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President’s Message
 Welcome GHIMA members to the dog days of summer. As we move rapidly through the month of July, the 2015-2016 year is quickly coming to a close. With that said, I hope each of you has had opportunity to relax and enjoy some vacation time this summer with family and friends.
As we approach the close of this year and the beginning of a new one, we can look back and be proud of what we have accomplished by working together as a team.
There has been great progress on all of our strategic goals for 2015-2016 and I am excited to see what is in store for the upcoming year as Annette assumes leadership of the Board. Her excitement and enthusiasm is contagious and is sure to make for a successful and innovative year.
I am very excited about our upcoming annual meeting that is scheduled for August 3-5, 2016 at the Sonesta Gwinnett Place in Duluth. The Board heard your feedback and has planned for a traditional 3 day meeting this year. The agenda is packed with technology showcases, opportunities to visit Exhibitors as well as key educational topics like Information and Data Governance, Coding, Career Choices and much more. I encourage everyone to get your registration in today as online registration closes at the end of business July 27, 2016.
As always, I encourage you to find a place to plug in and volunteer to be a part of this extraordinary team. I have thoroughly enjoyed the past year and would like to thank everyone who was a part of the 2015-2016 Board and its committees as well as those who volunteered in any capacity. It is through your commitment and volunteerism that GHIMA continues to be a thriving CSA.
Kathy Alberson, RHIA
2015 - 2016 President​
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2016 GHIMA Annual Meeting and Exhibit
We welcome you all to join the 2016 GHIMA Annual Meeting and Exhibit to be held at Sonesta Gwinnett Place Atlanta, Duluth, Ga from August 3-5, 2016. “Charting the Course... A World of Opportunitiesâ€, is this year’s theme, with the focus on privacy/security, coding and Information Governance.
Atlanta is often referred to as the nation's health IT capital. It offers an excellent venue to meet and network with some of the product and service companies which are at the forefront of consumer digital health.
Our keynote speaker will be Patty Sheridan, AHIMA Past President and one of the proponents in the field. There will also be discourses in some of the trending topics like ICD 10 Recovery Audit Snags and Clinical Data Management.
The meeting not only includes an opportunity to earn 14 potential CEUs but also provides an excellent vista for understanding how the coding career path is mutating in order to adapt to the current day requirements and gaining an industry perspective from the Exhibitors.
There will also be the Exhibitors Reception to meet some old friends and make new ones. So please go to the GHIMA Website to get more information and plan ahead. My fellow HIM professionals and colleagues I once again welcome you to join me at the 2016 GHIMA Annual Meeting to write a new chapter in this dynamic field.
Laytha Parthasarathi, AS
Program Intern
Janyce House, MS, RHIA
Program Chair ​
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GHIMA’s New Regions
It’s official, our six regions for GHIMA have now merged into our three new regions. The regions are now North, West and East.
Please follow this link to view the county designation by region and information if you were not aware of this merger effective on July 1st:
2016 GHIMA Regions Effective July 1, 2016
Elections have been held and you may find new officers for North and West regions by following the respective links below.
http://www.ghima.org/regions/north-georgia/nghima-board-of-directors/
http://www.ghima.org/regions/west-georgia/
We are awaiting election results from the East region, please check back through the GHIMA website.
Over the next few months GHIMA and individual regions will continue to forward updates on meetings and membership drives and related benefits and dues for each new region. If you have any questions, please contact the individual leaders for each region. ​
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Advocacy
As the GHIMA Advocacy Chair I would like to personally invite everyone within our state’s professional organization to join me in our State’s advocacy efforts by taking the time to visit some useful State Legislation tracking pages.
Georgia’s General Assembly
Georgia’s House of Representatives
Georgia’s House Calendar by Date
This year we had strong Advocacy efforts thanks to conscientious members within our State’s organization concerning OCR Guidelines and ROI charges. Thanks to their efforts, we were able to spring into action. Going forward, I encourage all with an interest in politics and a passion for Health Information to feel free to unite in our state’s Advocacy efforts.
If you or anyone you know hears of legislation that could directly or indirectly impact our organization or profession, please feel free to share with me or GHIMA. I thank you all in advance for your support in advocating for all HIM throughout the great state of Georgia.
