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!