software demo videos that you can find on their website.  So, the company is called NextGen and they do several things but one of their main products is an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for physician offices.  I would like to direct you to their page for Ambulatory Health Records and you will see a variety of demos as you scroll down the page.  If you have never seen an EHR this will be a great first peek for you!

https://www.nextgen.com/Products-and-Services/Ambulatory/Electronic-Health-Records-EHR

OK, back to the webinars! From the same link as above, if you hover your mouse over the Resources tab, you will see a long list (you can explore all of those options of course!) and you can click on Webinars.  Then click on Ambulatory and scroll down to see the webinars that are upcoming.  You can also click on Archived Webinars and watch past webinars at your leisure (today 19 are listed!).  While you are there, notice that you can also click on Product Demos and other resources.  See what I mean?  It is a great website!

Remember this website when you need a great idea or a great resource for a paper or other assignment in some of your HIM courses. 

FYI:  You WILL have to register your name and email address but the nice thing about this is that you will get occasional emails announcing new webinars.  As far as I can tell, the are all free!

I hope you enjoy this resource!

Cindy Glewwe Edgerton
HIM Program Director

HIM Weekly Wednesday - HIM Survey

Hello HIM Students!  This is a very important topic as I am beginning to plan and prepare for each of your professional practice experiences (or PPE) that is part of the HIM 498 Health Information Management Practicum course.  One of the requirements of HIM 498 is 40 hours of hands-on experience spent at a real healthcare facility.  As you can imagine, this takes a lot of planning and organization for all of us involved and it is never too early to start preparing.  I have prepared a survey that will help me get started.  Please take this as soon as possible.  I do need a response from every one of you so if I don’t get your survey you will get reminders until I do! 

Please take the survey now – it should only take you 5-10 minutes!

Here is the link:

https://charteroak.wufoo.com/forms/practicum-survey/

I have sent this email to both your COSC email account and the personal email account we have on file to be sure you receive it!  The email also included an attachment of the Practicum Manual for your review. You will see this again about 3 months before you begin HIM 498 but I want to share it with you now so you will understand the process and can think about locations and possibilities.

 

Until next time,

 

Cindy Glewwe Edgerton, MEd, RHIA

Program Director, Health Information Management

HIM Weekly Wednesday - Welcome to Fall Term 2014; Attend FREE ICD-10-CM Webinar!

Hello everyone, welcome to the Fall 2014 term at Charter Oak!  I hope your first week has gotten off to a great start and you are excited to be back into learning mode!  We are excited to have you back! 

Please remember that if you have any questions about the program or your classes you can always contact me (Cindy Glewwe Edgerton) or Frank Valier and we are always ready to help you. 

Here is a great opportunity that I want to share with you.  I have registered - I hope you will too!

CMS AND AHIMA TO OFFER JOINT WEBINAR ON ICD-10

AHIMA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will present a webinar on ICD-10, "ICD-10: The Road Forward," on September 4, at 1 p.m. CT. Denesecia Green, acting director of the Administrative Simplification Group, along with panelists, will discuss key steps to ensuring a successful transition and resources to help with a smooth implementation. CMS will also demonstrate the new "Road to 10" tool, developed in collaboration with physicians to help clinical practices create a customized action plan for ICD-10. Register in advance.

 

Have a great weekend!

Cindy Edgerton, MEd, RHIA

HIM Program Director

HIM Weekly Wednesday - Get Motivated for Fall Classes!

Sadly, the summer is almost over.  It always goes way too fast, doesn't it?  :-(   

With the start of the new season comes the start of a new term here at Charter Oak and and that means the beginning of some great new learning opportunities.  Now, I am going to sound like a mom here, but I have always said to my boys and now I will say this to all of you......you get to CHOOSE how well you do in your classes and you get to CHOOSE your priorities!  So I challenge you to CHOOSE to make your classes a priority and CHOOSE to do your best work! Remember your goal of finishing your degree and imagine all of the opportunities it will bring you. 

Are you all scheduled for your fall courses?  If not, be sure to call Frank right away!  Have you ordered your books?

