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AHIMA / NHIMA Member Information |
This page will be used to provide information to AHIMA/NHIMA members.
AHIMA's
Hill Day 2010
Apportionment Issue - Key Points
Apportionment Issue - Operations Team Report
Update on LB702
New CoP
Useful Links
Volunteer Opportunities
FAQs
On March 23, 2010, Angie Gage, NHIMA President Elect, and Monica Seeland, NHIMA Advocacy Chair, attended AHIMA’s Hill Day. It was exciting to be in Washington, DC at the same time the healthcare reform legislation was being signed into law.
AHIMA had three issues they wanted us to discuss. We were provided packets of information to share with our representatives. We met with the health care staff from Senator Nelson’s office, Senator Johanns’ office and Congressman Fortenberry’s office.
The first request was to reauthorize Title VII of the Public Health Services Act to provide funding for allied health professionals. In the past, allied health professional funding was provided under Title VII; however, over the past few years this funding has been limited to funding for medical, nursing and pharmacy education. The need for qualified health information management professionals will only increase under the push for EHRs per ARRA. The benefits of EHRs, HIEs, quality, safety and efficiency won’t be realized solely by the implementation of software. The role of today’s health information management professional is to manage this electronic information and comply with security and privacy requirements, and data integrity in the electronic world. Implementing a software system is much different than implementing and maintaining a legal electronic health record.
The second request concerned the Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification categories and our request to expand these categories to capture today’s HIM workforce. Currently we are classified as either medical & health services managers or technicians. Many in our profession work in non-traditional settings and are not captured by the current classification system. AHIMA has petitioned the Bureau of Labor Statistics to adopt a new category to determine the workforce level of HIM and we are asking you to champion a “dear colleague” letter to Congress to direct the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics to reflect the new roles of HIM. Specifically, to rename the title category 29-2017.00 to Medical Records and Health Information Specialists and add two subcategories under the primary classification: 29-2071.01 Medical Records and Health Information Technician and 29-2071.02 Medical Records and Health Information Manager. Additionally, we request that the current “Health Information Manager” occupational information be removed from 11-9111.00(114c) and placed in category 29-2071.00.
The third issue concerned administrative simplification and “operating rules”. The current environment is that each trading partner – insurance company - develops their own transaction guide. According to NCVHS testimony in 2007, there were over 1200 different guides which defeat the purpose of administrative simplification. The language in HR 3590 (the healthcare reform bill which was signed into law on 3/22/10) would allow for the more timely updating of HIPAA transaction standards and the establishment of a formal process for the adoption of “operating rules”
Key Points – Proposed
Amendments to the AHIMA Bylaws on
House Apportionment and Composition
When will these motions be voted on?
· The Official Notice
to the AHIMA House of Delegates was sent to delegates on Monday, April 12 and is
also posted in the State Leaders and House of Delegates CoP. Action to amend the
AHIMA Bylaws requires a 40-day notice period. The delegates-only discussion will
occur from May 24 – June 4. A CHAT is planned for May 26 at 1 p.m. Eastern /
12 p.m. Central / 11 a.m. Mountain / 10 a.m. Pacific. The electronic vote will
occur June 7 – June 18.
What is required for the proposed
amendments to pass?
· For an amendment to
the AHIMA Bylaws to pass, 2/3rd of delegates who vote must affirm the motion.
If passed, when would the proposed
amendments become effective?
· If adopted, the
proposed amendments would become effective July 1, 2011 to seat the 2011-2012
House of Delegates. If the House apportionment amendment passes, it would allow
CSAs time to make local changes.
· The 2010-2011 House of Delegates was seated under the current AHIMA Bylaws
(100 member formula). The apportionment report was sent to CSA leaders in
February 2010 and is available in the State Leaders and House of Delegates CoP.
Who is bringing forward these proposed
amendments to the AHIMA Bylaws?
· The proposed
amendments are being brought forward by the House of Delegates Team on House
Operations. Like all House Teams, the Team is lead by two co-chairs appointed by
the AHIMA President. There are 34 delegates on the Team representing 32 CSAs.
