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The American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA’s)
20th annual Health Information and Technology Week, was November 1 through 7.
It was a great opportunity to learn more about the integral roles Health
Information Management professionals (HIM) play within our healthcare system.
The theme for this year’s event was “Precision in Practice, Excellence in Care.”
Coppin State University, Helene Fuld School of Nursing, started its HIM Program
in the fall of 2007 starting with only seven students. Today the
 program
has over 60 students and graduated its first class in May 2009. Its graduates
have gained employment in various healthcare settings throughout the Baltimore
area. The HIM Program at CSU is the only accredited Baccalaureate program in
the state of Maryland.
During this week we held many events to promote the profession of Health
Information Management. The week began with faculty providing information about
the program and HIM in the atrium of the Health and Human Services Building.
The highlight for the week was an exciting and information
packed ICD-10-CM Implementation Symposium on Wednesday, November 4 from 6:00 pm
– 8:30 pm in the Meeting and Dining Hall on the campus.
 The
panelists were:
Brian Benninghoff RHIA, CTR – Program Manager for 3M and President
Maryland Health Information Management Association
Tasha Green MS, RHIA – Director Health Information Management at Howard
University Hospital and former President District of Columbia Health Information
Management Association
Laquitta Thomas, RHIA – Medical Record Administrator/Program Analyst
Department of Veterans Affairs
Sharlene A. Scott, CPC, CPC-H, CCS-P, PMCC, CCP-P, CPMA – Manager of
Coding Education Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States
 Registrants
included healthcare professionals from all over the Baltimore area and students
in the HIM Program. A few of the things shared were the importance of getting
the word out that this new coding classification system is going into effect
Oct. 1, 2013 and will effect healthcare organizations, payors, patient
accounting, clinicians and many others.
Organizations should start by assessing their current structure and data and
information flow through a gap analysis and then begin educating clinicians and
coders on ICD-10-CM. The attendees walked away with a wealth of information.
 The week’s
events culminated with a lunch and learn for the faculty that teaches in the HIM
program on Thursday, November 5, 2009. The faculty discussed the profession,
courses, technology and future of the program.
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