Oklahoma Health Information Management Association
OnLine with OkHIMA
| Winter 1999/2000 |
EXCITEMENT, CHALLENGE, CHANGE...
Many recent events involving OkHIMA members bring to mind the words listed above. I am very excited about the outcome of our Fall Conference and new Website, and I am challenged by all that I learned at the National Conference. All three words can be used to describe my thoughts about the credential title change and the AHIMA Fellowship Program.
I hope many of you had the opportunity to attend the Fall Conference and Annual Meeting in Wagoner. The Program Committee did an outstanding job and put together a strong program. Many thanks to Melanie Moore, RHIA and Rhonda Arter, RHIA for their hard work on our new website. Sign on and visit today at www.okhima.org. It is a fantastic and exciting way to keep up with what's happening with OkHIMA.
It was my honor to represent Oklahoma at the 55th annual meeting of the American Health Information Management Association's 1999 House of Delegates in Anaheim, California on October 2 and 3. Oklahoma's membership, with over 400 members, allows us to seat four delegates. I had the great fortune of being accompanied by a delegation of 3 distinguished and devoted ladies: Sandra Smith, RHIA, Maci Williams, RHIA, and Scarlett Young, RHIA.
The AHIMA House of Delegates consisted of representatives from all 52 of the Association's component state associations. This year, the house was history in the making as AHIMA ventures into the next millennium. The 1999 AHIMA House of Delegates voted 158 to 34 in a definitive show of support for the new certification titles. HIM professionals will now step into the year 2000 with certification titles that capture the expanded realm of their expertise - no longer "record" but health information.
The new titles became effective on January 1, 2000. Following association protocols as addressed by our President Claire Dixon-Lee, PhD, RHIA, these titles are to be pronounced by letter and not by acronym. The new credentials, RHIA and RHIT, will better represent the broader skills and new roles members of our profession possess. As I listened to discussion and debates surrounding the name change, I heard many members express that they felt the new titles and image marketing campaign will lead the way to new opportunities, advancement, and long deserved recognition.
AHIMA has carefully planned effective communication of the title changes, both inside and outside the Association. There have been regular updates over the past few months and future updates will include the January Journal of AHIMA. Credentialed members will be receiving a new certificate, at no additional charge, after renewing their 2000 membership.
There will also be a major push to let the external world know about health information professionals. Press releases announcing the title changes will circulate to trade publications as a way to get the message out to the healthcare industry at large. Healthcare human resource personnel will receive notification. Because of their significance, these and other employer groups will receive letters announcing and explaining the title changes. Continuous messages will follow through the upcoming Association's image marketing campaign, an ongoing multiyear effort designed to target key employer populations. The campaign will include direct mail, advertisements, electronic communications, and many other member-oriented tools.
The HOD also passed AHIMA's Fellowship Program, recommended by the Joint Commission on Education and AHIMA's Board of Directors. The program recognizes members who have made substantial and sustained contributions to the HIM profession with the lifetime designation of "Fellow of the American Health Information Management Association" (FAHIMA). AHIMA's fellowship program will be implemented on January 1, 2000. It is open to AHIMA members who meet the following eligibility criteria:
- Minimum of 10 years full-time professional experience in HIM or related field.
- Minimum Masters degree.
- Minimum 10 years continuous AHIMA membership.
- A portfolio that exhibits growth and achievement in either service to the profession, practice, education, or advancement of the profession.
During the House of Delegates session, besides voting on the resolutions, the delegates participated in many focused discussion groups, all meant to provide input for strategic planning. All four of OkHIMA's Delegates attended issue forums and networked in developing and expressing action initiatives on subjects including: Certification Titles, Fellowship, Delegate Development, Member Values Assessment, Practice Community Model, and AHIMA's Strategic Work Plan. Practice issues were discussed involving lack of qualified personnel, confidentiality, and inconsistency in regulations, standards and accreditation. I thank you for the opportunity to have served you as a delegate. It is a most rewarding experience, both personally and professionally, to be involved in the decision making process and be part of the backbone of the association. In closing, I am very honored to represent Oklahoma - we have lots to be proud of. In addition to the many committees and involved members, our website, newsletter, conferences, workshops, legal manual, and legislative involvement are certainly on the leading edge. If you're not actively involved in OkHIMA, you are really missing out. Take the time to serve as a Board member or on a committee, host a regional network meeting, or write an article for the newsletter. Let's all take an active part in OkHIMA.
- Johnna Ervin, RHIA
If you've recently passed the Certified Coding Specialist, Certified Coding Specialist - Physician Based, or if you've successfully completed the AHIMA Independent Study Program, send an email to publications@okhima.org and we'll be sure to mention your name in a future issue of our newsletter.
