The December 2016 Department Discovery shines a light on Campbell County
Health’s
Health Information Services Department.
Health Information Services (HIS), or more commonly referred to as Medical
Records, is dedicated to providing prompt processing of all medical record
requests while ensuring that all medical information is disclosed in accordance
with federal and state laws.
HIS Director Kim Johnson says, “We maintain accurate confidential
records for patients who have been treated at CCMH and Campbell County
Health services.” Kim is a Registered Health Information Administrator,
which means that she has a bachelor’s degree in health information,
and maintains 30 continuing education credits every two years in health
information to stay certified.
Patients most commonly come to the HIS department to receive a copy of
his or her medical record or ask that a copy be sent to a new doctor.
For those who don’t know, medical records maintained by the hospital
are confidential and legal documents that cannot be disclosed to anyone
without the consent of the patient. To make it easy for patients of CCMH
and the Campbell County Medical Group Clinics to access their medical
records, you can sign up for their online medical record systems called
My Health Home—providing secure access to your personal health information quickly
and at your fingertips 24-hours a day. There may be a charge for some
medical records.
The department of 15 is absolutely committed to maintaining all individual’s
right to confidentiality when processing and releasing Protected Health
Information (PHI). “I have some really long-time employees—some
have been in Health Information Services for 20 or 30 years,” says
Kim. And, the majority of those employees have certifications for their
positions. Positions in the HIS department include:
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Analyst Clerks, who are often registered health information technicians, which means
they have earned an Associate’s degree and have passed a national
exam. These individuals take orders from doctors and review them to make
sure they are complete – signed, dated, have a diagnosis and make
sure that the tests the doctor has ordered for the patient are complete
and included in the order. They also release records to patients. At this
HIS office, they have a goal of having everything out the door within
five days, but the average turnaround time is just two days! And, from
January 2-December 19, 2016, analysts in the office released nearly 20,500
thousand records!
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Transcriptionists, who convert voice-recorded reports dictated by doctors or other healthcare
professionals, into text format to be included in the patient’s
medical record.
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Coders, who take the patient’s diagnosis, procedures, medical services,
and equipment and translate them into universal medical alphanumeric codes
(ICD 10) for billing and reporting purposes.
The HIS department has been at the forefront of a very large project in
the hospital for the past year—launching and adapting a new Electronic
Health Record (EHR) system. These EHRs allow patient’s medical records
to be more easily transferred to other health care systems when needed.
They are also helping the
CCMH Radiology Department get a new medical record system going this year as well.
“I do have to say that I’m quite blessed to work with my team.
The majority of individuals help one another out whenever help is needed.
I work with a great group of people,” says Kim.
A big round of applause to the Health Information Services staff! Thank
you for all that you do for keeping our community safe.