Be sure to make room on your calendar for homework.  I actually schedule it just like it is a class on campus.  My family knows that Tuesday and Thursday nights and Saturday mornings are my homework hours.  Yes, I am in school too!  I don't always stick to the schedule perfectly but most of the time I do and it really helps me keep on track.

Before you know it, it will be time to register for winter!  Winter registration opens on October 1st - it is never too soon to start planning for that.

Classes begin on August 25 - get ready for a great term! 

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - MOVING TO A BLOG!

Hello HIM Students!  I am excited to announce that my (almost weekly J) Weekly Wednesday emails are moving to a Blog format!  This is great for a couple of reasons:

       1.       You can sign up to be alerted whenever a new blog post has been made.

2.       You can view all past Weekly Wednesday emails and all future blog posts in one spot.  I have made sure that each post has a title that will help you find what you are looking for.

       3.       And, well, it is just prettier!  J

Here is the link:

  http://health-info-management.blogspot.com/2014/07/him-weekly-wednesday-moving-to-blog.html

 

Check it out and take a look at all of the options, etc.  I will always post a link to this blog in an email to you on Wednesdays.

Have a great week!

 

Cindy (Glewwe) Edgerton, M.Ed., RHIA  

Director, Health Information Management Program

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(Ph.) 860-515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - PERSONAL HEALTH RECORD (PHR)

Hi everyone, I hope you are all having a great summer!  It is going too quickly, but I am enjoying every minute of it.

With so many people traveling in the summer I thought it would be the perfect time to talk about the PHR (Personal Health Record).  You will be learning more about the PHR in a couple of your HIM courses, but for many of you the PHR may a new concept.  Basically, a personal health record is just what the name implies.  It is the process of keeping parts of your medical record and health information at home, for your own use.  This can be done in many ways; by writing down information learned at Dr. appointments, by collecting copies of your medical record from the places where you were a patient, or by saving information from the patient portal available through your clinic or hospital.  You can keep this information in a folder, 3-ring binder, on a flash-drive, scanned to your computer, etc.  The way it is done is your individual choice.

AHIMA is a strong advocate of the PHR.  They believe we should all have one – especially the elderly, those with chronic illnesses, children, and everyone who travels.  To learn more about the PHR you can go to:

http://www.myphr.com/

Also, here is a blog posting from a Past-President of AHIMA that talks about the PHR’s importance during travel.

http://www.gethealthystayhealthy.com/blog/safe-travel-and-your-personal-health-information

I hope you enjoy this new information!  Travel safely!

 

Cindy (Glewwe) Edgerton, M.Ed., RHIA  

Director, Health Information Management Program

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(Ph.) 860-515-3833

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - FALL REGISTRATION / NEW LAST NAME!

Hello everyone, this is just a quick reminder this week to schedule time with Frank to register for Fall.  Fall registration is now open and it is important to not wait until the last minute!

The following are the HIM courses that are offered for fall. 

HIM 405 Healthcare Information Law, Privacy, and Security

HIM 420 Health Research and Quality

There are also a number of HCA course that you will find on the schedule as well.  If you are not sure what to take, Frank can help you with that!!!

 Have a wonderful 4^th of July!

P.S.  I got married last week and Edgerton is my new last name.  I will continue to include Glewwe in my signature line for quite a while to help with the confusion!

 

Cindy (Glewwe) Edgerton, M.Ed., RHIA  

Director, Health Information Management Program

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(Ph.) 860-515-3833

 

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - AHIMA STATE AFFILIATIONS / CAHIIM ACCREDITATION UPDATE

Hello HIM Students!  I haven’t been “weekly” with my Weekly Wednesday lately.   Some Wednesday’s come around and I just can’t think of anything great and important to share – so I decide not to send anything just for the sake of sending it.  I know we all have enough email to wade through.

