Health Information Profession Evolution

The Health Information profession is evolving more and more every day. Technology is
due to some of the changes made in this profession. Along with the improvements and the
implementations of newer technology in the healthcare field, comes evolution of the HIMs role.
Some of the technology that is being implemented are computer-assisted coding (CAC), voicerecognition software, and health information exchange. These examples, as well as others, are
causing the HIM role to evolve with the change in order to meet the newer demands for the
knowledge and skills needed to tackle the issues that may arise from them and in order to be able
to apply the technology to everyday use in the workplace.
Computer-assisted coding is a tool for coders to aid them in scanning documents,
emphasizing pertinent information, and suggesting codes. In scanning documents into the EHR,
the CAC identifies key terminology and suggests codes, to be reviewed by a human coder, for
that particular treatment or service. CAC streamlines the access and viewing of EHR documents
which eliminates coders having to access multiple systems in order to retrieve the necessary
documents for coding. Utilizing CAC, the average coder productivity has improved 20 to 40
percent.
Health information exchange is a plan in which health information is shared among
providers. The purpose is to improve the availability of a patients personal health information at
the point of care. This technology allows a much faster way to share a patients medical
information with other providers, as opposed to mailing or faxing the information. By improving
the decision making of the provider in regards to a patients care, HIE reduces readmissions,
medication errors, improves diagnoses, and decrease duplicate testing. According to
HealthIT.gov, there are currently three key forms of HIE. The first, Directed Exchange, has the

ability to send and receive secure information electronically between care providers to support
coordinated care. Next is Query-based Exchange, which has the ability for providers to find
and/or request information on a patient from other providers, and is often used for unplanned
care. Last is Consumer Mediated Exchange, which has the ability for patients to aggregate and
control the use of their health information among providers.
Voice recognition software, also referred to as speech recognition technology (SRT), is a
hands-free way of typing that works by analyzing sounds and converting them into text. It
allows the physician to meet the increasing demand for complete documentation in a timely
manner by converting speech-to-text to provide a more legible, comprehensive document. SRT
can aid physicians and transcriptionists in becoming more productive in the documentation
process and to keep up with the pace of increasing demands. SRT can improve the delay in
transcription from the 24 to 48 hour range to minutes. It can also improve the decrease the
amount of time it may take for information to be made available to other healthcare providers.
A data quality managers job used to only entail focusing on the quality of coding and
reimbursement. As the usage of technology increases, the role of the data quality manager must
begin to embrace the tools of data capture, statistical analyses, trending, along with surveillance
and graphics to present data mining results. Medical Informatics is an emerging field that used
to consists of physicians, engineers, and other seeking improvements in health information
technology applications. It is now embracing HIM professionals at the graduate level. This
profession explores technology and data standards for advanced systems design as well as the
data management requirements. This field is expanding into health informatics and public health
informatics. Health informatics focuses more on being organized and standardized health

information while public health informatics focuses on the standards, technology and
information needs of our public health system.
Another emerging role is the clinical documentation coordinator. This coordinator needs
to have a strong working knowledge of coding requirements, education established in medical
science, united with excellent communication skills with an aspiration to improve and educate
the documentation behavior of clinical staff. This professional is responsible for conducting
reviews of the medical record and sometimes serves as a liaison to the medical staff to ensure
that the medical record is complete and accurate. This specialist identifies potential gaps in
clinical documentation and focuses on patient safety.
Also, with the increasing need to protect patients privacy of their personal health
information, there is an increasing need for privacy and compliance officers. Due to HIPAA
privacy requirements, this role has increased focus on communication, policies, procedures and
training of a health care organizations entire workforce. A compliance officer examines,
evaluates, and investigates eligibility for or conformity with laws and regulations governing
compliance. A privacy officer provides oversight for the implementation and maintenance of the
Health Management Compliance and HIPAA programs. EHRs have changed the role of the
privacy officer by needing them to add technology expertise to their list of skills. In addition,
with the use of mobile devices and social media allowing for medical records to become more
accessible, there is an increased need to increase security of information.

References
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Crawford, Mark. "Truth about Computer-Assisted Coding: A Consultant, HIM Professional, and
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Dimick, Chris. "Health Information Management 2025: Current Health IT Revolution
Drastically Changes HIM in The Near Future." Journal of AHIMA 83, no.8 (August
2012): 24-31.
Embracing the Future: New Times, New Opportunities for Health Information Managers. (n.d.).
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