eNews from MdHIMA   Issue 21 - June 2010 Inside this Issue: President’s Message Annual Meeting Round-Up MdHIMA Election Results AHIMA Candidate CoP Available Welcome New MdHIMA Members! Dates to Remember Submit Items for the e-Newsletter Is Your AHIMA Profile Current? President’s Message We just completed our Annual meeting in Baltimore in April.  I believe there was something for everyone in terms of topics.  The Annual Meeting Committee and the Data Quality Committee did another fantastic job again this year.  I would like to give them all a heart felt thanks for their hard work.  I would also like to take the time to thank all the board members and committee chairs for helping make this a great year.  It has been an honor and privilege serving as your president.  I am glad I allowed the nominating committee to place my name on the ballot the other year and appreciate your trusting me to be your President this year. I look forward to working with Albert and his new board this upcoming year and encourage you to all to volunteer in some way this upcoming year – by participating on a committee, providing names of speakers (or become a speaker yourself for one of our meetings), provide a space to hold a meeting, contribute to a newsletter article,  etc.  The possibilities are endless. Again I want to extend my best wishes to Albert Key, MS, RHIA incoming President and his 2010 – 2011 Board. Brian R. Bennighoff, RHIA, CTR President, MdHIMA Annual Meeting Round-Up After reviewing some of the comments thus far from the Annual Meeting evaluations, the Board thought it was important to address some comments: Comment #1:  There was a comment that one of the speakers was not very professional (using profane language) when she was having problems with the computer.  Comment #2:  Another comment was that one of the presentations was not very organized and they could have just left the participants get the powerpoint slides instead of reading from them during the presentation. Response:  After the evaluation period closes it has been decided that it is very important for all speakers to know what our membership thought about their presentations.  These two comments will be addressed at that time with those speakers. Comment #3:  Felt there was not enough credits offered each day Response:  We were given the opportunity to earn 10 CEU’s if you were there both days along with 1 CEU for attending the vendor area either one of the days.  Providing 5 CEU’s per day is on average what one can typically earn in an 8 hour meeting day.  This is comparable to the number of CEU’s one can earn at AHIMA. Comment #4:  There was too much break time between speakers. Response:  MdHIMA schedules two one hour breaks each day of the annual meeting to provide attendees sufficient time to visit with the vendors. The break immediately after lunch on the second day occurs this way so the vendors can then break down their booths and leave before the afternoon speakers.  It is also a time used to get last bids in for the Silent Auction and to give the coordinators of the Silent Auction time to have the auction items picked up and to receive payment for the bids. This is also done each day to allow those attendees who are at the meeting for only one day the opportunity to communicate with the vendors and learn about newest technologies. It is also a time when the vendors who support our annual meeting to communicate with current clients and future clients.  We found over the years that a half our break twice a day was never sufficient time to interact with the vendors. We appreciate the support of our vendors and rely on their participation by taking a booth to offset some of the expenses of our annual meeting. MdHIMA Election Results Thanks to all who participated in the recent elections by either running for a seat or casting a vote.  The 2010 -2011 MdHIMA Executive Board Members are as follows: President:  Albert Key, MS, RHIA President-Elect/Delegate:  Dina Smoker, RHIA, CPC Past President:  Brian Bennighoff, RHIA, CTR Secretary:  Tiffany Edwards, RHIA Treasurer:  Lori R. Brown, RHIA, CHC 2nd Year Delegates:  Sallie Tyner, RHIT, CCS and Dolores Stephens, MS, RHIT 1st Year Delegate:  Monna Nabers, MBA, RHIA 2nd Year Director:  Mona Calhoun, MS, RHIA 1st Year Director:  Kathy Mulford, RHIA AHIMA Candidate CoP Available The Candidate Community opens on  Monday, May 24th so that you can interact with the ballot candidates.  It will be open remain open until Friday, June 4.  If you have been a member of this community in the past, you will again see it under My Communities when it opens.  If not, to join the Candidate Community, you just have to follow these simple steps. To access the Community, go to www.ahima.org   Go to myAHIMA on the right side and enter your AHIMA ID number (seven digit number on your membership card) and your password. Once in myAHIMA, you can click on the Community logo to enter the Communities. To join the Candidate Community, click on the Search button on the top toolbar. Next, select “Search Communities.”   Click on the letter C for Candidate Community.  Place a check mark in the Join box at the right of Candidate Community.   Click the Personal Home link to return to your Personal Page.  The community will now be listed in the” My Communities” panel.  Click on it and you can join in the important discussion topic with the candidates Welcome New MdHIMA Members! MdHIMA welcomes the new and transfer members into our state association!  We look forward to seeing you at the upcoming events and welcome your active participation.  Please feel free to contact any of the Board members if you are interested in joining a committee or if you have questions or need information.  Again, welcome!   Lisa Alexander Kerri B. Bachman Kajol Balani Wendy Di Bastiani Tal'Mai Chester Jennifer Della'Zanna, CPC,CGSC, CMT Lisa Eaton Godson Ezejiofor, D.H.A. Heather Foch Stephanie Gielen Basirat O. Giwa Jutta Hagner, M.A.,M.Sc. Marcia R Hardy Traina L. Jackson-Clarke Dora Kovacic Wendy Marlatt Oluwakemi O. Mayaki, CCS-P Darron Mills Qwan Moseley Vicky Odai Sylvia Perry Gary L Recher David Rice, CPC Sheri Ringer, RN Kala Saravanan, M.Sc Samir Shah, BS, MCP, CTR Paul R. Shipley Kathleen Sise, BSN Cynthia G. Smalls Marianne Spevak Tom F. Sullivan Milagros Traylor Latricia M. Turner Dates to Remember  June 18, 2010 - Coding Roundtable – 1:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Harbor Hospital September 7, 2010 - MdHIMA Quarterly Business Meeting – Anne Arundel Community College September 9, 2010 - Coding Roundtable – 1:15 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Harbor Hospital - September 25-30, 2010  - AHIMA Annual Convention and Exhibit – Orlando, FL December 3, 2010 - MdHIMA Quarterly Business Meeting – Location TBD March 4, 2010 - MdHIMA Quarterly Business Meeting – Location TBD May 19-20, 2010 - MdHIMA Annual Meeting Submit Items for the e-Newsletter Please remember that this e-Newsletter belongs to you and is an excellent source of communication!  If you would like to submit information to be included in the next publication or if you would like to let the membership know what is going on with you or your facility and employees, please don’t hesitate to send a submission to Kathy Mulford, Chair of the e-Newsletter at the following email:  kmulfor1@jhmi.edu. Is Your AHIMA Member Profile Current? Please keep your AHIMA profile updated so that our email information is always current and we can continue to keep in touch with our members. Update Your AHIMA Member Profile by visiting www.ahima.org