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e-Coastlines Online Newsletter
FHIMA Annual Report
FHIMA Announces New Toolkits for hosting a CODING ROUNDTABLE FORUM
AHIMA's ACE Program Puts the Action in e-HIM
Membership Information for FHIMA
 

FHIMA Annual Report

Click here to review the FHIMA Annual Report 2007-2008


FHIMA Announces New Toolkits for hosting a
CODING ROUNDTABLE FORUM

The FHIMA Data Quality Committee is pleased to offer these tool kits to assist you in planning a “Coding Roundtable Forum.”

This forum will provide guidelines on how to implement a Regional Coding Roundtable and a Do-It-Yourself toolkit with topics and resources for research and discussion. Updates will be done on a quarterly basis.  The coding roundtable forum is an area for coders to learn, share and discuss issues related to coding, data quality and compliance.   

We hope all FHIMA members will find this useful and informative.  

Neoplasms and Pathological Fractures
POA, Excisional Debridement and Respiratory

Click Here for the link to Coding Roundtable Forum Guidelines


AHIMA's ACE Program Puts the Action in e-HIM

The best way to deal with change is to go out and meet it head on, says Anna Lattu, RHIA. If we sit back and wait, change happens to us and we miss the opportunity to influence it. “It’s much more important to be up there and be part of change and be proactive,” she says.

That’s what Lattu does as director of information management services at Minnesota State Operated Services, a behavioral health agency in St. Paul, MN. And that’s what she does as part of a new AHIMA program that connects e-HIM® experts with volunteer opportunities within CSAs and with individual AHIMA members.

Lattu is a member of ACE, the Action Community for e-HIM® Excellence. The program mobilizes AHIMA’s network of HIM experts and change agents. It identifies, prepares, engages, mentors, and recognizes those working to transform HIM practice and connects them with volunteer and career-building opportunities.

How to Get Involved

ACE members make change happen. They apply expertise, experience, and leadership skills within their organizations, communities, and states. Current ACE members are participating in regional health information exchange initiatives, leading organizational data quality improvement efforts, and speaking at state and national HIM conferences. Other ACE members have testified on HIM issues before government agencies and mentored students and new professionals.

Lattu fights hard for projects she believes in, often convincing, educating and negotiating with her clinical, technical, and administrative colleagues to garner their support. One project she is working to bring to her facility is a telehealth system, which would enable providers to communicate with patients through interactive television.

Individuals join the ACE Challenge through recommendation or self-nomination. An online self-assessment helps them gauge their expertise and experience. If they join ACE, they make a commitment to volunteering.

Call on ACE!

ACE members like Lattu act as a “preferred pool of experts,” available for mentoring, speaking, writing, testifying, and more. A CSA can seek an ACE member to give a presentation at a state meeting, for example. Individuals can request mentoring on an e-HIM initiative they face at work.

You can learn more about ACE by visiting www.ahima.org/ace. There you’ll find an online nomination form and the self-assessment. A directory of ACE members available for mentoring also appears there. CSA leaders may access a directory of ACE members available for presentations. To set up access to the directory, they can call Pam Garcia in AHIMA’s Volunteer Services department at 312-233-1162 or by e-mail at pamela.garcia@ahima.org