There are a few things I do want to share this week:

1.        Be sure you are registered for Summer Term 2 – it starts on Monday!  I hope to see some of you in my class – HCA/HIM 115 Fundamentals of HIM

2.       Check out your state AHIMA affiliation for any upcoming conferences.  Many are in the summer or early fall.  Since many of you are from CT, be sure to take a look at the CTHIMA website for details on their annual conference that is in Mystic this year on August 24^th and 25^th.  Students always get a nice discount and I will be there and would love to meet you in person. 

3.       We have submitted our Self-Assessment to CAHIIM so now we are waiting to hear when our accreditation visit will be.  I  was told that January might be a reasonable expectation.  We are all looking forward to it!

I know Frank has been enjoying working with you through the new advising system.  Be sure to always let me or Frank know if you have any questions about the program – we are always here to help.

 I hope you are all having a great summer! 

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA  

Director, Health Information Management Program

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(Ph.) 860-515-3833

 

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - ICD-10 NEWS AND UPDATES

Hello HIM Students!  After all of the crazy ICD-10 news that I reported to you last month, we now have new information from CMS.  Please read the article below.

http://journal.ahima.org/2014/05/01/cms-proposes-october-2015-as-new-icd-10-compliance-date/

And for one more look on the topic:

http://journal.ahima.org/2014/05/14/monthly-code-cracker-stay-the-course/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+%24%7BJournalOfAhima%7D+%28%24%7BJournal%7D%29

All of this means that we won't be making any changes to our coding courses at COSC.  In HIM 210 you will learn about ICD-9 as a system that is retiring, and you will learn how to code with ICD-10.  This will put all of you in a great position as you graduate with ICD-10 coding skills.

 

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA  

Director, Health Information Management Program

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(Ph.) 860-515-3833

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - THE HIM JOB MARKET

Hello HIM Students!  Today will be a quick message as I am attending the Minnesota Health Information Management Association annual conference.  It is a large state conference with about 450 HIM professionals in attendance.  It is always inspiring and motivating!

I want to share a great article with you this week.  It is about the current HIM job market, and it is full of good news!  I hope, as you read it, you will feel the excitement about the future of HIM jobs.

Here it is:

http://health-information.advanceweb.com/Features/Articles/The-HIM-Job-Market.aspx

Happy Wednesday!
 

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed, RHIA

Director, Health Information Management Program 

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(860) 515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

www.charteroak.edu

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - SCAN YOUR EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES!

Hello HIM Students!  I mentioned a couple of months ago that it is never too early to start looking for HIM jobs, even if it is just to see what types of opportunities there are AND to help you stay motivated and keep your eye on the prize!  HIM students often make the mistake of thinking they can't start applying for HIM jobs until they graduate with the degree. That's not true! There are plenty of entry-level and mid-level positions that you may be qualified for, and an employer might really love that you are an HIM program. In their eyes you will be someone who can learn and be mentored and then be an excellent candidate for promotion once you have that degree and credential!

If you are not already working in the field, I would like to challenge you this week to check out the websites of your local hospitals or health care systems and see what is out there.  It is a little tricky, because all of the positions are not usually under one Health Information or Medical Records heading but those are good places to start.  You should also look at good entry-level options such as medical receptionist, admissions, patient registration, etc. for really good foot-in-the-door jobs.  Once you have a handful of the HIM courses completed, you might be qualified for an HIM Technician position.  Always look at the preferred qualifications for a job and you might be surprised to find that you would be a good fit.  I took a look at the Yale New Haven Hospital employment site today and I was pretty excited about all the possibilities I saw there.

If you ARE working in the field, feel free to hit REPLY ALL and let your fellow HIM students know about the types of positions at your facility that an HIM student may be qualified for.  And better yet, if you know of any current openings, send those our way and you just might motivate someone to apply!

Have a great week!

 

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed, RHIA

Director, Health Information Management Program 

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(860) 515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - AHIMA STUDENT OPEN HOUSE

This is just a quick reminder that there is an excellent opportunity for 3 hours of educational sessions for HIM students THIS Friday, April 11.  It is FREE and you are able to choose either the morning or afternoon session.  All sessions will be presented via webinar and you can read more and see the agenda here:

 http://www.ahimafoundation.org/about/FoundationEvents.aspx

Be sure to register if you are able to attend.  I know many of you will be working on Friday, but if there is any way you can listen in I think it will be really valuable!

