Health Information Management Association of Australia Limited
ABN 54 008 451 910 RTO ID 91660
Annual Report for the Financial Year 2015 - 2016
October 2016
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...... 3 From the President...... 4 From the CEO...... 8 2016 HIMAA Membership Survey...... 14 FINANCIAL REPORT...... 17 EDUCATION SERVICES...... 23 IMIT and PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERVICES...... 24 COMMITTEES OF THE HIMAA BOARD...... 26 Clinical Coding Advisory Committee...... 26 Conference Committee...... 27 Editorial Board...... 27 Education Committee...... 28 Practice Quality and Safety Standards Committee...... 30 Research Advisory Committee...... 31 HIMAA BRANCHES AND NETWORKS...... 32 Capital Region ...... 32 New South Wales ...... 33 Queensland ...... 35 South Australia...... 36 Tasmania ...... 37 HIMAA BOARD WORKING GROUPS...... 39 Positioning and Advocacy Working Group...... 39 Workforce Working Group...... 40 SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS...... 41 National Private Hospitals...... 41 NSW Private Hospitals...... 41 Rural and Remote...... 43 Scanning and eHealth...... 44 Victorian Chief HIM...... 44 Victorian Mental Health...... 45 REPRESENTATIVES...... 46 CHIA...... 46 HL7...... 47 IFHIMA...... 47
2 About HIMAA
The Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) is the professional association for health information management professionals in Australia. Our members work in a variety of roles within and supporting the healthcare system, with primary occupations being qualified Health Information Managers (HIMs) and Clinical Coders. HIMAA recognises that the health information management profession is broader than HIMAA itself. However, HIMAA considers itself to be the key influencer and definer of the profession. We have been serving the profession in various iterations since 1949.
HIMAA is a not for profit organisation governed by a Board of Directors who are HIMAA members. The Association has a national office in Sydney, staffed to deliver functionality in operationalising the HIMAA Vision, Mission and Strategic Plan in accordance with HIMAA Values.
Our peer-reviewed journal, the Health Information Management Journal, is the only academic health information management journal in the world to achieve an international Thomson Reuters impact rating and DOI (digital object identifier) international citation referencing. HIMJ’s sister Journal, HIM Interchange, provides practice-based analysis and case studies for members of the profession. Our Australian Dictionary of Clinical Abbreviations, Acronyms & Symbols is the industry’s authoritative text. HIMAA relies on the volunteer contribution of members to achieve its objectives and deliver organisational governance. Membership support is provided at the local level through networking and continuing professional development (CPD) provided by State and Territory branches and networks, and nationally through our annual conference, which is of international standing. We are the major provider of education and training for Clinical Coders in Australia, and the national authority for the accreditation of HIM tertiary courses. Our Professional Credentialing Scheme offers practitioner quality assurance to the profession and employers. Our Clinical Coder Certification is the industry’s advanced standard. HIMAA also attracts members from a number of other countries, including New Zealand. Vision HIMAA positions the profession to foster leadership in health information best practice to support quality healthcare.
Mission HIMAA promotes and supports our members as the universally recognised specialists in information management at all levels of the healthcare system. We do this through positioning and advocacy, education and training, quality standards, publications and resources, and HIMAA membership networking activities at local and national levels, including an annual national conference of international standing. Values
Member Focus We exist because of and for our members, offering them value in products, services, networking, advocacy and support
Professionalism We provide high quality, ethical services based on well-informed judgement and expert knowledge of the Health Information domain
Ethical Practice We are ethical in all of our operations and are good stewards of our resources
Equity We are equitable in the provision of services to our members, and treat everyone with respect
This Annual Report for the 2015-16 Financial Year was distributed to the 51st Annual General Meeting of the Association, held in Melbourne on 10 November 2016. 3 FROM THE PRESIDENT
It has been an honour to serve as your President over the last twelve months. As I took over from Immediate Past President Sallyanne Wissmann in November 2015, I knew that the work she and the HIMAA Board had commenced needed to continue, especially in the areas of increased member engagement, positioning and advocacy, education and the emerging workforce issues which have risen in ranking as a top priority for our profession’s two key occupations of Health Information Manager and Clinical Coder.
MEMBERSHIP INVOLVEMENT
HIMAA members have come together through committees, special interest groups and working groups to implement our 2014-2016 Strategic Plan and, as this comes to its end this year, your Board is now embarking on the development of a five year strategic plan to commence in 2017 and see us through to 2022. The new plan will be informed by the triennial HIMAA membership survey undertaken in May 2016, feedback from committees, working groups, special interest groups, branches and the Strategic Review Working Group co-chaired by Sallyanne Wissmann and Alicia Cook, with Board members and the Chairs of the Education Committee and the Workforce Working Group as members.
I cannot thank those HIMAA members enough who put up their hands to help shape HIMAA over the last three years. We are a membership organisation and are here to respond to our members, however the HIMAA Board needs all members to engage in whatever way they can to allow us to be responsive and ensure the growth of the organisation. HIMAA will continue to put out expressions of interest for member engagement and though I appreciate the enormity of some of your roles, I ask that you bring to the table your skills and expertise which may require input into a report, sitting on a working group, involvement in your local branch, applying for a position on a HIMAA Board Committee or becoming a Board member.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CREDENTIALING
I also call members to seriously consider enrolling in HIMAA’s professional credentialing scheme which was re-launched last year. In response to a standing question in our survey on HIMAA members’ motivation for membership, results show this remains similar in the 2013 and 2016 surveys. Your priorities include being kept informed of industry developments, supporting the profession, access to our publications, professional development, interaction with other HIM professionals; networking, career opportunities and local activities.
