President’s Message
 Spring
has finally arrived! A busy time of year that seems to spark energy and
enthusiasm in people, especially after a long winter. Our MdHIMA board
is certainly in high gear during this, our busiest time of the year.
The Annual Meeting is less than month away -- set for Thursday and
Friday, May 7 and 8 at the Baltimore Convention Center. We already have
nearly 200 registrants! I hope many of you can join us for a dynamic 2
day conference. Registration is via our website at
www.mdhima.org. At the Annual Meeting we award two student
scholarships. Applications are currently being accepted. We are also
accepting nominations for a Distinguished Member and Volunteer Champion
to be recognized during the conference. All of this information can be
found on the MdHIMA website.
Our
delegates have also been super busy. We attended AHIMA’s Team Talks and
Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C. in March. There is an article
later in this newsletter which provides details. Thank you to the
delegates and also thank you to the members from Maryland and the
District of Columbia who participated in Hill Day. As in past years, it
was a wonderful success.
I
encourage all of you to vote for the election of our 2009-2010 Board.
The voting period ends April 30, 2009. Many thanks to the members of
our Nominating Committee this year: Chair: Sandy Dawson and members:
Mary Lou Bond and Janice Greenberg.
I also
encourage you to consider volunteering for a committee in the coming
year or running for an office. Volunteerism is the key to the success
of our organization.
Hope
to see you in Baltimore at the Annual Meeting!
Dauna
Dauna
Mays, RHIA
MdHIMA President 2008-2009
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MdHIMA 2009 – 2010 Election
 Don’t
forget to participate in the Maryland Health Information Management
Association (MdHIMA) Executive Board election!
Only active voting
members of MdHIMA are eligible to vote in this election. You are
eligible to vote if you have paid your AHIMA dues and have "Voting
Member" listing on your AHIMA membership card.
The election will run
from 9:00 am April 1 - April 30, 2009 at 11:59 pm.
You will vote for:
• President-Elect
• Delegate
• Director
• Secretary
• Treasurer
Vote today!
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Winter Team Talks
 The House of
Delegates assembled in Washington, D.C on March 23, 2009 for Winter Team
Talks. President Vera Rulon opened the meeting in following the AHIMA
(now to be pronounced “Aheeema”) new brand, “I lead”.
All
participants performed an exercise on how we individually lead within
our organizations and our workplace.
CEO Linda Kloss provided a
presentation on “National Agenda: HIT”. Ms. Kloss provided an overview of Public
Law 111-5 entitled, “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)”. A review of
the breakdown of the health funding within ARRA was performed. This includes:
- $17.2 billion for payment incentives to HIT for “meaningful EHR Users”.
- $2 billion for the Office of the
National Coordinator (ONC) for HIT within the dept. of HHS
- Other new funding for the dept. of
Health and Human Services. This includes further breakdown of the allocation of
money.
Other highlights include
the codifying of the ONC. Responsibilities include oversight of the HIT
policy Committee and HIT standards committees to name a few.
Ms.
Kloss then discussed the newest challenge for AHIMA. This includes:
- Workforce - Need to grow our
profession and expand our knowledge to include more informatics
- EHR - Provide our expertise as the
nation embarks on standardizing language and implementing health information
exchange.
- Privacy -Contribute to the further
development of regulations and standards for privacy and security.
The
presentation ended with discussion what the focus should be for CSAs.
President- Elect Rita Bowen discussed the 2009 AHIMA Ballot. May 26-6/5,
the Candidate COP opens. This will allow members to interact with
nominees. Polls open 6/8 – 6/26. Nominees are follows:
President-elect
Bonnie Cassidy, MPA, RHIA, FAHIMA, FHIMSS (GA)
Mary Beth Haugen, MS, RHIA (CO)
Directors for the Board of Directors
Cassi L. Birnbaum, RHIA, CPHQ (CA)
Tasha Green, MS, RHIA (DC
Beth A. Kost-Woodrow, RHIA (GA)
Chrisann K. Lemery, MS, RHIA, FAHIMA (WI)
Anne M. Mahalik, MPA, RHIA, FAHIMA (IL)
Lois M. Yoder, RHIT, CCS (FL)
Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and
Information Management Education
Associate Level Educator
Bonnie L. Hemp, MBA, RHIA, CPHQ (OH)
Rosalie M. Majid, RHIA (CA)
Baccalaureate Level Educator
Marilyn R. Davidian, MA, RHIA (CA)
Melinda Wilkins, PhD, RHIA (AR)
Master Degree Educator - The newly created CAHIIM ballot
position of Educator HIM Master’s Degree Program will be deferred
until next year's election cycle.