 

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed, RHIA

Director, Health Information Management Program 

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(860) 515-3833

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - ICD-10 Delay

Well, it was a stressful and eventful week for AHIMA and the HIM profession.  A lot has happened since last Wednesday.  I mentioned last week that we were waiting on a vote in the House on a bill that had language slipped into it (7 lines) that would delay ICD-10 for another year.  AHIMA rallied it’s members and over 6000 calls were made to Senators by AHIMA members alone.  Sadly, the bill passed in the House vote last Thursday.  This brought on a massive effort by AHIMA and its members to inform the Senate about this “hidden language” in the bill and beg them to have it removed or vote no.  Thousands and thousands of emails and calls were made again, by AHIMA members to their local Senators.  A massive Twitter initiative was launched as well.  We really did everything we could, but unfortunately this bill was passed on Monday and expected to be signed by President Obama.

 

What does this mean for the HIM program at Charter Oak and all of you?  Actually, not much, thank goodness.  Since none of you have taken our coding courses, we are able to still move forward as planned.  Our HIM 210 course, Medical Coding and Billing I - ICD-10, will still be taught this fall, 2014, and keep you right on track for learning ICD-10 for the new date of October 1, 2015.  In this course you will learn a bit of ICD-9, just enough to know what it is like, but you will focus on ICD-10 because that is where the focus will be by the time your graduate.  Just keep in mind that it isn’t so easy for HIM students at other schools who are graduating next month.  They have learned ICD-10, and now the schools have to scramble to somehow teach them ICD-9 so they will be employable and ready for their RHIT or RHIA exams.  It is a really difficult time right now for those schools.  It is also very difficult for all of the health care facilities who were prepared and just about ready to make the transition this October.  All of their efforts are now halted and new plans have to be made. 

 

Read here to see how AHIMA responded to the first vote:

http://journal.ahima.org/2014/03/28/senate-to-vote-on-icd-10-delay-bill-monday/

 

Read here to see their article after the bill passed in the Senate:

http://journal.ahima.org/2014/03/31/senate-votes-on-icd-10-delay-bill/

 

Please let me know if you have any questions about this!  Happy Wednesday!

 

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA   

Director, Health Information Management Program

Charter Oak State College

55 Paul J. Manafort Drive

New Britain, CT 06053

(Ph.) 860-515-3833

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - Possible ICD-10 Delay - 3/27/14

It was a crazy day for AHIMA and the HIM profession yestereday.  It was discovered that some language about delaying ICD-10 for another year was "sneeked in" to a bill that is going to be voted on today.  This would be devastating to most healthcare organizations, colleges, software vendors, etc. who have already spend countless hours and dollars preparing and training for ICD-10 to be ready for the transition this October 1.

 

AHIMA found out about this at the last hour and jumped into action.  They made calls to congress and asked the membership to all make calls to their state senators to ask them to please vote no for the bill as written.

 

Please read this short article and be informed! http://journal.ahima.org/2014/03/26/congress-voting-tomorrow-on-icd-10-delay-ahima-calls-on-members-to-take-action/

HIM Weekly Wednesday - Happy Health Information Professionals Week!

Hello HIM Students! I know it’s Tuesday and I am a day early, but I will be in-flight tomorrow and I want to be sure you get this message before the week is half over!

Health Information Professionals Week Focuses on “Transforming Healthcare with Information” During 25th Annual Celebration

The American Health Information Management Association honors and celebrates health information professionals this week for Health Information Professionals (HIP) Week, March 16-22, 2014. This year's theme is “Transforming Healthcare with Information.”

“The work health information management (HIM) professionals do to ensure the integrity of health information is imperative to clinical and administrative decision making. Access to accurate information helps all of us make important decisions and leads to a healthy society,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “AHIMA’s Health Information Professionals Week spotlights the important role HIM professionals play in our healthcare system.”