As the above motivations have been clearly articulated by our membership, the credentialing of you as a professional flows straight from this list. Your attendance at the HIMAA National Conference ticks so many of the boxes straight away, writing an article for our journals, attending a professional development event, serving on your branch, a committee, Special Interest Group, Working Group, taking part in HIMAA’s online education offerings on Database Fundamentals, HL7 and SNOMED CT are all ways to meet your motivation for membership.
A Certified Health Information Manager (CHIM) or Certified Health Information Practionier (CHIP) post nominal may not be compulsory in applying for a job or advancing your career YET but as our workforce starts to reshape itself, in the onslaught of the digital revolution we are already experiencing we all need to be workforce ready and informed through our own professional offerings, most of which have been developed over the last twelve months and can be found on the HIMAA website.
In light of the above statement may I direct you to our new and improved HIMAA website which includes under the publications drop down: The latest edition of the Journal, HIM Interchange, HIMAA Matters The Australian Dictionary of Clinical Abbreviations, Acronyms and Symbols edited by Joanne Williams
4 The First Fifty Years of HIMAA written by Professor Phyllis Watson AM The Health Information Workforce Summit Report 2015 HIMAA Professional Practice Guidelines – Practice Quality and Safety Committee Positioning and Advocacy Toolkit – Positioning and Advocacy Working Group All these publications are there for you to use in your work and the development of your career. These are for your use as members’ for HIMAA has been listening and trying to respond to the refrain “what is in it (membership) for me”, a sad statement for me as sometimes we need to do things that are for the greater good and our own development.
POSITIONING AND ADVOCACY
The Positioning and Advocacy work being undertaken on behalf of the membership has seen HIMAA develop strong ties with organisations in the form of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs). I am delighted to have been involved in the signing of these which include MoUs with the Australasian College of Heath Informatics (ACHI), the Australian Library and Information Association, Health Libraries Australia Special Interest Group (ALIA/HLA), and the National Centre for Classification in Health (NCCH) and more recently the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA ).
These alliances are not just photo opportunities; they signify the importance of HIMAA recognising and engaging effectively with key stakeholders. The addition of these four to our already existing MoU with the Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA) strengthens our engagement with our key stakeholders.
EDUCATION
Education has continued to increase in interest to the HIMAA Board. We are very fortunate to have the skills and expertise of some very experienced educators to help us in our deliberations as members of the Board. Vera Dimitropoulos and Dr Kerryn Butler-Henderson, as well as the Education Committee chaired by Board member Cassandra Jordan, and the Education Committee Tertiary Education Subcommittee (TESC), have been in robust discussions around competencies, university accreditation and workforce.
In the meantime, our Clinical Coding Advisory Committee has worked with our Education Committee on the redevelopment of Clinical Coding Competency Standards for HIMAA.
The health information workforce (HIW) as we know it today may not be the workforce of the future and we look forward to the follow up HIW Summit in Melbourne with industry leaders to better understand how employers can support the development of the future HIW in cooperation with HIMAA and our peak HIW partners.
As your President I feel strongly that we need to make sure our two occupations of Health Information Manager and Clinical Coder are ready to respond to the future workforce needs and ensure role substitution is avoided as new occupations appear in our space, such as health informatics, clinical documentation specialists, privacy officers and automated clinical coding enter the conversation. The core competencies of HIMs as subject matter experts in the flow of health information from primary, acute, community, consumers and all other areas of care will remain the same and will be the major indicator of our difference in better outcomes for the health of Australians.
I look forward to continued discussions around education as the tertiary sector tackles the education needs of our important workforce.
RESEARCH
Where would HIMAA be without its flagship international academic journal, the Health Information Management Journal? Last year Immediate Past President Sallyanne Wissmann reported that the HIMJ had broken through the international Thompson Reuters Impact Factor barrier with a
5 rating of 1.154 – the only international HIM journal to so achieve. This year HIMAA’s Editorial Board has taken HIMJ to the next international level – external online publication with SAGE Publishing. This additional global reach will attract even higher quality research articles and further position our academic flagship around the world.
This move has enabled the separation of HIMJ and our practice-based journal HIM Interchange. The latter has now formed its own Sub-Committee of the Editorial Board and HIM-I is available to members in four formats – flip book, online PDF, HTML newsletter and hard copy. See the Editorial Board’s report below.
In the meantime, in the past year our Research Working Group’s response to Strategic Plan Priority 1.5 has been so comprehensive that their work plan has warranted their elevation to full committee status. The resulting Research Advisory Committee will, amongst other things, hold a workshop for members interested in research at this year’s HIMAA NCCH Conference for the third year in a row. See their report below also.
INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE
Since Australia became the fourth sponsoring nation of the then International Congress of Medical Record Librarians in 1956, Australia has had a strong presence on the International stage. This is demonstrated through the leadership of Sallyanne Wissmann as a member of the International Federation of Health Information Management Association (IFHIMA) Executive Board in her role as Director Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific region, as well as Australia.
I offer Sallyanne my congratulations as she completes her term with IFHIMA and I congratulate Vera Dimitropoulos who was elected as Director of the Western Pacific and member of the IFHIMA Executive Board at the October IFHIMA Congress held in Tokyo, Japan in October 2016.
I was also very pleased to see the reverence shown to Professor Phyllis Watson AM at the International Conference as she moved around and engaged so many from Australia and around the world. Phyllis’s contribution to building our International reputation can only be admired. The term “jewel in our crown” comes to mind. The Tokyo Congress of IFHIMA in October of this year was a great success in terms of the involvement of Australians, many of whom were there with the WHO Family of International Classifications (WHO–FIC) and many who were there to present papers at the IFHIMA Congress and conduct ICD-11 workshops. It was very difficult to get to listen to all the Australians who were presenting as there were so many, and our presence at the Gala Dinner was celebrated with a group photo, the envy of many a country in attendance.
