AHIMA: Focus on managing data

The use of healthcare data is improving healthcare and reconfiguring health information management (HIM) departments, according to an article in the September issue of Journal of AHIMA.

"Healthcare's Data Revolution," explains how only payers were able to tap into volumes of healthcare data in the past but now providers can use the information to the advantage of their patients. Many organizations are using predictive analytics to improve care and avoid penalties related to hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions. Data are being used in population health management; for example, looking at disease patterns or genetics to identify habits or traits that make people healthier or unhealthier.

Personalized medicine is an evolving area of healthcare that uses data about an individual's biology or disease or condition, as well as targeted therapies and drugs.

As the demand for data expands, HIM professionals will increasingly be called upon to harness data's power, explain their context and help to ensure their integrity. These professionals face the following challenges, according to the article:

• Data must be de-identified to protect health information
• Managing the growing volume of data and determining how to access the most meaningful elements
• Ensuring data integrity so that the data are correct
• As system and code set changes occur, HIM professionals must ensure the data are mapped correctly

"In today's unprecedented climate of exponential data growth, HIM professionals are well situated to drive information governance and contribute to sound decision-making through analytics and decision support,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE.  “As the demand for their skills increases, AHIMA members have a great opportunity to realize our goal of creating health intelligence to lower costs and improve patient care."

Access the complete article here.