Christi E. Snider, RHIA
Advocacy Chair, 2015-2016 ​
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Coding Roundtable Committee
The 2016-2017 GHIMA Coding Roundtable Committee is excited to say that we have volunteers, and with their help, I am looking forward to what is in store for this term. We can never stop learning, and with the efforts of this committee, I know there will be plenty of opportunities.
Look for future Coding Roundtable dates in the near future. Thanks for the support.
Stephanie Mercer, RHIT, CCS
GHIMA Coding Roundtable Committee Chairman 2016-2017
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GHIMA Mentoring Program
Are you new to the HIM field or already there but looking to get some career direction? If so, have you considered a mentor?
A mentor provides fundamental guidance to assist in the personal growth and development of the person being mentored also known as a mentee. The mentee is someone who takes their personal and professional progress seriously. The mentor and mentee can belong to the same organization or they can belong to different organizations. Mentorship can cover a variety of areas and can be provided by more than one person. For instance, one mentor can help develop moral character, leadership and technical ability, while another mentor may help develop social graces, broaden a mentee’s perspective about diversity and provide guidance on navigating an organization. A mentor can also help uncover hidden or latent talents or abilities in the mentee.1 Mentorship can be informal or formal. An informal mentor-mentee relationship can be as simple as asking for advice from a trusted advisor from time to time. A formal relationship has structure, goals, and oversight. It will require regular/scheduled communication and evaluation. A formal relationship can decrease an employee’s learning curve and put them on a path to success.
GHIMA will be presenting a new and exciting platform to host mentor and mentee engagement. Are you interested in becoming a mentor or are you someone who is interested in being mentored (a mentee). Perhaps you are a recent graduate looking for advice. Are you committed to helping others as they start their career? Do you have questions or topics that you would like to discuss with others who are versed in the healthcare field? If so, the GHIMA Mentoring Program is for you. We are looking for professionals who want to be a mentor or mentee. Look for more information about the GHIMA Mentoring Program in next few weeks. If you have any questions about your career aspirations, setting career goals, professional trends, career direction and change management send them to: GHIMAMentoringCafe@gmail.com
Written by:
Adrienne Job, RHIA
Heather Gee, RHIT
Neisa Jenkins, EdD, RHIA, GHIMA Mentoring Program Chair
Reference:
1. Shea, G. F. (2001). Mentoring. Menlo Park, US: Course Technology / Cengage Learning. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com ​
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Social Media
Confidentiality versus the Booming Business of User Data
The world of HIM is steeped in education and emphasis on confidentiality of data that we work with daily. Penalties and fines for breaches are assured from our own credentialing organization, AHIMA, to the federal agency, Health and Human Services. On the other hand, if the data has been scrubbed of all protected health information, free data available for research abounds on public websites.
Did you know the data on your social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google is also available for research? These sites are free to us users, but why would Facebook pay $1 billion dollars for Instagram and its 30 million users if there was no financial gain. Have you heard the saying: If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product? Facebook can sell user data to data brokers such as Acxiom or they can be the de facto broker by helping their advertising partners improve the targeting of their ads to the right potential customer base. There is no shortage of demand for user data from both the private and public sector. For this reason, you are likely to hear another saying these days, “data is the new oil†(Simon, P. 2016, June 29).
For some interesting facts on privacy and free services, see this infographic courtesy of MBA@UNC: https://onlinemba.unc.edu/blog/data-brokers-infographic/
Simon, P. (2016, June 29). The booming business of user data. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/phil-simon/the-booming-business-of-u_b_10740634.html?
Marian Grier
Engage/Social Media Chair 2015-2016
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Student Advisory Council
At the dawn of its third year in existence, the GHIMA Student Advisory Council (SAC) serves to facilitate communication to the HIM student body and give GHIMA feedback regarding HIM student concerns or issues that need to be addressed. By doing so, we hope to develop a pipeline of students interested in participating in AHIMA on the national, state and regional levels. This will in turn build leadership skills in these students.
The SAC consists of at least one to two students from each HIM program in Georgia, whether they are on the AS, BS, or MS level, accredited or non-accredited. Ideally, we would like those students to spread their wings and create a student association or HIM club at their schools. These groups will bring future HIM professionals together to discuss important topics and report back to us - the GHIMA SAC.