Rose State College As of the writing of this article, I have not received official results of our program students who sat for the 1999 ART certification examination, nor have I heard directly or indirectly from all our graduates who sat for the examination. I do not receive any official information on CCS examination candidates, even though some have taken our classes. (Since the only educational requirement for the CCS or CCS-P is High School graduation or equivalent to sit for that examination and no formal further training, they do not track who might have taken formal classes.)
I do know of at least two previous graduates, RHITs with bachelors degrees who sat for the RHIA examination and passed: David Adams 1994 and Beth Beckwith 1998. I do wish to congratulate them on their achievements.
We started the Fall 1999 semester with 11 sophomores, 13 Freshmen, and 5 coding certificate students. Our coding certificate classes are also available to AHIMA credentialed persons who wish to update their coding skills and/or to prepare to take the AHIMA coding certification examinations. If you are interested, please contact Cecil Brooks as listed below. Spring classes begin January 17th, 2000.
We wish to thank Theresa Farmer-Porter, RHIT and Leigh Ann Wirth, RHIA for being guest speakers at our Mu Rho Alpha club meetings this Fall.
The OkHIMA executive board wishes to thank Melanie Moore, RHIA, CCS and Rhonda Arter, RHIA for their outstanding work in developing the OkHIMA web page. This represents an immense amount of planning, development and preparation. Melanie also presented this live online during the 1999 Fall Meeting.
- Cecil Brooks, RHIA, CCS
Tulsa Community CollegeCongratulations to the following graduates who passed the accreditation examination to become RHIT:
Jeanette Berg, RHITM
Kathy Brown, RHIT
Jill Hoelzer, RHIT
Beth McDaniel, RHIT
Trish Madewell, RHIT
Esther Mitchell, RHIT
Keli Wells, RHIT.
We also want to recognize and congratulate the following graduates who successful completed the credentialing examination to become CCS: Debra Johnson, CCS and Keli Wells, CCS.
We want to THANK all of the health care facilities participating in the educational process by serving as affiliation or clinical sites for the TCC students. We are aware that serving in this capacity can be time consuming and hope that you and your employees realize the value of your contribution to the student. The experience they receive is extremely beneficial in allowing them to assimilate classroom instruction with the work setting and in helping prepare the student for the accreditation examination.
The Travis Business Scholarship for 1999-2000 was awarded to Patti Hawkins, whom we congratulate. Patti is employed at Saint Francis Hospital as a Coder and anticipates graduating this spring.
The new year arrived at TCC and brought with it a new faculty member. Jennifer Dafforn, RHIA, has accepted the faculty position vacated by Julie Wood, RHIA, who has transferred to another program within the Allied Health Division. We welcome Jennifer aboard and know that with her experience she will be a valuable asset to the program. Jennifer served as Manager of Health Information Services at Cancer Treatment Center of Tulsa from 1990 - 1999.
For information on the Health Information Technology Program Associate Degree or the Coding & Reimbursement Certificate Program contact:
Sandra Smith, RHIA, Director
Health Information Technology
Tulsa Community College
Allied Health Division
909 S. Boston Avenue
Tulsa, OK 74119
(918) 595-7201 or (918) 595-7002
E-Mail: ssmith@tulsa.cc.ok.us
- Sandra Smith, RHIA
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
After graduating a class of 12 in May 1999, Marion and Faye are busy challenging nine (9) seniors and nine (9) juniors during the 1999-2000 academic year.
Congratulations to Jenny Hendrix, senior HIM student from Goodwell, OK, as the recipient of the Lanier Business Systems Scholarship.
Congratulations to the SWOSU graduates who passed their RHIA exam. They are starting the new millennium with a new credential.
The HIM Program has moved into new quarters on the second floor of the Science Building on the SWOSU campus. All the SWOSU graduates will be pleased to know that the computer lab has room for 10 workstations with two adjacent rooms for instruction or labs. Marion has her office all nice and neat. Faye's office organization is still "a work in progress."
Mu Rho Alpha continues to be active. President Tangie Dorsey, Vice President Jenny Hendrix, Treasurer Danessa Long, and Secretary Angie Blackmon are serving as officers.
We would like to hear from all the graduates so that we can update your contact address as we are planning for our 25th anniversary celebration during Fall 2000. Please write to Marion Prichard, or call (580) 774-3287, or e-mail to pricham@swosu.edu.
- Faye K. Henson, M.Ed., RHIA, CCS
East Central UniversityThis fall semester at ECU has been one of varied activities. To begin with, the 1999 officers of the HIM Club undertook the task of establishing a HIM student scholarship fund for ECU students who have been admitted to the HIM program. All ECU alumni will be receiving information regarding this scholarship fund. Along with the information about the scholarship fund, the club is also considering printing a graduate directory. Therefore, updated demographic information is also being requested. Be on the lookout for this letter. If you do not receive this information in the mail, please contact the HIM office so that we can send this information to you. Donations to this scholarship fund are not limited to ECU graduates and will be accepted from anyone wishing to participate in the education of future HIM professionals. For more information, please contact the HIM office by calling 580-310-5556.