It was also pleasing that the HIMAA Board were able to support Dr Kerryn Butler-Henderson, a Board Director and member of our Workforce Working Group, on her way to Tokyo as we asked her to stop over in Singapore to attend the eHealth Innovations Summit 2016 in Singapore.
The wealth of information and knowledge gained from our presence internationally cannot be stressed enough and as your Board President I was so proud to see so many of our colleagues leading the discussions in eHealth, Classification, Education, the role of HIM in research, preventable hospitalisations, the My Health Record in Australia, Information Governance, rural challenges, all with confidence and aplomb, and the respect shown to us by the international delegates was very warming.
THE HIMAA BOARD
Directorship on the HIMAA Board cannot be taken lightly as each and every Director commits their time, their knowledge and their expertise to shaping the future of HIMAA. In 2015 Sallyanne Wissmann stepped down from the Board after a period of six years. In that time Sallyanne worked tirelessly as a Director, Committee Chair and President and she has been a great supporter and mentor to me over the last twelve months. Sallyanne however continues to support HIMAA as Co-
6 Chair of the Board’s Strategy Review Working Party, and member of our Positioning & Advocacy Working Group. Last October, Janine Carter also retired from the Board and her achievements over many years cannot be underestimated, especially as Convenor of the Conference Committee which has seen our National Conference build to one of International standing. Margie Luke also left us last year and I thank her for her contribution over many years for HIMAA not only as Board Director but as the NSW Branch President.
We welcomed three new members to our Board last year, Mark Upton from Tasmania and Dr Kerryn Butler-Henderson also from Tasmania. Both Mark and Kerryn have contributed enormously over the last year and I look forward to their continued involvement as we move into an exciting new era for HIMAA. The third new member was Vera Dimitropoulos from NSW, a very active NSW Branch member, strong advocate of Education for NSW and very well respected Executive Manager with our Conference partner, the NCCH, and speaker of great repute internationally.
Catherine Garvey, Senior Vice-President and President Elect, who also chairs the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee, along with Travis Ingram, Vice President and member of the Strategy Review Working Group, have been a very supportive Executive over the last twelve months. With the addition of a monthly Executive meeting to shape the Board agenda we have achieved much in the way of ensuring Board business is undertaken in a timely fashion.
To Amanda Hicks, Vera Dimitropoulos, Mark Upton, Travis Ingram, Cassandra Jordan, Catherine Garvey , Cheens Lee, Kerryn Butler-Henderson, may I use this Annual Report to thank you publically and in writing for all that you do. Your contribution to HIMAA cannot be measured by an Auditor’s report on meeting attendance. Those figures do not measure your contribution as Chairs and members of committees, working groups, special interest groups, your own State branches, attendance at professional development events, writing and presenting conference papers, especially given that in the meantime you have lives to lead and paid work to attend to. Your hours of voluntary work on behalf of HIMAA measured in monetary terms would be in the tens of thousands of dollars, but there you are every month and in between supporting the profession you have made such a commitment to. I thank you for that and for your support.
I cannot end this report without thanking Richard Lawrance our CEO and his amazing staff who continue to offer such great service to the HIMAA Board and the membership generally.
And lastly a huge thanks to our members who are the backbone of HIMAA. I urge you to continue your lifelong learning journey and help us help you on that journey as we face an ever changing health information workforce environment .
Jenny Gilder MRA, CHIM. FHIMAA, President
L-R K Butler-Henderson, C Jordan, C Lee, J Gilder, E Wilson and A Irwin Attending the 18th IFHIMA International Congress in Tokyo
7 FROM THE CEO After a year of planning for change in 2014-15, the 2015-16 financial year was one of solid and concerted implementation. For our tenacious Education Services team, a 12 month project to build a Certificate IV level course in clinical classification consumed much of their attention. In Membership, the challenge was building on news communication and membership rewards program improvements with a new membership database.
In IT, a long-awaited upgrading of IT infrastructure to future proof it from the ageing limitations of our premises was nevertheless unable to withstand a substantial cyber attack – a lesson for us all. By contrast, our Conference was able to consolidate programming, sponsorship and budgetary improvements, and our finances were able to defray the impact of the Board’s investment in the Certificate IV transition project in just one year.
Our triennial Membership Survey has assembled data that will have a significant impact on the HIMAA Board’s strategic planning for 2017-22. 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification
At the beginning of the financial year Education Services Training Manager Lyn Williams welcomed five new sessional educators to the team to free up the existing complement of educators from routine education and assessment duties so that they could implement the conversion of HIMAA’s existing medical terminology and clinical coding courses (at introductory and intermediate levels) into a Certificate IV level course in clinical classification from Victoria.
Lyn details the resulting 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification in her Education Services report below. From my perspective, I appreciated the flexibility and adaptability of both the team of sessional educators as they rapidly took on new roles, and the existing educational team as they engaged in the task of curriculum and coursework development. They worked to a tight project timeline with intense commitment and were able to deliver a course, on scope with the Australian Skills Quality Authority ready for enrolments from 1 July.
National delivery of coursework for the HIMAA 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification is online, but still with that personalised educator support HIMAA students find so invaluable.
The advantage of a certificate IV level in clinical coding is that, as a formal qualification, it places graduates on a credentialed career pathway. Graduates of the 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification will be eligible for Senior Associate Membership with HIMAA, which enables them access to Certified Health Information Practitioner status through our Professional Credentialing Scheme. Graduates who go on to complete HIMAA’s Advanced Clinical Coding course will be eligible to sit HIMAA’s Clinical Coder Certification examination. In addition to the educational team, my thanks to Student Support and Administration Officer Cheryl Smith for managing the unexpectedly large volume both of enquiries and enrolments in the new course, and to Quality and Compliance Manager Annemarie Arends for ferrying us through yet another ASQA registration with calm and seeming ease.
