November 15, 2008
Health Information Services staff. From left to right: Stella Wasuli, Kelly Lewis, Teddy Wassillie Jr, Lisa Carl & son, Nicole Carl, Michael Hanes, Shirley Waipa, Shawn Soots, Sonya Noes, Iona Sallison, Gzime Saliu, Josephine Typpo, Rebecca Tunuchuk, Sonya Augustine, and Lucy David. Not pictured: Olga Nick, Martha Charlie, Rita Crook, Ann Keene, and Helen Levshakoff.
Health Information & Technology Week celebrates Medical Records staff
YKHC's Health Information Services (HIS) Dept, also known as Medical Records, observed National Health Information & Technolgy (HI&T) Week Nov. 2-8. HIS has the very important job of holding and protecting your charts and medical records.
Medical Records Manager Iona Sallison says, "HI&T week is a time when we can get together to do training, reconnect as a staff, and celebrate our profession." Sallison included her staff in informational activities throughout the week, culminating in a staff potluck.
There has been considerable news over the past few years about the electronic health record-which is an individual patient's medical record in digital format. HI&T week offers an opportunity to learn about and discuss the issues surrounding a shift from paper records to computer files, according to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), which sponsors HI&T week. The issues go well beyond development of the technology itself to those of privacy and integrity of patient records. YKHC is developing ways to use digitally stored health information to improve patient care effectively and safely.
"Regardless of how the information is collected, a patient's health record continues to evolve and provide the basis for quality patient care by providing timely, accurate information for clinical care providers." writes Lou Ann Wiedemann for AHIMA.
YKHC's HIS Dept. held a series of informational meetings during HI&T Week, covering such topics as ethics, consumerism and how the department ties into the revenue cycle as a vital link in the corporation's financial health.
"At the AHIMA national convention last month, they had a special guest who talked about consumerism," said Sallison, "so I shared some of that kind of information with my staff. My favorite activity was the one where we learned about personality and communication styles to help us work together better as a team."
The theme for this year's event was, "The Strength of Technology, The Power of Care," reinforcing how health information management and technology help healthcare professionals make important, and sometimes life-saving, decisions.
"It is impossible to separate the vital importance of health information and technology in American healthcare and the serious work of reforming our healthcare system," said AHIMA CEO Linda Kloss, MS, RHIA. "We are committed to improving the health information system for better care."
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