In addition, the HIM computer lab has been undergoing an upgrade with the purchase of new computers and the conversion of both of the current 3M HIS Health Data Management and Coding and Reimbursement Systems to their windows based product. We were also able to purchase Microsoft Office Professional 2000 and Visio Standard 2000 that will be available for student use as well as the Corel WordPerfect Suite. We were also able to install a demo of CansurFac, so that students can gain a better understanding of a cancer registry. By the time you read this report, we are hoping that all of the bugs that go along with any computer system upgrade will have been resolved.
ln September faculty and students attended the OkHIMA annual meeting. While at the annual meeting, Ms.Tawni Sanders was presented the Travis Business System Scholarship. Congratulations Tawni and Thank You Larry Travis!! Congratulations also are extended to senior student, Ms. Deandra Abott, and faculty member, Ms. Sherry Barnes. Dee was the recipient of a 1999 Corporate and FORE Scholarship Award. The scholarship was through the Medquist, Inc., for $1000.00. Sherry received the OkHIMA Outstanding Member award for 1999. The ECU faculty and HIM Club presented Sherry with flowers and chocolates. In October the senior students visited the OFMQ and were treated like royalty. Thank you OFMQ for taking the time to explain all of the many functions of the PRO and its subsidiaries. Then in November, a group of HIM volunteers went to Columbia Edmond Memorial Hospital to help with the process of purging records. It was a great learning opportunity, and students and faculty had a very enjoyable day. Thank you Diana Waddell for the pizza and soft drinks. Congratulations are extended to the following new RHIAs: Thomas Brewer, Sheryl Farmer, Kristi Hart, Sheri Hutchins, Jodi Lackey, Misty Marshall, Stephen Melone, Kellye Stafford, and Casey Thomas. The HIM club has just elected officers for 2000: Mandy Hall, President; Deana Tuley, Vice-President; Valerie Brown, Treasurer; Peggy Turner, Secretary; and Debra Ridpath, Reporter. Congratulations!
We will be interviewing applicants for admission to the program for the fall of 2000 on April 4th and 11th. The deadline for submission of applications is March 10th. If you would like more information about the HIM Program at ECU, please visit our web site and contact us at the following address:
Sandra Dixon, M.Ed., MCE, RHIA
Department of HIM, East Central University
Ada, OK 74820
(580) 310-5555 (voice) OR (580) 310-5606 (fax)
sdixon@mailclerk.ecok.edu
- Sandra Dixon, M.Ed., MCE, RHIA
Annual Spring Meeting
The Annual Spring Meeting will be held in Oklahoma City on March 9 and 10, 2000 at the Clarion Meridian Hotel and Convention Center.
Tentative program agenda includes the following:
March 9
Marty G. Cain, JD - Oklahoma's New Peer Review Statute: "How it Impacts Your Medical Staff"
Mary Brandt, MBA, RHIA, CHE - Quadramed - HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)
Mario Perez, RHIA - Quadramed - APCs
March 10
Debbie Gilstrap, RHIA, RN, CPHQ - OFMQ - PEPP (Payment Error Prevention Program)
Lisa Stein, CPIII - Wichita Mountains Prevention Network APRC - Asset Approach/Asset Building and "True Colors" - A Tool to Help Improve Communication, Productivity, and Stress Management Susan Langston, RHIA is the spring meeting coordinator. Her telephone number is 405-840-2891.
Coding Specialty Workshops
There will be Coding Specialty Workshops held soon, this spring, in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Dates and locations to follow in separate mailouts.
The new, TOTALLY REWRITTEN, legal manual, Oklahoma Medical Records and the Law, is now available! Contact Paula McIntosh at (405) 938-5165 for more details. There is also a printable order form available on our website.
OkHIMA 1999 Outstanding Member of the Year
The OkHIMA 1999 Outstanding Member Award was presented to Sherry Barnes, MPH, RHIA (RRA) at the OkHIMA Fall Workshop last September at Western Hills Lodge in beautiful Sequoia State Park. Sherry has been with the Department of Health Information Management, East Central University, in Ada, Oklahoma since 1976, serving as an instructor from 1976 to 1984, Interim Director from 1984 to 1985, and, from 1985 to present, as Assistant Professor. She received her bachelor's degree from East Central University and her Masters in Public Health from Oklahoma University Sciences Center.