IT Infrastructure
The departure of our IT Support Officer, Andrew Clancy, for a new life in the US in August, provided an opportunity to invest in long-awaited IT infrastructure improvements to protect out system from the power-outage frailty of our otherwise beautifully aging premises. Ralph replaced Andrew’s on-site role with the installation of a Team Viewer on all staff computers and lap tops, to enable Ralph to provide remote support for HIMAA staff whenever needed. The new server and cabling also improved multiple user access to our printer and access speed.
Amazingly, within a month of installation, the national office sustained a virulent cyber attack that walked straight through our existing protection and took out three computers before we even knew what was upon us. The rest of the on-site team immediately shut down, and indomitable
8 IMIT Manager Ralph La Tella had to install new industrial strength virus protection on all machines before working on recovery of the affected equipment.
The server was fortunately unaffected. But the message is that cyber security is with us to stay, and email vigilance is just the first essential measure.
See Ralph’s report on ITIM, Professional Development and Publications below for more. IT and Membership
The other improvement we were able to fund with the cash saved from the IT Support Officer position was the replacement of our rapidly declining ACCESS membership database, which was almost on the critical list. Certainly close enough for the Board to authorise investment in an EventsAir data system which is able to serve both our membership needs and our events needs.
Installation of the system before Christmas, led by Membership Officer Richard Cornish, resulted in the launch of a new Membership Portal early in the new year with access to member-only products and services for members as well as other EventsAir benefits. In time the plan is for Professional Credentialing Scheme participant data to be managed through the system so that participants can enter their PD data into their confidential diary as they undertake it, and for HIMAA to be able to enter Points Approved Program information for participants automatically.
Through EventsAir Richard was also able to improve the registration and promotion services HIMAA provides to our Branches for their PD and other events.
Richard’s continued application on the membership front saw our numbers reach 1019 by the end of the financial year, an increase of 15%.
HIMAA Membership Statistic
As at As at Category 30/6/2015 30/6/2016 Increase % Growth Full 452 496 44 10%
Associate 135 153 18 13%
Senior Associate 56 63 7 13% New Graduate 31 42 11 35% Organisation 22 22 0 0% Student 177 234 57 32% Life 9 9 0 0%
Total Membership 882 1019 137 15%
9
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IT and the Conference
Finally, EventsAir has enabled Marketing and Events Coordinator Milla Krivozhnya to bring the HIMAA NCCH National Conference abstract submission and delegate registration practice into the twenty first century.
The introduction of an eastern seaboard policy by the HIMAA Board in the last financial year had enabled Milla to increase the confidence of sponsors and exhibitors in our national confidence for the 2015 conference by 18%. Registrations for the Sydney conference increased by 116% over Darwin in 2014.
With the introduction of EventsAir at the beginning of 2016, Milla was able to work with the Conference Committee, and its newly formed Academic Panel, to introduce an online abstract submission and review system and an in-house online registration system for the 2016 HIMAA NCCH Conference in Melbourne.
A relationship with World Corporate Travel had also enabled Milla to offer travel packaging for HIMAA members wishing to attend the IFHIMA Congress in Tokyo in October 2016 and for the 2016 HIMAA NCCH Conference.
During the financial year Milla has also developed a Sponsorship Register and associated guidelines for Branches with the monthly meeting of Branch Presidents and Convenors, which means that sponsors for the HIMAA NCCH Conference can also nominate additional sponsorship to be allocated to the Branches. This scheme was introduced at the 2015 Conference in Sydney.
IT and Professional Development
On the Professional Development front HIMAA has also been active in the 2015-16 financial year.
Education Services launched their 80 hour online Elementary Medical Terminology course at the beginning of 2016 which met its target enrolment of 50 for the financial year in the first 5 months of operation.
As Lyn notes in her report below, HIMAA educator Ragni Lal’s Refresher Course has also
11 received a boost in enrolments in 2016. In response to the membership’s expressed need for PD in eHealth as a result of the 2013 Membership Survey, Ralph La Tella launched his Database Fundamentals online PD course with a workshop at the 2014 HIMAA NCCH National Conference. He followed this with a workshop on SNOMED CT at the 2015 conference. Adding a HL7 module, Ralph tied the three modules up into a Certificate in eHealth for HIMs, which HIMAA launched in March 2016.
Memorandums of Understanding
HIMAA has signed MoUs to govern inter-organisational cooperation with a range of stakeholders in the past financial year: ACHI – the Australasian College of Health Informatics ALIA/HLA – the Australian Library and Information Association, and its Health Libraries Australia special interest group NCCH – the National Centre for Classification in Health CHIMA – the Canadian Health Information Management Association These four strategic linkages complement our existing MoU with the Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA).
Alliances with ACHI and HISA led to the presentation of a Health Information Workforce Summit in 2015 in Sydney on the day following the HIMAA NCCH National Conference, 30 October. The aim of this summit was to engage the health information workforce (HIW) professions and stakeholders to address a perceived crisis in HIW workforce numbers and the need for planned and structured HIW configuration in the face of the rapid digitisation of health information as part of a national eHealth agenda.
Just over 100 delegates attended this Summit, 75% of them HIMAA members, and just over half had stayed on from the Conference. Delegates suggested 85 actions to address HIW workforce and these are summarised in the HIW Summit Report 2015, which also qualitatively captures Summit proceedings in some detail in Part Two of the report. The report is available on the HIMAA website here: http://www.himaa2.org.au/index.php?q=node/1417
It is also available on the ACHI website here: http://www.achi.org.au/Documents.htm
As a result of the summit, HIMAA, ACHI, HISA and ALIA/HLA have all been engaged by the Health Workforce Principal Committee of the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council of COAG’s HIW Working Group – which is responsible for the implementation of the Health Workforce Australia HIW Report of 2013 – on recommendation 1 of this report, delineation of the professions. HIMAA has great confidence in the HIW WG’s commitment to a shared outcome with the HIW peak organisations.
