MHIMA Uplink

Remember, we are always looking for authors of articles of broad interest to our MHIMA membership: about 500 words, worth two (2) CE credits for your original work. Contact MHIMA Executive Director.

Current and past issues of our e-newsletter are available under the UPLINK E-NEWSLETTERS button on our MHIMA website.

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MHIMA Vision & Mission

Vision: The Minnesota Health Information Management Association, together with AHIMA, will set the standard and be the recognized leader in health information management practices, technology, education, research, and advocacy.

Mission: MHIMA is committed to the professional development of its members through education, networking, and life-long learning. These commitments promote high quality health information and benefit the public, health care providers, and other clinical data users.

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President's Message
Gina Sanvik, RHIA


Gina Sanvik, RHIA AHIMA Certified ICD-10 Trainer

On your mark. Get set. Go.....
Do you remember when you were young and the race would begin with "on your mark," "get set," "go?" Well, with the same youthful excitement and anticipation for the race, that same positive energy is exhibited and correlated to MHIMA.

On your mark. The transitional board meeting, strategic planning meeting and board of directors meetings were held. Visions, ideas and strategic plans were shared. All these things have come together collaboratively to create the goals and vision of the MHIMA 2011-2012 year.

Get set. It was taking the vision and goals and applying them to a favorable and achievable action plan for our state association. One of the primary dates in "getting set" was at the September 16th board of directors meeting when we came together to finalize the action plans for the goals and then finalize our budget. This also included preparing for the House of Delegates meeting and preparation for this year's regional meetings. Click here to view our 2011-2012 Strategy Map/Action plan.

Go. It's race time. The Delegates are off to Salt Lake City to engage in key decisions and education to move our association forward. But "go" doesn't stop with the AHIMA national convention. In fact, it's just the beginning. The real race is run by all of us, every day in what you do and every favorable way that you get involved. How do we run this race together? By building on last year's focus of volunteering, boosting your own education through annual and regional meetings and our webinars. The race is only good if we all participate and run it together.

So in staying with the race theme:

Mark.....your calendars for the upcoming Regional Fall meetings and for April 25-27, 2012 for the MHIMA annual meeting at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Bloomington. And watch for the Lunch 'n Learn webinar schedule as plans are finalized for our webcasts.

Get set... to get involved in volunteering and education and get set to hear the updates and key messages from the AHIMA national convention.

Go....accomplish the goals you set for yourself, which in turn, makes the MHIMA association one of the best. Thanks for all you do and all your support. Let's make it happen and run this race together!!!

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Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Overview
Janelle Wapola, MA, RHIA

Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) Overview

Definition: An ACO is a group of providers and suppliers of services (e.g., hospitals, physicians, and others involved in patient care) that will work together to coordinate care for their Medicare patients. The goal of an ACO is to deliver seamless, high quality care for Medicare beneficiaries. The ACO would be a patient-centered organization where the patient and providers are true partners in care decisions.

Why is this needed?
According to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Service’s website, “more than half of Medicare beneficiaries have five or more chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, and kidney disease often resulting in care from multiple physicians. A failure to coordinate care can often lead to patients not getting the care they need, receiving duplicative care, and being at an increased risk of suffering medical errors. On average, each year, one in seven Medicare patients admitted to a hospital has been subject to a harmful medical mistake in the course of their care. And nearly one in five Medicare patients discharged from the hospital is readmitted within 30 days – a readmission many patients could have avoided if their care outside of the hospital had been aggressive and better coordinated.”

Accountable Care Organizations are designed to improve the partnership between patients and doctors in making health care decisions. People with Medicare will have better control over their health care, and their doctors can provide better care because they will have better information about their patients’ medical history and can communicate with a patient’s other doctors. Patient and provider participation in an ACO is purely voluntary. Medicare beneficiaries whose doctors participate in an ACO will still have a full choice of providers and can still choose to see doctors outside of the ACO.

