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Message from the President
Susan Carey, RHIT, PMP

October 13, 2011
 
“Hello!
 
The cool air is starting to blow in; however, things continue to heat up for HIM Professionals as we help prepare for Meaningful Use (MU), ICD10 and Healthcare Reform; among, various other initiatives facing us!  The KHIMA board met in late August to finalize the strategic plan for the 2011/2012 year. Attendance at the strategic retreat was excellent and we formulated a plan that I feel sets the stage for great achievements this year and sets the groundwork for meeting the challenges in the years to come. Providing ICD10 education opportunities, meeting with our congressional representatives and working more closely with our academic programs were among the goals we set for ourselves.  We started with the strategic goals that AHIMA has for this year and adapted those goals to our needs here in Kentucky at the component state association level.
 
The delegates traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah in October to attend the HOD meetings during the AHIMA conference.  Great HOD meetings!  During the Sunday morning session, delegates from all states broke into small groups to discuss the challenges and strategic next steps related to 11 topics; topics that are very important to HIM Professionals as we meet information management needs and regulatory needs in the electronic world.   Here are the 11 topics:
  1. EHR Implementation
  2. Future Skills of Coders
  3. Lead the Revenue Cycle
  4. Master HIM Practice Realms
  5. Position the HIM Professional as the Chief Information Officer, Chief Knowledge Officer, or Data Integrity Executive
  6. Understand Emerging Issues
  7. Advance the Profession through Meaningful Use, Healthcare Reform, and Accountable Care Organizations
  8. Skills for a Decision Support Executive
  9. Urge Employers to employ AHIMA Credentialed Professionals
  10. HIM Professional’s Position and Relevancy in the Healthcare Industry
  11. The HIM Professionals and Other Associations
 
Although these 11 topics represent a variety of issues most of the groups came to the same conclusions as to how HIM Professionals meet the challenges each topic presented.  The general consensus was that AHIMA needed to continue to forge relationships with other professional associations collaboratively but also with the realization that in some instances we may compete with those associations.  And, that HIM Professionals had to get a seat at the decision making table.  This brief summary of the strategic session does not do the session justice!  Spending several hours with HIM Professionals from a variety of healthcare settings discussing, theorizing and at times venting was powerful!  Although we must be accountable to equip ourselves to sit at the decision making table AHIMA provides us with many resources and it is up to us as HIM Professionals to demonstrate our value.
 
Sunday afternoon we attended the business meeting where the proposed bylaw revisions, the code of ethics revisions, the resolution on Diversity and Inclusion, and the resolution stating HIM Professionals’ role in managing the quality of health data were all passed.  With the revisions to the bylaws there will be two new volunteer roles: speaker of the House of Delegates and speaker-elect of the House of Delegates.  A straw poll for determining how to nominate and vote for members to fill those positions was taken but no final option was determined.
 
At the AHIMA convention we ushered Patty Sheridan in as the AHIMA President for 2012, she begins her term in January of 2012.  Patty challenged us to dream big! Bedirhan Ustun, MD, PhD, team coordinator of classification, terminologies and standards in the department of health statistics at the World Health Organization (WHO)  told us it is not too soon to start thinking about ICD11!  And, Carolyn Clancy, MD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) told us “HIM is an indispensible partner to remake the healthcare system” as related to AHRQ’s efforts.   This is also a brief glimpse of what occurred at AHIMA this year and I can’t possibly cover all the rich and robust information that was given to us to help us as HIM Professionals carry our profession forward and serve in our roles.  I was in awe of the talent and dedication demonstrated by AHIMA staff and members for presenting such an awesome convention this year.
 
The time is now for HIM Professionals to seize the day!  I hope you will come with me on this journey!
 
Blessings,
 
Susan