Department roles - Assignment Example

Department Roles THESIS MENT The assignment is based on defining the roles of Health Information Management (HIM) department. Furthermore, the assignment also illuminates the organizational chart of a typical HIM. ROLES IN HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT (HIM) DEPARTMENTHealthcare organizations are undergoing change from fee-for-service to value-oriented delivery. At the same time, evolution of electronic health records is rapidly replacing the legacy of paper records. The increasing volume of electronic information along with growing demand of data accessibility demands extensive role for HIM.

HIM is historically being engaged with managing health records. Present HIM departments provide much more facility than historical counterparts. HIM allows organization to leverage the existing resources into extensive opportunities for development. HIM functionalities can develop financial and medical performance and also reinforce the overall obedience with rules, regulations and standards. To be precise, the key roles of HIM in an organization are:To maintain official medical record policies and forms containing documentation as well as formats for medical records of both active and discharged clients of varied organizations To publish information and instruct the staff members regarding organizational policies, procedures and expectations about medical records To store, protect and provide access to the medical records of discharged clients according to related regulations, guidelines, policies and standardsTo appraise and audit hospitals’ medical records, comprising assessment of records of every active and discharged clients To recognize prospects for development in compliance with the established medical record procedures and standards To code every diagnosis and medical information of clients for the purpose of billing as well as managing organizational information system To provide medical record of clients to every physician along with other professional employees when required To deliver support for reliability of information, comprising authentication of daily registration of clients, observation of information regarding every admission of clients and analysis of data entry errors To deliver relevant client demographic and medical information to the selected rehabilitation agencies for facilitating follow-up and continuity of clients’ healthcare To offer an effective clinical communication and healthcare planning method by describing appropriate documents To arrange essential documents when clients are moved to other healthcare facilityTo administer the privacy, security and integrity healthcare record and encourage organizations to meet applicable regulations along with policies Source: (Central State Hospital, “Health Information Management (HIM)”) Modern HIM department continues to manage medical records or functions of information collection, information discharge and information storage.

Modern HIM department is a completely integrated section, which takes into concern certain significant aspects like coding, situation management, operation review, medical record management, internal along with external audits and traditional HIM activities under one single umbrella. It would be vital to mention in this similar concern that modern HIM leverages natural interactions and improves overall communication associated with medical records along with medical procedures. HIM serves as a source of business record for healthcare organizations and assists in making effective decisions.

Furthermore, HIM department also assists in educating physicians regarding improvement in medical practices (Hathorn and Thomas, “Leveraging Your HIM Department: The Compliance Connection”). ORGANISATIONAL CHART OF HIMHIM department is generally comprised of long hierarchical structure. At the top of the department is the Chief Medical Director who oversees all the operations of HIM. Under the Director, there lay operational assistants and compliance coordinators as well as managers performing diversified roles and duties.

Following is the organizational structure of a HIM department. Source: (Hathorn and Thomas, “Leveraging Your HIM Department: The Compliance Connection”)Works Cited“Health Information Management (HIM).” Central State Hospital. n.d. Web. 26 Jun. 2014. . Hathorn, Patsy and Eugenia Stark Thomas. Leveraging Your HIM Department: The Compliance Connection. From Audit to Action: Tips for Managing the Organization’s Response, n.d. Web. 26 Jun. 2014. .