Currently in health care organizations electronic health records (EHRs) allow providers to collect, retrieve and report different types of health data. Making sure that the data is accurate and complete is the responsibility of the health information management professional. Data analysis is one of the core competencies of the HIM professional. Understanding what the data is telling you is key to the HIM role. HIM professionals must possess knowledge in three primary areas:
- Health data capture and maintenance
- Health Information analysis and output
- Health information resource management and innovation
As providers
continue to demand health information technology systems that can manipulate
data in novel ways, HIM professionals must be ready and able to tap into that
data and tell the stories behind it. (Improving
Data Collection across Health Care Systems, October 2014)
Data retrieval
Data
retrieval is an increasingly complex task as EHRs and other new applications
continue to churn out huge volumes of data across disparate sites of care. HIM professionals must identify and track all
data sources that feed into the enterprise-wide data warehouse. An incomplete data inventory leads to
incomplete analysis. HIM professionals
must also be able to migrate and integrate data from diverse internal and
external sources.
Disaster
recovery is also an important component of data retrieval. HIM professionals play a significant role in
the development of a formal disaster plan.
HIM professionals must ensure that this plan included information about
data backup, disaster recovery, emergency mode operations, testing and revision
and applications and data critical analysis.
Testing of a disaster recovery plan should be done periodically. (AHIMA,
2011)
Data integrity
Data
integrity is the foundation of HIM.
Without clean data, any analysis, reimbursement, and clinical decisions
can’t possibly be accurate or informed.
HIM professionals must ensure that errors within the HER are corrected
and that all source systems include corrections as well. They must also closely monitor the Master
Patient Index (MPI), looking for and correcting duplicates and other patient
identity errors. As technology (e.g.
computerized physician order entry, EHRs and computer-assisted coding) is
implemented, HIM must be able to ensure that this technology provides an
accurate output of data and that users understand their role in terms of
validation.
HIM
professionals—can—and should also engage patients to improve data
integrity. Portals, when integrated with
the HER, give patient access to their own health data. Patients can partner with their health
providers to validate their own health information. (AHIMA, 2011)
Data analysis and reporting
Data
analysis and reporting will only continue to increase as technology allows
providers to capture new and critical information. HIM professionals can help identify
opportunities for the use of this data to improve business intelligence,
clinical care and decision-making throughout the enterprise. (Data Analytics
for Health Care)
HIM
professionals must be prepared to design requirements, criteria, and metrics to
meet requirements for analyses and interpretations. These needs will vary by researcher,
clinician, executive, payer, consumer, etc.
When
analyzing and reporting data, HIM professionals must also ask these questions:
- From what source(s) was the data obtained?
- Is the data accurate?
- Is the data complete?
- Does the data meet the end user’s need?
Conclusion
Identifying a list of critical skills for the HIM
professional to possess is important for several reasons, the most important
being that one of the goals of health information management is to determine whether
patients are receiving quality care. This means measuring how well health
professionals follow practice guidelines and procedures. If an EHR is set up properly, reports
generated from the information stored in it can illuminate which guidelines and
professional practices lead to better outcomes. If the EHR is not set-up properly, this type
of reporting is not possible. Moreover, an improperly set-up EHR could lead to
the generation of inaccurate results, redundancy of data, wasted time and
effort, and perpetuation of medical errors. Acquisition of this skill set (data retrieval,
analysis and reporting) will distinguish HIM professionals from their
counterparts in the health care profession and contribute to the goal of
quality care. (Hanks, 2015)
Frank M. Valier, D.B.A.
Assistant Director, Health Information Management
References
AHIMA. "HIM Functions in Healthcare Quality and
Patient Safety. Appendix C: HIM’s Role in Data Capture, Validation, and
Maintenance." Journal of AHIMA 82, no.8 (Aug 2011):
Ikanow:
Data Analytics for Healthcare: Creating Understanding from Big Data.http://info.ikanow.com/Portals/163225/docs/data-analytics-for-healthcare.pdf,
Improving Data
Collection across the Health Care System.
October 2014. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville,
MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/final-reports/iomracerport/reldata5.html
Hanks,
G. “Importance of Data Retrieval and Analysis in Health Care.” Journal of AHIMA
86, no.2 (Feb 2015
Raghupathi
W, Raghupathi V: An Overview of Health Analytics. 2013, working paper
Health information management (HIM) is an allied health profession responsible for ensuring the availability, accuracy, and protection of the clinical information needed to provide healthcare-related decisions. Health information professionals work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, physician offices, and many other organizations. They play a key role in the effective management of health data and medical records needed to deliver quality healthcare to the public. The work HIM professionals do to ensure the integrity of health information is imperative to clinical and administrative decision making. Access to reliable information helps everyone make important decisions and leads to a healthy society.