Commission on Certification
HIT Educator
Hertencia V. Bowe, MSA, RHIA (FL)
Carolyn J. Gaarder, MLA, RHIA (ND)
RHIA Professional
Donna L. Barnard, MBA, RHIA (NY)
Amanda S. King, RHIA (TN)
Rita
Bowen presented “Creating the Future Organization”. Four scenarios
entitled “Scenarios of the Future: HIM 2015”were provided and attendees
were asked to discuss these and provide input. The goal was to identify
areas where AHIMA needs to focus in order to be successful in the
changing healthcare environment. Factors such as the economy, national
healthcare coverage, and HIT were all discussed. During this exercise
attendees were also asked to identify success factors for their state
association.
President Vera Rulon introduced AHIMA Foundation’s new website. The
address is “ahimafoundation.org”.
MdHIMA
2nd year Delegate and past president Virginia Bell was chosen
to be a member of the Triumph Award Committee. Congratulations
Virginia!!!
An
update on the six HOD teams was provided. This is as follows:
Environmental Scan –
Accomplishments: Conducted 2008 CSA environmental scan and increased
participation to 73% participation; revised process for 2009 and hosted a CSA
environmental scan webinar. Future focus will be performing an environmental
scan with students and to increase CSA participation.
HIM Higher Education and Workforce
– Accomplishments: Created clinical practice sites/PPE Guide; created a
practitioner to educator tool kit and is participating in the RHIA task force.
Future focus: Supporting practitioners to educators and serving as clinical
practice sites/professional practices experts.
Best Practices/Standards
– Accomplishments: provided review and input into Ethics self assessment, the
2009 eHIM workgroups and the resolution assessment project. Future focus: AHIMA
Foundation research initiatives discussions and resolution development
discussions.HOD Operations –
Accomplishments: communication/governance document, performance measures and
conducting training and other surveys. Future focus: delegate training- CSA tool
kit, making faster decisions, HOD apportionment and conducting a webinar of
Robert’s Rules of Order.
Professional Development
and Recognition – Accomplishments: Led Commission on Certification (COC) action
items discussions, participating in RHIA task force. Future focus: continuing
education offerings, credential promotion, certification maintenance discussions
and discuss COC action items.
Volunteer and Leadership
Development – Accomplishments: collaboration with Nominating Committee on the
2008 election results, discussions on diversity review and recommended revisions
to AHIMA volunteer leadership document. Future focus: Volunteerism, succession
planning and leadership development.
Sandy
Fuller presented Key 209 Initiatives. During this presentation Ms.
Fuller discussed ICD-10 preparation and mentioned that credentialed
members do not need to retake certification exams when ICD-10 is
implemented, and that there will be mandatory ICD-10 CEUs in addition to
existing CEU requirements. Ms. Fuller discussed improving practice
through effective use of standards (HL7 EHR-S functional model, HL7 PHR-S
draft standard and HL7 Records Management and evidentiary support).
The
day ended in policy briefing performed by Dan Rode and Don Asmonga CSA
representatives involved in Hill Day were asked to address four (4) key
issues with our Congressmen and Senators. They were as follows:
- Improve the quality of
health data by standardizing classifications and terminologies for the
electronic health record so that we can identify international classifications.
- Provide funding and support
for the Health Information Management workforce to educate and train new people
and provide laboratories for training of the electronic health record.
- Update the regulations
regarding HIPAA standards and reduce barriers for patient health information
across state lines.
- Support and ensure
consistencies in the privacy laws and regulations nationwide and address
technical and legal disparities in ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act)
as it pertains to Health Information Exchange and the Electronic Health Record.
 Maryland and DC
were represented by nine enthusiastic members who spoke with
representatives from five different Congresspersons (one from DC and
four from Maryland) and one Senator. We had a great day and learned a
lot about ARRA. Several of the members took pictures with actor Robert
Townsend and Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings.
Thanks
to Amy Piggott, Mikel Beckham, Tiffany Edwards, Jeremiah Garcia, Tasha
Green, Jannie Lindsay, Jeanne Mansell, Aneesa Sharper, and Virginia
Bell. We can’t wait to do it again next year!
