HIP Week Celebrates the Evolution of HIM

According to dictionary.com, adaptation can be defined as the ability of a species to survive in a particular ecological niche, especially because of alterations of form or behavior.

There are many reasons to celebrate Health Information Management professionals but perhaps one often overlooked is their ability to adapt to the ever-changing healthcare industry and its ever-evolving regulatory requirements. Over the course of the last five years, the Health Information Management industry has undergone significant transformation. Initiatives such as EMR transition, ICD-10, and Meaningful Use have stolen the limelight, but it's important to acknowledge the underlying goals of each of these initiatives: privacy and security.

Just a few years ago, the government released the HITECH Act, to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology. The act called for an overhaul to our health information infrastructure and strengthened the civil and criminal enforcement of HIPAA rules. As a result, Health Information Management professionals were forced to change the way they work, think, communicate, and interact in fact, thanks to the new rules, their organizations' reputations and wallets depended on it. Only three short years later, the government followed up with the release of the HIPAA Omnibus Rule.

The intent of the Omnibus Rule is to provide greater clarity and accountability around the HIPAA Privacy, Security, Enforcement, and Breach Notification Rules. However, with its call for patient access to electronic health information, direct liability for business associates, and a tiered penalty structure for non compliance, amongst other things, the Omnibus Rule, does much more. It essentially changes the game. The rule forces Health Information Management professionals to, once again, re-evaluate and adapt systems and processes to align with more clearly defined regulatory requirements. It also makes one thing very clear: the regulations may continue to evolve but the focus on privacy and security is here to stay.

In this new world, of heightened security and maturing definitions of what good looks like, the aptitude of Health Information Management professionals' to quickly adapt and cleanly execute has become critical to each healthcare organization's ability to comply and, ultimately, survive in today's competitive environment. Whether re-engineering processes to fully realize EMR transition efficiency gains, positioning the organization to meet meaningful use requirements and achieve government incentives eligibility, or thwarting the threat of PHI breaches and associated monetary penalties, Health Information Management professionals have been, and will continue, to be the foundation of the healthcare industry's information evolution.

Recommended Resources to learn more About HIPAA's Omnibus Rule check out AHIMA's details analysis.

LINK:	http://blog.ironmountain.com/2013/healthcare-information-management/hi...
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