LIFE BEYOND HUFFMAN: future directions for health information management
Catherine Garvey, Erin Holmes
& Diana Cheng
Edna and her legacy
Hello Possums
!
Edna Huffman
Huffman’s Legacy – Basic principals of health information management
> The ideal concept of the medical record as a single repository of information on a patient’s health – the who, what, where, why and how.
> Effective utilisation of resources> Advancement of the HIM profession> High standard of documentation:
• accurate and objective
• authenticated
• contain correct use of abbreviations and symbols
• timely
• legible
• be correctly amended if required
• verified as being for the correct patient
The current and upcoming health information environment
Current environment
> May not be adequate for information demands of modern health care delivery
> Disparate systems – between and within hospitals and states
> Paper-Based records with electronic PMIs
> Hybrid Systems – Paper, Scanning, EHR
Major problems
> Lack of uniformity• Proliferation of medical record forms• Standards and guidelines within individual
hospitals• Disparate systems
> Issues with the changeover of the medical record format• The need for constant reliable access the
information
> Keeping the Health Information Management profession at the forefront of these discussions
Future directions for Health Information Managers
Performance Indicators for Health Information
> Highlight the need for complete and accurate clinical documentation
> Greater recognition amongst clinical staff> Continuous monitoring and auditing of
clinical documentation
Education
> Ongoing updating of relevant skills and knowledge: • High level coding and auditing
• Casemix/Data Collections
• Data analysis/reporting for hospital management
Education
> Ongoing updating of relevant skills and knowledge:
• Health Informatics
• Freedom of Information – Legal/Ethical
• Mechanism of Activity Based Funding Model
Goodbye Darlings!