 Submitted by:
Kristen Denney, 1st Year Delegate
Virginia Bell, 2nd Year Delegate
Brian Bennighoff President Elect
Dauna Mays, President, MdHIMA
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States Launch Stimulus Sites
Adapted from Federal
Telemedicine NEWS. March 4, 2009 edition.
Several states have set up
stimulus web sites to help residents learn about the federal stimulus
law, how stimulus dollars will be spent in individual states, and how
the sites will track specific recovery projects. A number of states are
planning web sites but some of the state sites are already up and
running. A few of the sites:
• Maryland’s site
www.recovery.maryland.gov will enable residents to track projects
using the Geographic-Information System. The state is planning a series
of workshops for local government officials to share information about
applying for grant money and to examine the impact and flow of the
dollars coming to the state. StateStat will maintain the site.
• Alabama is expected to
receive $3 billion. The site provides information on funds for various
programs at
www.stimulus.alabama.gov. The site will be updated to reflect new
information on the stimulus law as federal agencies issue specific
regulations on funding uses and requirements. The site will soon include
a feature to allow organizations and individuals to submit proposals for
use of the funds. At that point, submitted proposals will be reviewed to
identify projects that might qualify for funding. Much of the
information regarding individual programs and applications is not yet
available.
• Massachusetts is
expected to receive between $6 and $9 billion over the next two-plus
years. The governor has plans to invest in infrastructure, information
technology, and broadband access. The website
www.mass.gov/recovery will enable residents to track state
performance in implementing projects and the success of those projects.
Last December, the Patrick Administration began mobilizing for recovery
aid and established Task Forces to review and develop clean energy,
education, information technology, and other projects that may be
eligible for federal funding.
• Ohio is working to
lower healthcare costs. The website
http://recovery.ohio.gov is an interactive portal for entities to
submit proposals for stimulus dollars and to view general information.
As of 3/1/2009, 13,423 proposals have been submitted.
• Virginia launched
www.stimulus.Virginia.gov with interactive features and capabilities
to enable users to view submitted projects by location or category. The
evaluation of submitted projects will begin Friday March 6th. The data
breaks down projects by county, category, cost, and produces a daily
tally of projects submitted. Since February 10th, more than 3,300
project ideas for funding have been submitted.
• Wisconsin’s site
www.recovery.wisconsin.gov will provide information on where the
stimulus funds are going to go within the state along with the
activities, projects, and programs that will be eligible for the funds.
Information is provided on potential projects and eligibility
requirements for funds. In the future, the site will go to specific
state agencies and programs that will be administering the contracts and
grants.
• New York is expected
to receive at least $24.6 billion from ARRA of 2009. The site
www.economicrecovery.ny.gov will track how funds are spent and where
to submit proposals for funding. The Governor created the New York State
Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet to manage the development of
state and local infrastructure projects.
Learn more
States Launch Stimulus Sites
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AHIMA’s Clinical Practice Sites/Professional Practice Experiences Guide
 In
2008, the House of Delegates (HOD) organized itself into six teams to
focus on different areas of the profession. The six HOD Teams are:
Environmental Scanning, Best Practices/Standards, Professional
Development and Recognition, Volunteer and Leadership Development, HOD
Operations and Health Information Management (HIM) Higher Education and
Workforce. The AHIMA Board of Directors sets specific charges for each
of the HOD Teams to work on throughout the year.
One of
the charges for the HOD Team on HIM Higher Education and Workforce is to
provide support and recommendations to increase the number of clinical
practice sites and opportunities for students to complete professional
practice experiences. To that end, the Team created a Clinical Practice
Sites/Professional Practice Experiences (PPE) Guide that provides
information and best practices about serving as a clinical practice site
and hosting students who are completing their required professional
practice experiences. The Guide provides specific, helpful information
to: site managers, department mentors, Component State Associations
(CSA), academic programs and students. If you are involved with or
considering hosting students, take a few minutes to review the helpful
information found in the Guide. It can be accessed in the AHIMA and
State Leaders and HOD Communities of Practice and on the AHIMA Web site
by
clicking here.
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MdHIMA Annual Meeting
 The
Annual Meeting will be held May 7 -8 at the Baltimore Convention
Session. Check out the agenda and the speakers. New this year is an
inspirational speaker for both days - Dr. Steve Sobel on Thursday and
Lenny Moore, former Colts linebacker on Friday. There's still time to
donate items to the Silent Auction. For more information go to the
Calendar of Events on our MdHIMA website:
http://www.mdhima.org/CalendarofEvents.html
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MdHIMA Annual
Meeting-Silent Auction 2009
 MdHIMA's
79th Annual Meeting Silent Auction needs your donations and support to
make it a successful event. All funds raised from the Silent Auction go
to support education of our members. For donation ideas go to the
MdHIMA website- www.MdHIMA.org. Go to the calendar tab/May/Annual
Meeting Listing. The link will take you to the Silent Auction page for
ideas and to register your donation.