The Team had consensus to bring the proposed amendments forward. The AHIMA Board
of Directors is not bringing the proposed amendments forward.
Why is the “% of membership”
apportionment formula being proposed?
· The proposed
formula to calculate delegate apportionment would keep the House of Delegates at
a constant size. If a CSA is very near the upper or lower end of the percent and
experiences a significant shift in membership, this could cause the House to
gain or lose a delegate.
· The proposed formula is an attempt to give members better representation by
delegate – balanced against the other goals for addressing apportionment.
Note: a majority of issues the House addresses affect the HIM profession or
association at large.
· AHIMA is a membership association; therefore the proposal focuses on number
of members per CSA – as the current formula in the AHIMA Bylaws does. A member
should feel well represented regardless of the CSA he/she lives in. Under our
current formula 33 CSAs have the maximum number of delegates (five). Is this
fair to all CSAs?
Who can be members of the House of
Delegates Teams?
· Delegates are
assigned to a House Team. New for 2010-2011, CSAs can appoint a CSA
representative to each of the House Teams not already covered by a delegate.
This starts with the 2010-2011 House of Delegates (July 1, 2010). A role of the
House Teams is to serve as vetting body for any House action item. Team members
can influence action items before they are presented to the House of a vote.
How will these motions be voted on –
Delegate Apportionment and House Composition?
· Both amendments
will be voted on simultaneously. The House composition motion is contingent on
the delegate apportionment motion passing. It could happen that the delegate
apportionment motion passes and the House composition motion does not.
· While the motion to change the House composition will be voted on at the same
time as the motion on delegate apportionment, it is contingent on the delegate
apportionment amendment passing. This means that both motions must pass for the
House composition motion to become effective.
What guides the AHIMA House of Delegates
in its processes?
· The House of
Delegates follows the AHIMA Bylaws, Standing Rules of the House (adopted
annually at the House of Delegates business meeting), parliamentary procedure
and Robert’s Rules of Order to conduct business both when in-person and when
business is conducted virtually.
Can you give a high-level overview of
the House’s recent discussions on apportionment?
· 2004 Summer Team
Talks: Discussion, no support for further action at that time
· September 2007: AHIMA Board of Directors Governance Team Report issued
· 2007 House of Delegates Business Meeting: Discussed the Governance Report and
deferred addressing House apportionment until the House Teams were implemented
· May/June 2008: House Teams implemented, first round of House Team meetings
conducted
· 2008-2009: Discussions and work by the House Operations Team and the Team’s
Apportionment Workgroup
· October 2009: The House referred the proposed bylaws amendment on delegate
apportionment back to the House Operations Team. Note: the proposed amendment
was not voted on by the delegates.
· October 2009 – April 2010: Continued discussions and work by the House
Operations Team and the Team’s Apportionment Workgroup
· April 12, 2010: Official Notice to the House of Delegates with two proposed
amendments to the AHIMA Bylaws on delegate apportionment and House composition
Approved and Provided by the Apportionment Workgroup of the House Operations Teams
House
of Delegates (HOD) –Operations Team Report
House Apportionment Issue
NHIMA HOD Operations Team Member:
Jean Scharfenkamp, RHIA
Objectives: HOD Operations
Team purpose for 2009-2010 was to prepare proposal amendments to the AHIMA
Bylaws for House Apportionment and Composition.
Overview: The HOD Operations
Team developed a proposal amendment to the AHIMA Bylaws for House Apportionment
and Composition that was brought to the HOD in October, 2009. The proposed
amendment changed the formula for apportionment to base the number of delegates
on percent of membership and provided a minimum of 2 delegates per CSA and
increased the maximum number of delegates per CSA to 6. This formula would
have decreased the Nebraska HOD membership from 5 delegates to 2 delegates. The
proposed amendment was met with much resistance during the HOD and failed to be
brought to the HOD floor for a vote. The NHIMA Delegates were key
contributors in a movement to instead approve a Senate Model whereby all CSAs
would be represented with 2 delegates. Following much corroboration with
multiple states, the final outcome was to refer the proposal back to the HOD
Operations Team. This resulted in the HOD Operations Team being tasked
with reviewing the amendment, conducting a survey of the delegates, developing
an amendment proposal, communicating this information to the membership and
finally an electronic vote to be taken prior to the 2010 House of Delegates.
