Credentialing: - Association for Healthcare Documentation

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
that health care without quality documentation cannot
result in the best outcomes. Our presence and our interest
in patient safety and improved care outcomes will
resonate with lawmakers—and now with more scrutiny
placed on patient privacy and breach notification, this is
paramount. We are the ones who have been safeguarding
patient information for all these years. We must continue
to advocate for these issues, and we must have a
larger, louder voice each year in DC. I encourage you to
get involved with the legislative issues group today. One
person can make a difference.
Possibly the single most important technology
innovation today in the delivery of healthcare documentation
is the Health Story Project (www.healthstory.com).
What this does to standard dictation and transcription
is nothing short of the “wow” factor. This is the key that
will unlock narrative text into the EHR in a minable,
structured manner. When physicians have the option
to continue to dictate (since it is their preferred method
for documentation) and do not have to resort to selfentry
methods, they can remain productive. Physicians
are being pressed to see more patients and to do more
than they have ever done before (think about healthcare
reform and millions more people seeking treatment and
care). Now consider that it is predicted that there will
be a shortage of about 200,000¹ primary care physicians
occurring in less than 11 years (2020-2025). Then
try to conceptualize the impact to physicians if they
are not enabled to get the whole story documented in
the fastest possible way. Do you see the potential train
wreck if we have a solution that enables dictation and
Our interest in patient safety and improved care
outcomes will resonate with lawmakers.
transcription to continue to be the preferred, fastest,
most complete method of capturing the entire, unique
situation of each patient?
In changing times, and most particularly in a time of
rapid technology changes, not to mention the economic
downturn, being connected with other professionals in
our sector is critical! Working remotely is more isolation
than most onsite professional workers experience
in their entire careers. For many of us, we have been
working from home for twenty or more years. This
isolation can take a tremendous toll over the course
of years, and most dangerously, we can settle into a
false state of complacency and not see the storm that is
brewing. When there is a storm coming, it’s not a time
for panic—it’s a time for preparation, more educational
opportunities to be sure that you are looking ahead, and
making the right adjustments to sail safely through the
forces of change.
When times are changing—as they are now with
emerging and dominating technologies like the EHR—
work flow and work processes naturally change with
them. As allied health professionals figure out how best
to work with these technologies, it is necessary for us
to stake our claim for the new roles as they are being
conceptualized. AHIMA has consistently done this very
successfully.² Unless we can align our skills and expertise
in new job roles, these issues about the unknown work
processes may be solved without our input. It is critical
that we learn all we can about these systems and then
apply our experience and clinical knowledge to fill these
evolving roles. Knowledge really is everything.
One of the most important opportunities a professional
association provides is the collective ability to
look for new ways of doing what we do and to connect
with relevant processes and initiatives. Challenging
the status quo and not blindly doing what we have
always done is what will keep an association fresh and
progressive.
Most of us have started to use online social networking
sites, like Facebook, and we realize the amazing
potential they can bring in connecting people. We have
been able to reach people in a whole new way, and so
through this technology we have connected with people
who share our profession. Using Twitter has given instant
connectivity to our events, and although there are times
when I am not sure whether I am tweeting or if Twitter
means I am a twit (LOL), I love the opportunity to share
what’s happening in the moment. I even Twitter from my
cell phone. How cool is that?
Can you see that the Top-10 List for getting and staying
involved with AHDI makes a world of sense when
the world around us doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense?
It is going to be interesting to see where healthcare
reform ends up—as for me, I am here for the duration.
If we can all envision how much better health care is by
including our knowledge and expertise, we really are the
essential element that will make the US healthcare system
the very best in the world. It is a long and winding
road that will be made far more interesting if we actively
8 novEMBER 2009 www.aHDIonLInE.oRg