Alan Soskel, RHIA and President-Elect of NGHIMA, will serve as Chair of the SAC. One of Alan’s major goals is to inform the HIM Program Directors in Georgia of the functions of the SAC and to encourage their participation in selecting students to become SAC members.
Therefore, our task at hand is to develop the 2016-2017 SAC by recruiting at least one to two students from each HIM program. Program Directors, we need your help! Please talk to your students at the very beginning of the Fall semester and provide the names of two students who are willing to serve on the SAC. They will enjoy the benefits of leadership development, project management experience, networking, and exposure to healthcare vendors. Please make every effort to provide these names by Aug 31, 2016, to alan@alan-soskel-rhia.com.
Students, if you are interested in serving on the SAC, ask your program director to recommend you to the council. Enthusiasm and passion for the profession are the only requirements! ​
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GHIMA Student Poster Completion
 GHIMA Student Poster Competition – this is imminent! The competition will be held on August 4th at the 2016 GHIMA Annual Meeting.
Guidelines
- Students must be registered and attending courses in one of the following GHIMA programs as listed on the GHIMA website: www.ghima.org/him-careers/colleges/
- Poster content must relate to a current HIM or HIT issue
- Poster size is limited to 36†x 48â€
- Poster delivery and setup is the responsibility of the registrant
- Only one entry per individual or group
- Individual or group must be present with poster and registered on 8/4/2016, no later than 12:00 PM at the Gwinnett Place Sonesta Hotel (2016 GHIMA Annual Meeting Site) GHIMA registration desk and be present during the 5-6 PM Q&A and judging timeframe.
SAC will offer the following great projects throughout the year to increase your chances for landing that important first job:
- Career Fair – bringing students together with healthcare vendors with jobs for HIM graduates
- Student Academy – a one-day boot camp covering a variety of career topics
- Scholarship Program – three scholarships awarded this year
If you have any questions or ideas to share, please contact alan@alan-soskel-rhia.com.
Alan Soskel, RHIA
SAC Coordinator 2016-2017 ​
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GHIMA Student Academy Is Another Success!
 The GHIMA Student Academy met on June 29, 2016, at Lanier Technical College. We had a well-attended meeting consisting of 29 attendees. We would love to thank the HIM program directors who gave extra credit to those students attending the Student Academy — thank you so much for supporting our event!
We started our program with an ice breaker activity where students had to get outside their comfort zone and meet other students. The students had to “scavenge†for students who possessed certain characteristics — someone who drives a red car, someone who has two pets, someone who was going to run the Peachtree Road Race. We had a lot of fun completing our scavenger activity.
Then we got down to business learning different strategies on how to prepare for the RHIT or RHIA certification examination. The students were then given a short mock certification examination to test their strong and weak areas. Please be sure and check out the “Light Bulbs Going Off†section where we share some of the questions we used in the mock examination.
Karen Howard, TCSG Curriculum Program Specialist and résumé extraordinaire, spoke to the students about résumé preparation and interviewing skills. After answering many questions from the students, Ms. Howard reviewed each résumé submitted and gave each student specific recommendations to make their résumés astounding.
After a delicious catered lunch, Ralph Morrison, Executive Director of GHIMA, informed the students of the many benefits of volunteering for GHIMA. Mr. Morrison explained how volunteering can broaden the student’s professional network, can provide the necessary educational opportunities to remain relevant in the student’s HIM career, and how volunteering is fun and helps create long lasting professional friendships.
Alan Soskel, NGHIMA President-Elect, then presented a calculated approach to finding your first job, how to use your time wisely, how to network effectively, and how to chart your progress in landing your first job. Mr. Soskel has expertly developed a method that maximizes the student’s time and financial investment in locating that important first job.
We ended the day with new friendships formed, new ideas to take back to the classroom, and the announcement regarding the GHIMA Student Poster Content. Program directors, be sure and inquire about the GHIMA Student Poster Contest that GHIMA will be conducting at the Annual Meeting on August 4. All of the details are on the home page of the GHIMA website promoting the Annual Meeting. This would be an excellent chance for your students to demonstrate new skills or concepts attained in your classroom — maybe it could be for a grade in your classroom, too!