HIP Week 2014 coincides with AHIMA’s Hill Day, an event where AHIMA members visit Capitol Hill and share the importance of advancing HIM. Information governance, privacy and security, and fraud and abuse concerns continue to be key issues for HIM professionals, and AHIMA is ready to provide guidance to the healthcare industry and government leaders seeking counsel.

“AHIMA's vision is a world in which healthcare decisions are informed by instant access to intelligence,” said Thomas Gordon. “In this vision, data is a critical asset. This year's theme, ‘Transforming Healthcare with Information,’ describes the future we want to see and reminds us that HIM professionals' work is supporting quality of care and population health today.”

As the focus in healthcare shifts from the ability to collect data to using information effectively, healthcare organizations will continue to depend on HIM professionals as leaders in this area. With their expertise in management of information, as well as data integrity and analytics, health information professionals are well positioned to move the healthcare industry into a transformed future.

I am looking forward to celebrating HIP week with many of you at our HIM Open House Thursday evening! If you need more information about the Open House please let me know!

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - AHIMA Testimony on ICD-10 Transition

Hello everyone, forgive me for being a day late! Sometimes the days just fly by and I can’t keep up with my to-do list!

I am going to be quick today and leave you with a link for some good bedtime reading.

1. This is a great example of how AHIMA works for its members and acts as the expert in HIM matters throughout the healthcare industry
2. This is a presentation/testimonial given that describes how healthcare facilities are doing with the ICD-10 transition
3. You will learn a lot of history plus get a better understanding of the huge undertaking it has been, and will continue to be, to transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 coding on October 1 of this year

Happy Reading!

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM Weekly Wednesday - Advance for Health Information Professionals / Job Searches

Hello HIM Students and Happy Wednesday! I hope Term 1 went well and as you gear up for Term 2 I think we will be seeing spring very soon!
Today I would like to share with you another excellent resource. There is a publication that I have been reading for as long as I can remember (probably 20 years) that has really good articles and other resources. I learn a lot from the publications that cross my desk. This one is called Advance for Health Information Professionals. I was reading some information on their site and noticed that they have a special section for students and recent graduates and I knew right away what I would share with you today!
Take a look and save this link in your favorites. It has great information about the job search, networking, resume writing, and more. While you are there, be sure to also click on the Salary tab on the top of the page to look at Part I of a 3 part study on HIM professionals salaries. Also notice a box with some job postings. It is a good idea to start looking at job postings to get an idea of what types of job titles and job descriptions you will be qualified for once you graduate. You can also do an expanded search using a dropdown box to specify the type of job you are interested in. It is never too early to start looking!
Have a great day!
Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833
cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - HIP Week

Hello HIM Students! Each year we celebrate Health Information Professionals week, sponsored by AHIMA, and the week is fast approaching. March 16-22 is the official HIP Week.
Here at Charter Oak we will celebrate with an Open House on Thursday, March 20, at 5:30 p.m. If you live in the area we would love to have you join us and I would love to meet you in person! If you are not close by you can still attend via Webex.

The event includes brief presentations by Mark Laudenberger, Director of HIM, Middlesex Hospital, Cindy Glewwe, our own HIM Program Director, Liz Taylor, Director of Health Information, Sharon Hospital and President of CT HIMA, and Patricia Hawthorne, one of our current HIM Program students who will discuss the Charter Oak online classroom experience.

We hope you can join us!

Another important note for your calendar: BOTH Summer and Fall registration will go up on ACORN for viewing on March 1st. Why not register right away for both terms? Email Frank Valier or set up a time to talk with him via phone to discuss which courses would be the best fit for your degree plan.

Have a great week!

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - Registration

Hello, I hope you are having a great week! Do you still need to register for your Spring Term 2 classes? The deadline is 4:00 p.m. on March 12. Be sure to give your advisor, Frank Valier, a call for some guidance! 860-515-3834

And it is not too early to begin thinking about your summer courses. I would like to recommend if you have not yet taken HCA 115 Principles of Health Information Management (formerly Medical Record Science) that you be sure to register for that for the summer. It is an introduction to the HIM profession and after completing the course you should have a pretty good idea about many of the jobs and tasks that are involved in the HIM field. It will also help to make the other HIM courses more relevant to you. I am going to be teaching it this summer and I am excited about the chance to get to know some of you and answer any questions that you may still have about the HIM program and profession.