Collaboration between ACHI, ALIA/HLA and HISA has led to a further HIW Summit planned to coincide with the 2016 HIMAA NCCH Conference in Melbourne. Supported also by the Australasian College of Health Services Management (ACHSM), this summit aims to engage with employers of HIW to determine the extent to which they wish to join with the peak HIW organisations in actioning the 27 recommendations to employers drawn down from the 85 delegate actions in the 2015 HIW Summit Report.
Also during the financial year, HIMAA has joined ACHI, HISA and ALIA/HLA in changes to Standards Australia documentation that will see Australia and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) entries for Health Informaticians (HI) and Health Librarians. The collaboration is committed to advocating for further change to ANZSCO classifications that could bring the HIW professions together, including the HIM profession’s HIM and Clinical Coder classifications, which are currently orphaned from each other under different and irrelevant occupational groupings.
HIMAA, HISA and ACHI joint advocacy has also seen the appointment of a combination of HIM
12 and HI expertise to the Australian Digital Health Board, formed this year to replace NEHTA in overseeing the expenditure of $480m on the My Health record, in the personage of Prof Johanna Westbrook. HIMAA members will remember Professor Westbrook’s spectacular keynote presentation to the 2013 Conference in Adelaide.
And finally, our MoU with CHIMA had led to an historic reciprocal certificate agreement, which was signed at IFHIMA Congress in Tokyo in October of this year by CHIMA President Kathleen Addison and HIMAA President Jenny Gilder. This agreement sets out terms for the reciprocal certification of HIMAA Full Members by CHIMA in Canada, and CHIMA members by HIMAA in Australia. The American HIM Association has also commenced negotiations with HIMAA for the development of a similar reciprocal agreement.
Staff Activity
HIMAA Staff welcomed 5 new Session Educators for a 6 month period to enable our existing education staff to work on what we called the Certificate IV Transition Project. We would like to thank Jenny Nicol, Jodee Njeru, Brooke O’Keefe, Sharon Smith and Glenda Wyatt for their inestimable contribution in enabling HIMAA’s historic transition to a full Certificate IV qualification. Brooke remains with us for the 2016-17 financial year to assist the team in implementing the new Certificate whilst seeing through our existing complement of courses.
I am pleased to announce that, as a result of annual quality improvement-based performance reviews, Quality & Compliance Officer Annemarie Arends has been promoted to Quality & Compliance Manager. One of Annemarie’s new responsibilities will be the development of a whole of organisation quality framework, which she is undertaking with HIMAA President Jenny Gilder.
I am equally pleased to report that Accounts Clerk Anderson Hu has been promoted to Accounts Officer level. Anderson is currently working towards his CPA and we wish him well. I commend both Anderson and his supervisor, Finance and Corporate Services Manager Philida Chew, on their strenuous command of HIMAA finances, which have seen the HIMAA Board’s substantial investment in the Certificate IV Transition Project recouped in its year of expenditure – an impressive achievement.
During the financial year HIMAA staff farewelled Membership Officer Richard Cornish, who moved into a management role elsewhere. We also wished Stephanie Zbik, Executive Support Officer, well in her new position. Stephanie has been replaced by Helen Thurtell.
I commend all HIMAA staff to our membership. We are a small complement and each role is stretched across a range of functional responsibilities to maximise our output on behalf of the organisation. I cannot thank them enough for their dedication and zeal.
I would also thank the HIMAA Board and its extension of governance committees, working groups and special interest groups, for whom it is our pleasure to serve.
Richard Lawrance, Chief Executive Officer.
13 The 2016 HIMAA Membership Survey Messages for HIMAA Strategic Planning 2017-22
Response and Demographics
Many thanks to the 319 members who responded to our triennial, census-style survey. Your contribution will, amongst other de-identified uses, inform HIMAA’s five year strategic planning which commences on 6 November. Our response rate of 31.2% is marginally up from 29.7% in 2013, but the indications are that the survey is finding a natural penetration of the population.
This is reflected in its demographics. Three years later the aging in our membership is around the same as in 2013 – down just 3.5% in the 40-65 years age bracket from 68% to 64.5%. Similarly years worked in the profession, 17.5 years average, compared to years planned, 15.7 years, is roughly the same. We still have a profession that has worked longer than it plans to continue.
A couple of changes are that NSW respondents (35%) have surpassed Victorians (32%) in 2016. In 2013, the Victorians took the guernsey on 52%. This variation, however, reinforces a natural consistency of response size.
In another change, 79% of respondents this year are working in a health information-related profession – down from 98% last survey. This reflects a stronger diversity in the 2016 cohort: 30% of respondents are HIMs, 21% Clinical Coders, 16% Manager/Director HIS, 13% Coding auditor, Educator or Manager, 13% Data Analysis, 9% Project Manager and onwards down a list of 20 other career options including CEO.
Motivation for Membership
Motivation for HIMAA Membership remains similar, with minor variation in ranking. The top ten are:
Rank Item - 2016 % 2016 % 2013
1 Keep informed of industry development 84.5 79 2 Support HIM profession 73 78 3 Access HIMAA publications & resources 61 56 4 Development professional knowledge and expertise 54 57 5 PD activity 51 - 6 Interact with other HIM professionals 49 45 7 Advance the HI profession 44 43 8 Professional networking 40 46 9 Career opportunities 31 32 10 State/local activities 27.5 35
Organisational Competency
One significant difference in outcomes between the 2013 and 2016 surveys lies in the area of organisational competency: in what areas do members feel HIMAA delivers well? In 2016 Positioning and Advocacy has replaced HIMAA’s National Conference for top ranking in this field.