If you have any questions
you can also contact Christie Ferri, Silent Auction Chair at
301-251-4664.
Another way to help raise
funds for the Silent Auction would be to ask vendors that work with you
to consider donating items. Another way for vendors to support MdHIMA
at our Annual Meeting would be to take a booth, sponsor an event, or
take an ad in our Annual Meeting Brochure. On-line registration for
vendors is now open as well with reduced fees for early registration.
Encourage and remind the vendors and consultants working with you about
these possibilities to advertise their services and support MdHIMA.
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AHIMA Committee
At AHIMA’s Team Talks held
on March 23, 2009 in Washington, D.C., Virginia Bell, RHIA, was voted to
serve on AHIMA’s Triumph Awards Committee. Congratulations Virginia!
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CCBC Student Passes CCS-P Exam
The Community College of
Baltimore County proudly announced that one of their students, Cheryl
Carton, who was winner of the MdHIMA Outstanding Student Award for this
past year, has become the first student from the HIT program to sit for
and pass the CCS-P exam – and she hadn’t even completed the entire
program at the time! Congratulations to Cheryl on her outstanding
achievement!
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Distinguished Member Award
 The
Distinguished Member Award is MdHIMA’s highest award of honor. This
award celebrates an individual with a long, exceptional history of HIM
contributions. Qualified individuals are HIM professionals who have
made significant contributions to the HIM field through innovative
professional practice, education, dedicated volunteer service, research,
or publishing.
If you wish to nominate an
HIM professional go to www.mdhima.com
and choose the “About Us” tab.
Volunteer Champion Award
The Volunteer Champion
Award honors those whose long-term and enthusiastic support of MdHIMA
has advanced the capacity to achieve its mission. Qualified nominees are
individuals, groups or corporations who have worked tirelessly providing
significant volunteer contributions to support MdHIMA and the HIM
profession.
To nominate for the
Volunteer Champion Award go to
www.mdhima.com and choose the “About Us” tab.
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Student Scholarships
 Each
May at the Annual Meeting, MdHIMA awards two $ 1000 scholarships to
students pursuing a career in health information management. Applicants
must be in their final year of study and have a cumulative GPA of 3.0.
Deadline is April 25, 2009. For more details go to
www.mdhima.com and choose the “About Us” tab.
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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!
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Betty J.
Williams
Vicki L. Still,
CCS
Tamerra
R.Blackston
LaKeya S.
Chambers
Rebecca J.
Nestor
Onyinyechi
Ukomadu
Marcie L.
Bredariol
Sharon L.
Fields
Corrina R.
Lyncy
Gifty K. Baiden
Sherri L
Vansnik
Teaira Rooks
Mahawa J.
Bundor
Monica Tyiska
Theresa Paserb
Gayle B. Lewis
Judy K. Stotler
Cindie M.
Martin
Terika M. Brown
Laticia C.
Curtis-Towah
Michelle A.
Bob, CTR
Mary E.
Matthews-Martin, RHIT,CHP |
Ruth A. Lipman
Melanie J
Rogers
Cynthia D.
Judy, CCA
Shoshana
Sussman, CCA
Amanda R.
Sierra
JoAnn E. Fore
Ranada M.
Tillman
Bridget D.
Russell
Christopher K.
Rogers
Tyeisha N.
Brockington
Lisa F. Tyler
Karen F. Bone
Mary C.
Harrison, CPC,CPC-H,CPC-I
Sherry Golden
Cheryl
Jennings-Bell
Mary E.
Warren-Oliver
Onyinyechi
Ukomadu
Jian Ying Huang
Raymond Whye
Carol A.
Wingfield, RN
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Dates to Remember
April 18, 2009 – 8:00 am –
4:30 pm – MdHIMA CCS Prep Course – Greater Baltimore Medical Center,
Conference Center Room A and B -
MdHIMA CCS Prep Course
May 7 – May 8, 2009 –
MdHIMA Annual Meeting – Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, MD
October 3 – October 8, 2009
- 2009 AHIMA National Convention - Dallas, TX
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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:
kmulford@medquist.com.
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