On another note, coming up quickly is the 25th annual Health Information Professionals (HIP) Week. During the week of March 16-22 we will be celebrating you and this great profession that you have chosen. Look for some extra emails and activities that week. We will also be holding an open house the evening of March 20th. More on that to come! Get more information on HIP Week!

Have a great Wednesday!

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM Weekly Wednesday - ICD-10 Coding

Hi Everyone! I have found an excellent video that describes how ICD-10 coding is different than ICD-9. As most of you know, we will be transitioning to ICD-10 on October 1 of this year.

The video is 26 minutes long and I hope you will take the time to view it. Even though you may not understand everything because you have not had the coding courses yet, you will still be able to get a feel for the changes that coders will be experiencing. HIM departments have been preparing for this change for the past couple of years and coders are getting trained and practicing with ICD-10 so they will be ready on October 1st.

Enjoy!

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM WEEKLY WEDNESDAY - CAHIIM AND CAREER

We are very happy to report that we are officially in Candidacy for accreditation with CAHIIM! I am busy working on the next step which is our self-assessment report. Following the self-assessment report, our final accreditation visit will be scheduled. This is what you will now see on our website and in publications about the HIM program:

The HIM Bachelor of Science program at Charter Oak State College is in Candidacy Status, pending accreditation review by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).

Accreditation is very important because it ensures that we have a quality program that meets the needs of students and employers, and it allows you to sit for the RHIA exam. I will always keep you updated with any future accreditation news.

And the next big news (although this probably isn’t new to most of you)... there is a shortage of HIM/HIT Professionals! Need I say more? You will want to read this article!

If you are receiving this Weekly Wednesday email for the first time and would like to receive past editions, just let me know!

Have a great week everyone!

Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833

cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM Weekly Wednesday - AHIMA Virtual Student Open House

Oops, I am a day late! A day off on Monday for MLK, Jr. day has me a little off.
I want to let you know today about a Student Open House that the AHIMA Foundation is holding. It is virtual, so you can attend from anywhere! If you happen to live in Chicago you can also attend in person. Be sure to put February 11th on your calendar. There are two sessions so you can choose which one is best for you. There will be 3 hours of excellent information that will be helpful both now and in your future career in HIM.
See the AHIMA Foundation Events. Notice that you do have to register. Also notice that the times are posted in Central Time so be sure to translate that to your own time zone. When you register you will also get reminder emails so be sure to register, even if you are not sure if you can attend!
I hope you will all plan on attending at least part of the sessions!
Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833
cglewwe@charteroak.edu

HIM Weekly Wednesday - Scribes

Hello HIM Students! The Weekly Wednesday is back. I hope you had a fantastic break and you are off to a great start after the first week of classes in 2014!
Today I am going to share with you a fairly new job in the healthcare field. It is called a Scribe, and they are used to partner with physicians to complete the documentation so the physician can focus all of their attention on the patient. The Scribe is typically typing the information into the electronic health record while the physician is doing the exam and reporting results. Many traditional medical transcriptionists are finding their way into this new role and it is a perfect fit for them. I am also hearing of students in pre-med taking a job as a scribe. I am certain that HIM professionals will work with Scribes in some way – we may be the ones to help train them on the use of the EHR and the policies for quality documentation and patient confidentiality, and it may even be possible that they would be part of the HIM team.
I found an article for you to read to become more familiar with this new job title that you may encounter. I hope you find it as interesting as I did!
New York Times article on scribes
Have a great week!
Cindy Glewwe, M.Ed., RHIA
Director, Health Information Management Program
Charter Oak State College
55 Paul J. Manafort Drive
New Britain, CT 06053
(Ph.) 860-515-3833
cglewwe@charteroak.edu