14 Rank Item Av Av 2016 2013 1 Positioning & advocacy 4.6 National conference 3.7
2 Knowledge domain 5.1 Publications 4.7
3 National conference 5.13 Education services 4.67
4 Education services 5.5 Knowledge domain 5.2
5 Publications 5.5 News & information services 5.3
6 QA for the profession 6.2 PD 5.5
7 Professional resources 6.3 Positioning & advocacy 6
8 News & information services 6.7 Networking opportunities 6.4
9 PD national 7.2 Professional resources 6.5
10 PD branch 7.7 Membership support services 7.1
11 Membership networking 8
12 Membership support services 10
In 2013, Positioning and Advocacy (P&A) as an organisational competency was ranked 7th out of 10. The change represents a strong realignment in member perception and in keeping with the strategic priority (Strategic Priority Area 1) accorded to this activity in HIMAA’s 2013-16 strategic plan.
P&A achieved this status in the strategic plan because it was ranked highest in areas in which the membership would like to see HIMAA more active. This ranking remains the same in 2016, which provides indication to the HIMAA Board of its strategic priority in the 2017-22 Strategic Plan also.
Professional Development
Interestingly, the prevalence of preference for increased HIMAA activity in Professional Development (PD) is what largely influenced the ranking of Education as the second Strategic Priority Area in the 2013-16 Strategic Plan. As an organisational competency, it ranked 6th in 2013, marginally higher than P&A. In 2016, PD has dropped down to 9th for National PD and 10th for Branch PD this year, despite our efforts particularly in the development of national online PD courses in eHealth, the topic most sought in 2013.
In 2013 the membership survey sought information on format, timing and venue preferences for PD. In 2016, we surveyed for actual topic preferences. The results are extensive and revealing, and will be distributed to our PD Sub-Committee and Branches to action.
In terms of participating in HIMAA’s Professional Credentialing Scheme (PCS), in order to achieve recognition for professional certification the PD members undertake – Certified Health Information Manager (CHIM) for full members and Certified Health Information Practitioner (CHIP) for Senior Associate and Associate members – 53% respondent indicates they would participate in the scheme if they had the time, while 52% would participate if they knew more about it.
Over a third of respondents (36%) indicated they would either resign or let their membership lapse if PCS participation was mandatory.
15 Strategic Priorities And finally, the eminence of workforce as the major strategic priority for the profession has strengthened over the past 3 years, perhaps in response to your professional association’s strategic response to this issue in the intervening period. Workforce shortage has risen from third to top ranking in the five-year priority, so it and positioning the profession are likely to remain dominant forces in HIMAA’s 2017-22 Strategic Plan. Strategic Priorities for the profession:
Rank Item 2016 Av 2016 Item 2013
1 Workforce 1.65 Standing, visibility & positioning of profession
2 Standing, visibility & positioning of 1.93 Workforce profession
3 eHealth & ICT 2.42 eHealth & ICT
In the next five years:
Rank Item 2016 Av 2016 Item 2013
1 Workforce shortage 2.01 Standing, visibility & positioning of profession 2 Standing, visibility & positioning of 2.36 eHealth & ICT profession 3 eHealth & ICT 2.42 Workforce
4 Change management, esp. of 3 Change management, esp. of downward funding and institutional downward funding and institutional pressures pressures
16
FINANCIAL REPORT - PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS
For year ending 30 June 2016
From the Treasurer
The results of the 2015/16 financial year are the product of a well-constructed project business plan that exceeded targets in key revenue-generating initiatives, and of the fiscal discipline of the staff at HIMAA. The Board, the Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee (FARM) and the Executive team continued to ensure that HIMAA finances served the strategic themes established for HIMAA in its 2014-2016 Strategic Plans. Work on the membership business models since our last Annual General Meeting has turned around a period of shallow growth by reinforcing retention as well as growth drivers. Business remodelling in HIMAA’s education sector has already been shown to justify HIMAA investment in a 12 month transition project across the financial year. Our interest-earning investments continue to be managed with financial prudence, maturing at varying rates, and contributing to our overall fiscal confidence as we advance with our 2016/17 activities. Overall, our three-year financial forecast created in 2014/15 continues to provide a robust foundation on which to ensure our business objectives and strong corporate governance can continue to deliver firm business, as well as, strategic outcomes for the Association. Our Chief Executive Officer and Manager of Finance and Corporate Services continue to exercise strong and risk-averse business management and acumen with HIMAA’s Finance and Risk Management Committee.
Keystone investment update
The major project commenced between 2014 and end of financial year 2016 has been the creation of the VET-level 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification course, giving rise to the need for the Education Sector, in particular, to pull out all the stops in the development of the required modules and to achieve compliance with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA). It has been quite a significant body of work and one which put a heavy demand on our Quality & Compliance Manager as well as the Education team to ensure this significant investment meets its target and enhances our status in the national education arena as the recognised education provider for these skills. We are very pleased that uptake of this course in its first round of enrolments surpassed target. It is very positive to note that we have had an early indication on a full return of our $175,000 investment in the reporting financial year. We remain cautiously optimistic regarding the ongoing success of this educational offering.
Membership has enjoyed a steady growth of 15% in terms of numbers who are registered with our Professional organisation. We have seen an increase in the number of members taking the opportunity to use our direct debit payment option (18% of total members). We continue to offer membership in ways which we believe will be both attractive and practical for individuals and organisations alike.