Proposed Rule
On March 31, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services released proposed new rules for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The Medicare Shared Savings Program will reward ACOs that lower growth in health care costs while meeting performance standards on quality of care and putting patients first. The proposed rule links the amount of shared savings an ACO may receive to its performance on quality standards. The rule proposes quality measures in five key areas that affect patient care:

Patient/caregiver care experiences

Care coordination

Patient safety

Preventive health

At-risk population/frail elderly health.

For more information on the notice of proposed rule-making for ACOs, click here.
To review the ACO press release from the Health and Human Services, click here.
For more information on ACOs, click here to read the fact sheet.

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CSS HIM Program in the News

The HIM major at The College of St. Scholastica has recently received national press, in the U.S. News & World Report online magazine Best Colleges issue. CSS' HIM major, the oldest of its kind in our nation, was listed among the nine "hot" college majors right now.

CSS' HIM program recognition also was recently recognized during this past week in the Duluth News Tribune. Here are the links to read the original article and the opinion page view:
CSS Health Info Major Highlighted in U.S. News Article and National Praise Pours on St. Scholastica

Congratulations to all of the HIM faculty at CSS. MHIMA is proud of you!

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New Clinical Documentation Improvement Credential
Beta Exam period
News from AHIMA:
In response to industry demand, the Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM) is developing a new credential focused upon CDI professionals. The new credential, launching this fall, is grounded in CCHIIM’s commitment to high certification standards and links directly to AHIMA’s mission of “Quality Healthcare through Quality Information.” Now more than ever, a strong, highly respected clinical documentation improvement (CDI) certification program can help move the industry forward to achieve the goals of RAC audits, ARRA/HITECH, and other important initiatives with the overarching goal of improving the quality of healthcare.

Candidates who would like to sit for the CDIP exam must meet one of the eligibility requirements below:

An RHIA, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, or RN and two (2) years experience in clinical documentation improvement

An Associate’s degree or higher and three (3) years of experience in clinical documentation improvement (candidates must also have completed coursework in Medical Terminology and Anatomy and Physiology)

The CDIP exam will launch on October 31, 2011 in a beta form with no immediate scoring. Exam registration is now open.

All CDIP Beta Exam candidates are required to sit for the exam between October 31, 2011 and December 9, 2011.

For more information, visit the CDIP Information Page.

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RHIT Exam Update

A reminder from AHIMA regarding the RHIT Exam:

Starting October 4, the RHIT exam will be in beta format with NO immediate scoring. Exam candidates who sit for the RHIT exam during the beta period will receive score reports via mail within 2-3 months of their exam date. If you plan to sit for the RHIT exam, please make sure to check out the new Exam Blueprint, effective October 4th. To review how the new blueprint compares to the current exam, check out the Exam Crosswalk.

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MHIMA's Lunch & Learn Webinars

MHIMA's Lunch & Learn Webinars will be resuming soon. Watch for our 2011-2012 schedule on the HIM Education page of our website.

All webinars from this past year have been recorded and a DVD is available for purchase if you could not attend the live event. Visit the MHIMA website and click on the HIM Education button/Online Learning for complete details on the "live" events as well as ordering recorded webinars.

Archived versions are now available for $49 for members, or a package of three for $129. If you're looking for some basic information to acquaint you with ICD-10 and its impact on our coding environment, consider our archived webcasts.

The MHIMA webinar series is an opportunity to pick up needed information as well as earn CEUs at a very reasonable rate, and our presentations reach our members all across the state. We hope you take advantage of our archived webcasts!

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ICD-10 Required CE for AHIMA Credential Holders

The Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM) published their continuing education requirements for AHIMA certified professionals in March, 2010, and updated that document on October 5, 2010. MHIMA wants all AHIMA credential holders to be reminded about this information!

AHIMA certification represents a high level of achievement and demonstrates proficiency and a broad base of knowledge. With the coming implementation of ICD-10, a major healthcare industry change that will bring the US in step with worldwide coding systems, CCHIIM has determined that continuing education hours with ICD-10-CM/PCS content will be required between the period of January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2013.