Annette Baker, BS, RHIA, CPC-A
President-Elect, SAC Coordinator 2015-16 ​
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Warning… Light Bulbs Going Off… Warning
 Are you preparing for your certification examination? Here are a couple of brain teasers…
Reference: Carter, D., & Shaw, P. (2014). Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) Exam Preparation. Chicago: American Health Information Management (AHIMA).
- Another name for messaging standards is:
- Data exchange standards
- Vocabulary standards
- Data content standards
- Mapping standards
- A patient is brought to the emergency room with LLQ abdominal pain. It was suspected that the patient had appendicitis. The final diagnosis is, “Rule out acute appendicitis.†The accurate ICD-10-CM diagnosis is:
- Z03.89, Encounter for observation for other suspected diseases and conditions ruled out
- R10.32, Left Lower quadrant pain
- K35.80, Acute appendicitis
- R10.0, Acute abdomen
- Health Clinic ABC submits claims with codes at a higher level of service than what was documented. This is an act of fraud according to what law?
- Red Flags Rule
- HIPAA
- Coding Compliance Initiative
- False Claims Act
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Region Reports
Greater Atlanta Health Information Management Association
Greater Atlanta has had an exceptional year! The ability to remotely attend meetings via WebEx has been a great option for those who are not able to attend in person. The Board plans to continue offering a WebEx option. The annual meeting on May 13th at Wellstar Development Center was a great day for fellowship and learning.
Presentations covered the following topics:
- How ICD-10 and certified EHRs changed the transcription and coding market
- Workforce optimization apps to improve healthcare providers bottom line while maintaining service levels
- Importance of ICD-10 Z codes
- Introduction to project management
- Information governance
We hope that you can join us at our next meeting on September 9th at Gwinnett Technical College under our new region name of North Georgia Health Information Management Association (NGHIMA.)
Becky Lobdell, MBA, RHIA
President, GHIMA Greater Atlanta
Former South Georgia and Middle Georgia Health Information Management Associations Introduced the New
WEST GEORGIA HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION
The first meeting of the new association was held on July 15, 2016 at the Tift Regional Medical Center’s Regional Community Events Center.
As the former South Georgia Health Information Management Regional President, I had the opportunity to take part in a major change in the GHIMA regional structure, which I believe will bring forth a positive change to West Georgia. As a student, I didn’t fully realize the importance of being a volunteer and the impact that it would make in my life as a professional, but I must say, that being a member of the former SGHIMA and what has become the new WGHIMA, has truly given me strong insight in my role as an educator and professional. We all have special abilities and talents, and having the opportunity to be involved in a leadership group that inspires, challenges, and genuinely care about each other and the profession, makes me feel at home. I encourage each and every student or person that is contemplating about becoming part of this profession to make the step into a field that allows you to flourish in so many ways. It has been life-changing for me.
Latoya R. Dennard, RHIT
latoya.dennard@darton.edu
Augusta Area Health Information Management and Southeast Georgia Health Information Management Associations Merge
The Augusta Area Health Information Management Association held its fourth quarter meeting on May 13, 2016, in conjunction with the statewide WebEx review and voting on the proposed GHIMA bylaws related to the merger of the 6 regions down to 3. After the GHIMA business was concluded with the majority of members participating state-wide approving the changes, the local association received education credits from guest speakers, Kathy Alberson, GHIMA President, and Ralph Morrison, GHIMA Executive Director who provided an overall update on GHIMA activities for the year. In celebration of the final meeting under the AAHIMA name the board treated its members to a catered meal and door prizes.
Subsequent to the approved merger of the Southeast Georgia HIMA and the Augusta Area HIMA, officer ballots were provided via email to all members of the new East Georgia HIMA. Voting results are pending.​
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Newly Credentialed Members
Wow! During May and June this year, there were 40 GHIMA Members to achieve new credentials. Congratulations for your accomplishment and professional achievement. The distribution of new credentials is:
- 9 CCA
- 10 CCS
- 1 CCS-P
- 1 CHPS
- 2 RHIA
- 17 RHIT
The complete list may be viewed by clicking here.
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Other Potentially Useful Links
Georgia Department of Community Health
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
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