As part of our business performance HIMAA FARM Committee, in consultation with the Board, continued to review our risk strategies and awareness to mitigate any potential loss or negative impact on our financial and organisational wellbeing. FARM and Board discussions continue to monitor and identify trends in our environment to understand and address the strategic and operational risks relative to our position. To this end what was originally Quality & Compliance Officer role has broadened to incorporate the development and management of a quality framework for all of HIMAA’s operational activities, and is now a role at Manager level. Overview
Although our end-of-year financial report shows a small surplus of $29,775, overall we are well positioned with a strong liquidity ratio of 1.47 which is expected over our current three-year plan remaining above our base line of 1.3. Engaged in 2015, our auditor Byron's Chartered
17 Accountants have partnered with Moore Stephens who, you will see from our Financial Report for 2016, have conducted our independent financial audit for this year. The resulting report demonstrates all the necessary accountancy treatments per Australian Accounting Standards, with Reduced Disclosure Requirements under the Corporations Act 2001.
Key Highlights
(Refer Statement of Profit or Loss and Other Comprehensive Income, Statement of Financial Position)
Total Equity has increased to $446,405 in 2016 or 7% up, when compared to 2015. The increase was primarily due to current year earnings and partially offset by a decrease in total liability account.
Total Asset holdings surpassed $1.40 million, with $1.16 million held in cash and term deposit accounts, 2% up from last year despite our major investment in the development of VET-level 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification course.
Cash and cash equivalents and other Financial Assets of $1.16 million continue to be managed in investments with stable characteristics; interest earnings for the year total about 2.5% of the amount invested despite a significant movement in the cash rates in the last 12 months.
Total Liabilities have reduced to $947,866 compared to 2015 and most of our liabilities are in holdings for the Advance receipts in Education and Conference Sectors. These revenue lines will be recognised in the period when the service or goods are provided.
Total Operating Revenue was up by 23.5% from prior year to $2.09 million (refer Table 1) mainly due to an increase in revenue in Education and Membership sectors.
Total Operational Expense this year has increased to $2.06 million (refer Table 1) or by 14% compared to 2015. Excluding the development cost for 22274VIC Certificate IV project, total Operating Expenses has increased by $0.1 million or $93,584 from $1.81 million($1,810,324) to $1.90 million ($1,903,908) or 5% up from prior year.
On a statutory basis, the net surplus reported for the year is $29,775. This result was materially impacted by $175,000 development cost of 22274VIC Certificate IV project. (Note -$20,000 is held over to 2017 to fund Education Services clinical coding aptitude testing project.) Despite the inclusions, the result reflects a significant turnaround compared to a loss of $119,609 in 2015.
The Association maintains its strong liquidity position to this financial year and has increased its net asset account by 126% since 2012 (see Table 2), which is a very pleasing milestone for the Association and showing a year-on-year upward growth. This is in line with our ongoing commitment to building balance sheet strength. We will continue to focus on delivering strong performance across all our business sectors to ensure financial stability for future investment in organisational strategies.
The full audited financial report can be found on our HIMAA website www.himaa2.org.au.
Catherine Garvey, Treasurer
18 Review of Financial Performance Statement of Profit and Loss and Other Comprehensive Income For the Year Ended 30 June 2016
2016 2015
$ $
Revenue 2,088,683 1,690,715
Expenses:
Employee benefits expense (1,394,574) (1,278,810)
Bad Debts (45,058) -
Doubtful debts provision (3,875) -
Depreciation expense (1,450) (1,399)
Utilities (Printing, journal and postage expenses) (40,876) (75,487)
Consulting expense (49,171) (48,084)
Conference and Event expense (223,105) (133,858)
Rent (61,800) (58,875)
Staff training and development (12,951) (15,193)
Audit and legal fees (10,148) (18,096)
Travel (24,152) (48,809)
Sundry expense _(191,748) _(131,713)
Profit/(Loss) before income tax 29,775 (119,609)
Income tax expense _ - _ -
Net profit/(loss) for the year 29,775 (119,609)
Other Comprehensive Income _ - _ -
Total comprehensive income for the year ___29,775 _(119,609)
19 Review of Financial Performance Total Operating Revenue and Operating Expenses: Five year comparison
Table 1
FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016
Total Revenue* 1,458,000 1,775,000 1,764,000 1,691,000 2,089,000
Total Expenses* 1,454,000 1,604,000 1,596,000 1,810,000 2,059,000
*rounded to the nearest thousand
Figure 1 Comparison : Total Revenue vs Total Expenses in the last five years
2,200,000
2,000,000
1,800,000
1,600,000
1,400,000 Total Revenue Total Expenses
1,200,000
1,000,000 FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016
20 Review of Financial Performance Statement of Financial Position as at 30 June 2016
2016 2015
$ $ ASSETS Current Asset Cash & cash equivalents 488,106 327,969 Account receivable and other debtors 169,560 233,219 Inventories on hand 7,322 6,031 Other Current Assets (pre-payments) 49,914 32,912 Other financial assets (Term Deposits) 674,164 762,795 Total Current Assets 1,389,066 1,362,926
Non-Current Assets Property, plant and equipment 5,204 6,654 Total Non-Current Assets 5,204 6,654
TOTAL ASSETS 1,394,270 1,369,580 LIABILITIES Current Liabilities Trade & others 689,179 719,254 Provision for employee benefits 196,316 180,208
Total Current Liabilities 885,495 899,462
Non-Current Liabilities Provision for employee benefits 62,370 53,488 Total Non-Current Liabilities 62,370 53,488
TOTAL LIABILITIES 947,865 952,950
NET ASSETS 446,405 416,630
EQUITY 446,405 416,630 Retained Surplus
TOTAL EQUITY 446,405 416,630
21
Review of Financial Performance Net Assets and Net Operating Results for the past five years
Table 2
FY2012 FY2013 FY2014 FY2015 FY2016
Net Assets ($) 197,196 368,197 536,239 416,630 446,405
Operating Result ($) 3,547 171,001 168,042 -119,609 29,775
Figure 2 – Five year comparison
22
EDUCATION SERVICES
Introduction
HIMAA Education Services provides training in Medical Terminology and Clinical Coding both nationally and internationally. As a Registered Training Organisation, HIMAA provides nationally recognised clinical coder training to its Australian students up to the advanced level. In addition we offer a Refresher clinical coding course and also Clinical Coder Certification.