AHIMA certified professionals will be required to participate in a predetermined number of mandatory baseline educational experiences specific to ICD-10-CM/PCS. These CEUs will count as part of all AHMA certificants' total CEU requirements for the purpose of recertification. The total number of ICD-10 CEUs required, by AHIMA credential, is as follows:

CHPS: 1 CEU

CHDS: 6 CEUs

RHIT: 6 CEUs

RHIA: 6 CEUs

CCS-P: 12 CEUs

CCS: 18 CEUs

CCA: 18 CEUs

Certificants who hold more than one AHIMA credential will only report the highest number of CEUs from among all credentials held. For example, if you have both an RHIA and CCS, you would normally report 40 CEUs per recertification cycle (30 for RHIA and 10 for CCS). 18 of these CEUs will be required to cover ICD-10-CM/PCS.

All certificants are encouraged to tailor their education specific to their job role. For example, if you are an RHIT and perform coding as a large percentage of your daily routine, you are encouraged to follow the requirements set forth for that specialized coding credential.

MHIMA members: Please download CCHIIM's FAQ Document for full details.

MHIMA's strategic work plan will continue to include opportunities for you to earn these required ICD-10-CM/PCS CEUs through our educational offerings.

AHIMA will be publishing instructions on how to report your ICD-10 required CEUs in the fall of 2011. We'll share that information when it becomes available.

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MHIMA 2011 Legal Resource Manual is Here!

Do you have legal HIM questions? Do you wish there were a convenient reference you could have on your desk? The 2011 MN Legal Reference Manual on CD is ready to help you and available for purchase!

The manual is a great resource for everyone in the field of HIM because it pertains to all areas of HIM. Various chapters include topics such as: health care records, record retention and storage, reporting requirements, legal proceedings and requests, disclosure of health information and patient access, consents, behavior health records, long term care records, home care and hospice records, ambulatory care records, risk management, HIPAA, research, and medical identify theft. Feel confident in your research and decision making using MHIMA’s MN Legal Reference Manual.

The co-chairs of MN Legal Reference Manual Committee are Andrea Heikkinen, RHIA and Susan Schanno-Foss, RHIT. Feel free to email questions pertaining to the legal manual or suggestions for improvements to the legal manual to both Andrea and Susan .

Attention Students: MHIMA supports students of HIM and is offering a special discounted rate for students who want to purchase the legal manual.

MN Legal Reference Manual Pricing:
$150 MHIMA/AHIMA members (tax-exempt organizations)
$200 non-members (tax-exempt)
$90 student members of AHIMA with MN as their designated state and enrolled in a tax exempt educational program

Individuals ordering from organizations who are not MN sales-tax exempt will be charged MN sales tax in addition to the prices listed above. Tax-exempt organizations must have a copy of their MN sales tax exemption form on file.

For more information and to order, click here.

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Regional Fall Meetings Scheduled

Several of our MHIMA Regions have scheduled upcoming regional meetings:

Region A (Northwest) will meet on Thursday, October 6 at Venture's Bar & Grill in Fosston.

Region E (Southwest) will meet on Friday, October 14 at the Chippewa County Hospital in Montevideo.

Region F (Southeast/Rochester) will meet on Tuesday, October 18 at Rochester Community & Technical College.

Region D (East Central/St Cloud) will hold its Fall Meeting on Friday, October 28 at Good Samaritan Society, Bethany in Brainerd.

Region B (Northeast/Duluth)meets on Thursday, November 17 at Somer's Lounge on the campus of The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth.

Region G (Metro)will meet on Friday, December 9 at Tria Orthopaedic Center, 494/France Ave South in Edina.

Mark your calendars now. Visit the MHIMA website Calendar for detailed information. Regional meetings are open to all MHIMA members, HIM/HIT students and credentialed non-members.

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ICD-10 Tip of the Month

Coding Tip: In ICD-9-CM, myocardial infarctions are coded as acute when 8 weeks or less; in ICD-10-CM, they're coded as acute when they are 4 weeks or less.

