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Save the date |
The tentative dates for upcoming Business and Education Meetings are as follows:
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Coding Apprentice Program - Success at St.Francis Hospital | |
Submitted by:
Alison Nicklas, RHIA, CCS
CTHIMA 1st Year Director
During budget preparations for FY2010, the HIM Department identified an expense that could potentially be eliminated if we could find a way to train qualified individuals in coding. A proposal was written and presented to finance to show the expenses associated with contracted services versus the introduction of a Coding Apprentice Program. Based on the proposal we included for the training, to include paying the selected candidates, we were given approval for a trial of this program.
Working closely with Human Resources, the Assistant Director of HIM, Revenue Cycle and the Coding Compliance Specialist in our HIM Department, and Phyllis Hilt at Lincoln College of New England, we found two excellent candidates. Both were thrilled to have an opportunity to break into the coding field - they had been attempting to find positions only to be turned away due to inexperience. The training program here at St. Francis includes online education, recoding of already coded records, 100% review of all records coded, and eventual transitioning to coding uncoded records.
We are extremely pleased with the results of this training. Both of our apprentice coders did extremely well with the training and are now employed as full-time employees. We will begin a new session sometime in the Fall of 2010 following the identification of qualified candidates. |
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Notice | |
It is with sincere sympathy that we inform you of the passing of Shirley Esposito in May of this year. Shirley was the Medical Records Director at Griffin Hospital and a past President of CTHIMA. Donations can be made in her honor to either the CT Hospice, or Griffin Hospital Development Fund. The current Board of CTHIMA would like to send our thoughts and prayers to her family.
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| Out of the Archives...... | |
"The Hospital urged the historians to make the most of their positions, to have great respect for their work and to cultivate a persistence that is eternal and a patience that is everlasting."
-A quote taken from Mr. Carleton B. Strayer, Superintendent of Norwalk General Hospital at the November 7, 1932 Connecticut Hospital Historian's Association |
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A Report from the Professional Development Committee |
Submitted by Emily Macko, RHIA CTHIMA President
The Committee met on August 18, 2010. The Committee was given an overview of the State Leaders and House of Delegate COP site. It was mentioned there are multiple ways to locate information using the "community" drop down and also the "filter." Completed work from 2009-2010 was discussed which consisted of the HIM Profession-Credential Letters. The upcoming action items for the House of Delegates were discussed as well as utilizing AHIMA's ICD-10 Web Page. Action items for September will be ICD-10 strategies and coding. |
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HIM QUIZ | |
Can you correctly match the following?
Match the following definitions to their corresponding abbreviation for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble.
Good Luck!
_____ ARRA
_____ RHIT
_____ HIPAA
_____ HITECH
_____ RAC
_____ HIE
_____ ASC
_____ CSA
_____ HOD
_____ CGS
- CT state laws
- went into effect April 2003
- independent accrediting organization that establishes accreditation standardsfor HIM educational programs
- ambulatory center where surgery is performed
- CTHIMA is one of these
- a professional certification
- deals with many of the health information communication and technology provisions
- provides many different stimulus opportunities
- purpose is to reduce improper Medicare payments and implement actions to prevent future improper payments
- the goal is to facilitate the secure access, use, and control of health information insupport of patient-centered care delivered in a safe, high quality, cost effective, and timely manner.
- to advance the mission and strategy of AHIMA; it is organized into six teams
Submit your "winning" entry by November 1st for a chance to win a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card.
mail:
CTHIMA
P.O. Box 571
Colchester, CT 06415
or by e-mail:
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| A Letter from Your President | |
Dear Members,
This year promises to be a challenging year with hot topics such as ARRA, HITECH, ICD-10 and Meaningful Use. As incoming President of CTHIMA it is my expectation the Board will provide the membership with interesting and current topics to meet today's challenges. Your feedback and support is important in keeping our membership on the cutting edge.
Feel free to contact any member of the Board through the CTHIMA website for concerns or issues you feel are relevant to the HIM profession. We need you!
Sincerely,
Emily Macko, RHIA
President CTHIMA |
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Elections 2011 | |
Submitted by
Linda McKone, RHIT
CTHIMA Past-President
It's not too early to start thinking about playing an important role in your CSA. Do you want to have a voice in the direction the CSA is headed?
The elections to be held next spring have openings for three (3) director positions and for president-elect.
A director position requires a two (2) year commitment. The president-elect requires a three (3) year commitment; the first year as president-elect; second year as president and the third year as past president. The president-elect must also have the ability to travel in order to attend the Leadership Conference held each July in Chicago and to attend the national convention as a delegate for CTHIMA.
Are you committed to the advancement of your profession? Of our association? Then we need you!
Look for the position descriptions in the Winter Newsletter.
If you are interested please contact: Linda McKone at
linda.mckone@po.state.ct.us or call (860)859-4529. |
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HOD Operation Committee Report | |
Submitted by
Marty Cohen, RHIT
President-Elect
On 8/16 the HOD Operation Committee had its first conference call of the year. We discussed the team charges, which include:
· Delegate training events. This would be Delegate Activities & Responsibilities Webinar, Roberts Rules of Order Webinar, Delegate Training sessions and providing oversight for the Delegate Training Tool Kit.
· Conduct Mid-term and End-term Delegate surveys.
· Make recommendations to the HOD business meeting agenda.
· Increase delegate participation in the CoP.
· Review submitted resolutions and develop resolution concepts.
· Provide oversight for the HOD performance measures.
We also reviewed an amendment on HOD Apportionment and Composition proposed by the Nebraska HIM Association. This would be 2 changes to the bylaws:
- The first amendment would change the formula for determining the number of delegates per CSA. A Senate Model would allow each CSA to have two delegates per CSA.
- The second amendment would reduce the number of AHIMA Board of Directors participating in the House to 9.
The Team agreed that we were not in favor of or against this proposal. We are only acting as an oversight on this proposal to make sure it meets all the necessary rules to bring forth and be put on the agenda, which it did. So this will be an action item to be voted on at the full house in September.
The next Action Item that will be put on the floor of the full house will be the Name Change from AHIMA to AHIIMA (American Health Informatics and Information Management Association). This was supported by 19 CSA's after CT was withdrawn. There seems to be some issue as to how that support was developed. I am sure this will be a spirited discussion.
There were 28 states on the call. |
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Our Sponsor | |
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AHA Says $2.47 Million in Medicare Claims Denied in First Quarter of 2010. | |
Modern Healthcare (6/23, Lubell) reports that "recovery audit contractors denied $2.47 million in Medicare claims to 437 hospitals in the first quarter of 2010, the American Hospital Association announced." The AHA found, "in the first results of its RACTrac survey, a quarterly poll designed by the AHA to track and summarize the RAC program's impact...that the RAC contractors were engaging primarily in complex reviews, which use human review of medical records and other medical documentation to identify improper payments to providers." |
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