HIM Advocacy Day 2016

Mark your calendars for our third annual HIM Advocacy Day: October 4, 2017!

This past autumn, on Wednesday, October 5th, 47 HIM professionals arrived at the Ohio Statehouse to advocate for Health Information Management at the second annual HIM Advocacy Day. 

After a training session, advocates broke into groups to meet with 21 different state legislative offices!  During these appointments, advocates discussed hot topics of HIM such as telemedicine, EAPGs and the support of HIM and HIT college programs in Ohio to support the rapidly growing healthcare field. 

In addition to meeting with legislators, the agenda also consisted of some fabulous presentations.  Hayden Pritchard and Jennifer Edlind from US Acute Care Solutions discussed hot topics in healthcare privacy and security.  Dr. Matthew Fairman shared how Cleveland Clinic is handling telemedicine and distance health at the Cleveland Clinic.  Robin Canowitz and Liam Gruzs, two attorneys from Vorys, shared their expertise on patient requests for medical records in Ohio – which was especially interesting after the OIG’s released their clarification on charging for medical record requests in the Spring.  Amy Andres from the Ohio Hospital Association talked about how Ohio hospitals are using coding and billing data to reduce sepsis mortality. 

Here’s what some of our advocates had to say about the event:

We had such a great day! … Being my first time ever at an OHIMA advocacy day, I was a little nervous and not sure what to expect. … It was very interesting and a great experience for us. The presentations were very enjoyable and overall it was an excellent networking opportunity.
Heather Clark, CCS

The speakers were very informative!
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Although I was nervous I enjoyed meeting with the reps.
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AHIMA has their annual Advocacy Summit in the Spring.  This is the national version of Ohio's Advocacy Day, where you are able to meet and establish a relationship with the U.S. Senators and Representatives on their home turf in Washington D.C.

Thank you to all who participated in Ohio’s advocacy event!   Don’t miss out on being an advocate for HIM – it’s a memorable, informative and fun activity.  Please mark your calendars for this year’s HIM Advocacy Day, which will take place on October 4, 2017 at the Ohio Statehouse.  Watch the OHIMA website for more details.