Planning Tip: Planning will not prevent ICD-10 from being a "disruptive event" for your organization - it will require significant investments of time, people and money. However, planning now will prevent the conversion from becoming a crisis that could negatively impact your revenue, costs, quality, and patient care when October 2013 arrives. If you haven't started planning, start immediately!

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Health Information & Technology Week
November 6-12
AHIMA and the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA) are again co-sponsoring Health Information & Technology (HI&T) Week this November, from November 6-12. This is an opportunity to showcase and recognize all HIM professionals. This year's theme: "Accurate Health Information For Care You Trust."

Materials are available from AHIMA to share this week with your colleagues as well as the public. Click here to review promotional materials.

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Staying Connected with MHIMA

Want to stay connected with MHIMA? Be sure your AHIMA profile information is current!

When is the last time you reviewed the information in your AHIMA profile? Have you changed positions? Have a new email address? Have you recently moved? These are just a few of the data elements in your AHIMA profile, and MHIMA uses this information on a regular basis.

Take a minute or two right now, visit the AHIMA Website, log in with your 7-digit AHIMA member number and your last name (capitalize the first letter!), and click on "My Profile/Dues Renewal." Review all of the sections and update the information as appropriate.

In the section for Component State Association (CSA) Selections, we ask that you check "YES" to select E-mails about products and services and Postal Mailings. "CSA" stands for the state that you want to be associated with as an AHIMA member. MHIMA uses email and occasionally land mail as our primary means of communication, and if you check "NO" in the email or postal mail boxes, you won't receive either type of communication from us.

Remind your colleagues to update their profile as well. Thank you!

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Staying Up To Date with MN e-Health

If you aren't receiving the weekly electronic MN e-Health Update newsletter, consider signing up for it. This will keep you up to date on issues related to e-Health, including HITECH, Meaningful Use, Privacy & Security and others, as well as provide links to e-Health resources available for your use. To subscribe, click here.

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MHIMA Job Bank

Are you seeking a job? Are you an employer looking for a potential employee? Is your facility looking for someone with a skill set of MHIMA members? Be sure to check out the MHIMA Job Bank Network on our website, which continues to be very popular and new positions are being posted on a regular basis. Here, you'll find information about registering as a "Job Seeker" or as an "Employer". New positions are posted frequently, so check us out often!

Job Seekers: There is no fee to register.

Employers: Job posting fees are very reasonable and reach all of our MHIMA membership. E-blasts of job announcements are also available for purchase.

Click Here to visit the MHIMA Job Bank.

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MHIMA Coding & Data Quality Roundtable Tool Kits
The MHIMA Coding & Data Quality Committee's newest PowerPoint presentation, including case study questions, is "Neoplasms - Carcinoid Tumor" There is an accompanying case study answer presentation. This is one of several "tool kits" developed for use by MHIMA members to support coding education and discussion in your facilities and at your regional meetings.

Is there a tool kit topic that needs to be developed? Let your needs be known. Contact Vicki Chelf or Patti Collins Smith. Vicki and Patti are the 2011-2012 Coding Roundtable Co-Chairs.

The general "Do It Yourself" PowerPoint tool kit gives you the guidelines to set up a coding roundtable.

Additional tool kits on specific topics that have been developed and are available include Interventional Radiology, E&M, Heart Failure, updated Present on Admission (POA) and Aftercare vs Follow Up.

All are available on the Coding and Data Quality button on the MHIMA website. Watch for additional toolkits as they are developed!

And a reminder about your general coding questions: You are encouraged to use AHIMA's Coding CoPs for coding related questions. There is a general coding CoP community for coders as well as several for specific coding areas. These CoPs are a great resource for submitting coding questions and participating in the discussion threads surrounding the questions of others. To participate in these CoPs, click here.

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MHIMA Promotional Items

Check out our MHIMA Store on our website. You'll find tailored logo button-downs, cozy crews and hoodies, a stunning sterling silver key ring, embossed with our logo, and our MHIMA logo "spooner coffee cups" for sale. These items would make a great gift for yourself, a colleague, or to honor someone's achievement.

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