Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on HIM Professionals in a Rural State.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly disrupted the healthcare industry, impacting health information professionals through facility changes, remote work, shifting priorities, and personal stressors. This study explores the impacts of these disruptions on health information professionals in a rural state. Participants indicated involvement in expanding and new responsibilities related to tracing and data collection, the expansion of telehealth services, and disaster planning. Their work was impacted by facility closures and suspended services, an increase in remote work, increased communications during the pandemic, and the shift to virtual continuing education. As with much of society, many participants also experienced worsening mental well-being, social wellness, and stress related to a variety of factors. Despite the stress and uncertainty, participants also found inspiration in the pandemic, taking time to reprioritize, connect with others, and find strength in human resilience.

STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF AN UNDERGRADUATE INTERPROFESSIONAL CAPSTONE COURSE INCLUDING HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT.

As the healthcare industry continues to push for better patient care at a lower cost, it is essential that healthcare professionals develop skills in collaboration and teamwork. These skills should be practiced by students in post-secondary institutions, as they also learn to master content and technical skills. Participation of health information management (HIM) students in such activities helps to promote the value of HIM on the healthcare team. This study provides an example of integrating undergraduate HIM students into an interprofessional capstone course with other healthcare majors, summarizing student perceptions of learning activities in applying interprofessional education competencies. The results indicate a positive student perception of activities supporting application of at least three of the four competencies. Comments also highlight the struggles students have with group work, particularly in virtual teams. Sharing these activities and perceptions may contribute to further integration of undergraduate HIM students in interprofessional learning opportunities.

ICD-10-CM/PCS: transferring knowledge from ICD-9-CM.

The transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS has expanded educational opportunities for educators and trainers who are taking on the responsibility of training coders on the new system. Coding education currently faces multiple challenges in the areas of how to train the new workforce, what might be the most efficient method of providing that training, how much retraining of the current workforce with ICD-9-CM training will be required, and how to meet the national implementation deadline of 2014 in the most efficacious manner. This research sought to identify if there was a difference between a group of participants with no knowledge of ICD-9-CM and those with some knowledge of ICD-9-CM in scores on an ICD-10-CM/PCS quiz. Results indicate a difference, supporting the idea of knowledge transfer between the systems and providing additional insight into coding education.