She has been a part-time consultant for McCall's Chapel since 1984. This is an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded. She spends time at this facility each month reviewing records, incident reports and procedures. She specially enjoys working in this environment. The records are kept in the individual cottages. So, there is always contact with the clients who live there. These clients always have a story to tell and love to visit.
Sherry has served OkHIMA membership as Program Committee Chairman, Education Committee Chairman, Nominating Committee Chairman (twice), Treasurer and Vice President. She is currently the Director of Education/Student Affairs and has agreed to serve in that position again for the coming year. This summer she organized the 1999 ART/RRA Examination Review Workshop at Rose State College and the Educator's Workshop at East Central University.
On a personal note, Sherry has been married to the same person for 27 years and has a son, a daughter and a dog named Barney!
And a note from Sherry:
"I truly love teaching. Some of my best friends are my former students. I look forward to each year and to meeting a whole new group of individuals. I have known a lot of people who have dreaded going to work each morning. I feel so blessed that I enjoy my job and that I am never bored! I tell my students to not consider this field if they do not like change because change is going to happen and it will happen very often in our HIM field."Congratulations, Sherry!!!
OkHIMA Website Launched at Fall Meeting
A website has been part of the OkHIMA Board's strategic plan for the past couple of years and, on September 23, that plan became a reality. At the fall meeting at Western Hills Melanie Moore, RHIA, CCS, CPHQ presented the newly created site, www.okhima.org, to those present. Melanie worked closely with the board in developing the content of the website. Consideration was given to making the site both informative and user-friendly for our members and other visitors.
The website is divided into two main sections: public and members only. The public site, accessible at www.okhima.org, is intended to promote our association and our profession as well as provide information for our members.
There is information available about how to contact OkHIMA board members and committee chairpersons, either by phone or email. There is also information about each of the HIM/HIT school programs, as well as links to their websites.
In addition, there is an online calendar of events that will include agendas for major workshops as well as links to online printable registration forms. We do not currently have the capability to accept online registration; however, we will provide forms you may complete online, then print and send with your check by mail.
Tell us what you think about various topics using our online survey. We have had several surveys since our site's inception, including asking what our members think about the credentials change, what HIM departments were planning to do for HIM week, and what, if anything, you do to prepare for JCAHO surveys. Other surveys will be added over time and suggestions for new survey topics are welcome.
On the lighter side, we have a "Blooper of the Day" on our main page. If you enjoy this feature, please help us keep this going by submitting your own bloopers (and we know you've got some)! There is a form you may complete online to do this. We promise we won't reveal our sources.
The most popular page on our website is our Job Postings Directory, with currently more than 400 hits a month. Submitting a job posting to the directory is easily accomplished by going to the Job Postings Directory and clicking on the "Request a Job Posting" link, filling out the form, and hitting "submit". If you do not have internet access, please feel free to contact Melanie at (918) 684-2353. Also, you may join a low volume email update newsletter to inform by email when a new job posting is added to the directory. Just click on the "Email Updates" link in the Job Postings Directory.We also have a fairly extensive links directory, with links to many HIM, compliance, and other healthcare related sites. Again, there is a low volume email update newsletter available to inform you when new links are added. To join this list, just click on the "Email Updates" link in the OkHIMA Links to Related Sites Directory. Coming soon will be the ability to bookmark your favorite links in our directory and have them available to you at the click of your mouse!
Suggestions for additional links will be accepted by email at this time. In the future, suggestions may be submitted via an online form in the OkHIMA Links to Related Sites Directory. Suggested additions to the directory are subject to approval.
The OkHIMA newsletter Information Exchange and this publication, Online with OkHIMA, are also available online in addition to print. If you wish to be removed from the print mailing list and only view your newsletters online, there is a form available at the website for that purpose.
The Members Only section is available to provide some services and features exclusively for our membership. You may access the OkHIMA bylaws in this section of our website.
Also, there is a discussion board available for member communication and exchange of ideas. At this time, although several members have signed up, we have not seen much activity in the message board. Your participation is needed to make this a viable means of exchange with your peers. Don't be shy! If one of you begins posting, others will follow.
We also have available an email listserv, much like the him-l list many of you participate on. This list, like the message board, has not seen much activity but again, if you begin using it, others will too. You may join the list online at our Members Only webpage, or you may send an email message to majordomo@okhima.org and, in the body of the message, type subscribe himtalk (Please note this is correct - the directions in the enclosed brochure are not.) To send a message to the list, direct your email to himtalk@okhima.org.
There is a brochure enclosed with this newsletter detailing all the features of the website. Please refer to it for more information!
If you have any questions, comments, or problems, please contact Melanie Moore at (918) 684-2353 or by email at melanie@okhima.org.
This is your website. Please let us know what we can do to make it better meet your needs.