A survey was completed in early 2010.
The survey proposed 5 different models. Two of the models included the Senate
Model and the previously rejected Percentage Model. A “2-3-4 Model”
where states are divided into thirds based on membership was the most popular
model based on a weighted calculation. In this model, those states in the
lower third would be granted 2 delegates, states in the middle third would be
granted 3 delegates and states in the highest third would be granted 4
delegates. The HOD Operations Workgroup presented a proposal to the entire
HOD Operations Team in a meeting on February 11, 2010. However, during
this meeting, there was lengthy discussion regarding the validity of the survey
due to the Tennessee’s delegate’s allegation that only 1 of their 5
delegates who voted had their vote counted in the survey tally, yet they had all
voted. This led to a change in direction of the Operations Team to return
their support to the Percentage Model. A vote was taken and by a vote of
15 to 6 (Nebraska was one of the 6 dissenting votes) the Team decided to support
and present the Percentage Model at the Winter Team Talks and then present to
the delegates for an electronic vote. There was also a resolution to allow
each CSA to have representation on the six Teams of the HOD. This would
mean that even though we would have 2 delegates, Nebraska could participate on
the other 4 Teams of the HOD. While this was a positive take-away for
Nebraska, we still are facing the loss of 3 delegates if the Percentage Model.
The HOD Operations Team has now posted a
“Key Points – Proposed Amendments to the AHIMA Bylaws on House
Apportionment” document which is attached in a separate document.
We are posting all of these activities on
the Nebraska CoP. We urge NHIMA members to review all that has transpired in the
Apportionment process. NHIMA Delegates have been instrumental in voicing
support for a model that would be fair and representative to the state of
Nebraska and our membership. Please provide feedback to your delegates on
this issue.
LB 702 was incorporated into LB 849 which
was approved by the Governor on 4/13/10. The underlined sentence is the
new update. The sentence that has the strike through in it is the old
verbiage.
"71-8403 (1) A patient may request a
copy of the patient’s medical records or may request to examine such records.
Access to such records shall be provided upon request pursuant to sections
71-8401 to 71-8407, except that mental health medical records may be withheld if
any treating physician, psychologist, or mental health practitioner determines
in his or her professional opinion that release of the records would not be in
the best interest of the patient unless the release is required by court order.
The request and any authorization shall be in writing. If an authorization
does not contain an expiration date or specify an event the occurrence of which
causes the authorization to expire, the authorization shall expire twelve months
after the date the authorization was executed by the patient. and
shall be valid for one hundred eighty days after the date of execution by the
patient."
Previously, authorizations were only valid for a maximum of 180 days. Now the
patient can state any expiration date or event. If none is listed, then the
authorization expires 12 months after the date the patient signs it. The patient
can state a period longer or shorter than 12 months in the authorization.
The change should reduce the number of authorizations that patients must execute
when they want their health information disclosed over long periods of time,
including through electronic health information exchanges that operate on an
"opt-in" basis.
Click here for an overview of the new CoP and some helpful hints.
Nebraska Community of Practice (you must
login to myAHIMA and click on Communities of Practice
- www.ahima.org
General
--- Contact NHIMA's President, Angie Gage at agage@dialysiscenteroflincoln.org
How do I join AHIMA/NHIMA?
--- Go to https://secure.ahima.org/esignup/
--- NHIMA Membership is automatic with paid AHIMA membership if Nebraska is
designated as your Component State Association (CSA)
How do I change my contact
information (address, email, etc.)?
--- https://secure.ahima.org/profile/Login.aspx
(login required)
--- You must change your AHIMA profile. This information is downloaded by
NHIMA each month so you will only need to change it once.
How do I get a current membership list?
--- Email the Central Office at kim@consulthi.com
to request a membership list.
How do I learn more about NHIMA Board Meetings
(when are they held, agenda items, etc)?
--- Scheduled board meetings are listed on the Events page of this website
--- Agenda items are managed by the President (Angie Gage - agage@dialysiscenteroflincoln.org
)