Health information managers (HIMs) occupy a critical role in every healthcare organization. HIMs are tasked with organizing, protecting, and overseeing the use of health information data (Williams, 2017). The health data ranges from medical histories to symptoms, testing procedures and results, diagnoses, appointments, and treatment plans (Tulu et al., 2021). Their primary focus is to maintain and assure the data’s security, accuracy, integrity, quality, and accessibility (Williams, 2017). Therefore, HIMs connect patients to physicians, nurses, other care professionals, and third-party payers, such as insurance companies. Failure to hire the HIM or create an HIM office would put health information at risk of loss, duplication, and interference (Tulu et al., 2021). In addition, healthcare professionals will be forced to spend considerable time away from patient care to handle the electronic health records (EHR) systems (Rathert et al., 2019). For example, doctors must compile, protect, and organize sensitive, confidential records of their patients. Hiring an HIM gives physicians and other care professionals ample time to concentrate on their core activities, increasing patient safety and hospital ratings (Fenton et al., 2017). HIMs will also ensure compliance with data privacy laws, such as HIPAA and HITECH, within the hospital.
Compliance with meaningful use and the current incentive program is a vital role of the HIM. Firstly, the manager must ensure the privacy and security of the patient health information (PHI) while facilitating access to improve patient care quality (Williams, 2017). HIPAA dictates the guidelines and principles that HIMs can implement to maintain PHI accessibility, integrity, and confidentiality (Rathert et al., 2019). Interoperability is at the center of compliance as data must be available for individual care needs and population-based use. For example, coding information is essential in interoperability, as all information must match standards, such as the HIPAA ICD-10 (Rathert et al., 2019). Therefore, HIMs will prevent missteps and eliminate obstacles in transitioning from one code to another.
Adopting health information systems (HIT) without the guidance and support of a certified HIM is a daunting task. Research has shown that slow adoption is mostly observed in organizations with limited resources who cannot afford an HIM. The HIM’s ability and skills in consulting, negotiating with vendors, and training end-users are pivotal in quickly achieving over 75% compliance (Rathert et al., 2019). Therefore, the information manager will hasten the adoption of the HIT process and, hence, compliance (Fenton et al., 2017). HIMs can support collaborative governance through active participation in decision-making over HIT. The organization will contribute to governing principles through their representative to formulate relevant and practical approaches in compliance.
There are financial impacts associated with creating the HIM office. The position of health information manager has a median annual salary of $44,000 (Williams, 2017). However, the exact salary costs will depend on the company’s job structure, management roles of the HIM, and job market dynamics (Williams, 2017). Other costs would be incurred through fines imposed and Medicare deductions for violating the meaningful use program. Failure to meet meaningful use will attract a 1% deduction from Medicare reimbursements and continue to increase every year of noncompliance to 5% (Rathert et al., 2019). A health information manager will ensure that the health provider is fully compliant and avoid penalties (Fenton et al., 2017). In addition, demonstrating compliance will attract financial incentives, which are reduced in the slow adoption of EHR. Therefore, the manager will procure certified IT software and follow the legally recommended reporting schedule to avoid these costs while attracting rewards.
In conclusion, the post of an HIM is essential and critical in ensuring compliance with meaningful use. The organization will achieve the required implementation levels of electronic medical records. In addition to avoiding penalties, the hospital will gain rewards in terms of incentives promised by the government. Since physicians do not have to worry about data accuracy, integrity, and other processes, they will concentrate on their core duties at the hospital, improving the quality of care. Training other personnel to utilize EHR will be easier and cheaper than enlisting such services from external sources with an onsite HIM. The HIM also allows the hospital to impact policy changes in HIT by participating in governance decision-making. Since HIM has a broad understanding of computer systems, negotiating with vendors will provide cost-effective solutions to the hospital. If the organization does not employ an information manager, it stands to lose these benefits and incur unprecedented costs in the areas.
References
Fenton, S. H., Low, S., Abrams, K. J., & Butler-Henderson, K. (2017). Health information management: Changing with time. Yearbook of Medical Informatics, 26(01), 72-77. Web.
Rathert, C., Porter, T. H., Mittler, J. N., & Fleig-Palmer, M. (2019). Seven years after Meaningful Use: Physicians and nurses’ experiences with electronic health records. Health Care Management Review, 44(1), 30-40. Web.
Tulu, G., Demie, T. G., & Tessema, T. T. (2021). Barriers and associated factors to the use of routine health information for decision-making among managers working at public hospitals in North Shewa Zone of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia: A mixed-method study. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 13, 157. Web.
Williams, F. (2017). Health information management and the healthcare institution. In M. A. Skurka (Ed.), Health information management: Principles and organization for health information services (6th ed, pp. 1-24). John Wiley & Sons.