Activity and Achievements
Most of the focus in the past twelve months has been on developing training and assessment for the 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification. The Australian Skills and Quality Authority (ASQA) approved our application to deliver this new qualification in 2016 and we have been busy preparing for new enrolments on the 1 July 2016.
Our Comprehensive Medical Terminology (CMT) course has been incorporated into the new Certificate IV and delivery increased from 240 hours to 300 hours. Each update of CMT continues to incorporate the latest clinical research, operating procedures and interventions.
Both our Introductory and Intermediate clinical coding courses have also been incorporated into the new Certificate IV. This means that students graduate with a higher level of skill than previous entry level graduates. The hours of delivery for clinical coding have also increased to 300 hours which includes additional training in abstracting.
Additional units of competency are also being delivered within the Certificate IV which cover topics such as WH&S, privacy, managing work priorities and establishing effective workplace relationships. The Certificate IV now enables students to graduate with a full qualification and will hopefully result in a more work ready candidate.
The new Elementary Medical Terminology course which was developed last year has proven popular with regular enrolments every month. Our Refresher clinical coding course has also proven to be very popular with an increase in the number of Health Information Managers returning to the workforce.
Issues and Challenges
Access to the workplace during entry level training continues to be a barrier for new graduates in gaining the experience employers are wanting. We are continuing to work with hospitals and members to provide graduates with the hands on experience that they require.
Conclusion
HIMAA Education Services is passionate about providing quality training to our students and supporting members to up skill their staff. We continue to monitor and evaluate the services we provide and improve the quality and outcomes of our training. We look forward to working with the industry over the next twelve months to meet the workforce demand for highly skilled and competent clinical coders.
Lyn Williams, Training Manager Education Services
23
IMIT and Professional Development Services
IT services have over the last 12 months experienced growth in the number and types of services offered to both our internal and external clients. HIMAA IT Services provide all departments with support for both hardware and software. We continue to provide the following : Membership support (via EventsAir membership management system) PD course development implementation and assessment AV and IT support for state branches and the HIMAA National Conference Web development to the HIMAA Special Interest Groups and State branches Production for HIM-Interchange (in HTML, Online and Flipbook versions) eCommerce for the HIMAA online stores WorkWeb Advertising Management of in-house-network (including intranet and internet services) Support Accounting and Bookkeeping Provide on-call assistance to ensure the continued availability of in-house and online
24 services to members and the HIM community Marketing and sales of the HIMAA Dictionary of Clinical Abbreviations (on-line and mobile versions)
Activity and Achievements Some of our achievements over the past twelve months include the following: Facilitating the transition to SAGE Publishing for the production of the HIMJ Assisting in the launch of HIMAA Awareness week Development of a website for the Rural and Remote HIM SIG Assisting in the roll-out of the EventsAir membership management system Updating the National Office network to a Windows 2012 server platform to increase the number of concurrent users able to access the network and network resources, rendering the system more secure and stable. Development and implementation of eHealth certification (PD) courses in response to member need for PD education in the eHealth domain. Development and implementation of HIMNet website for members – including news, articles, links to education materials and government information – relevant to the profession
Our activity includes: Continuing development of the HIMAA website Provision of IT support services including on-call and out-of-hours Assisting with the production of HIMAA News, HIMAA Matters. Publication of advertising on the HIMAA WorkWeb pages Providing input into compliance issues in relation to the provision of IT services Representation on Standards Australia IT-039 to provide input into a new publication scheduled for release in March 2017 (publication title is yet to be determined) Representation on the HIMJ editorial board Representation on PD sub-committee Attendance at Branch Presidents and Convenors meetings (ex-officio) Represent HIMAA on ACHI Exam and Education Committee monthly teleconferences and annual two-day meetings. Attend HIMAA Education Committee meetings (ex-officio) Providing assistance to HIMAA NSW branch to market the profession locally at careers days and at talks to university students at Western Sydney University Issues and Challenges
The main issues facing IT services are Availability of resources to assist in delivering a reasonable service to internal and external clients Keeping abreast of current and trending technologies which would benefit the business (e.g Cloud based services) Fulfilling member requirements for PD courses Assistance in marketing courses and products developed by IT services Conclusion A lot of work has been undertaken by HIMAA IT services during the year, both new and continuing. We are proud of our achievements and will continue to work to enhance existing products and services. We look forward to continuing our support of staff at the National Office to ensure that their jobs are made easier with the help of technology; to working with the State branches, the Special Interest Groups and various committees in our quest to deliver value to HIMAA members and to the HIM profession in general. Ralph La Tella, Manager, IMIT and PD Services
25 COMMITTEES OF THE HIMAA BOARD
Committees of the HIMAA Board include: Clinical Coding Advisory Committee Conference Committee Editorial Board Education Committee Finance, Audit and Risk Management Committee Practice Quality & Safety Standards Committee Research Advisory Committee
CLINICAL CODING ADVISORY COMMITTEE The purpose of the Clinical Coding Advisory Committee is to contribute to the development, implementation and education of all matters relating to Clinical Coding in line with HIMAA’S Strategic Plan. CCAC liaises with the National Coding Special Interest Group, including jurisdictional-based clinical coding committee and HIMAA State Branches, in all clinical coding matters. Activity and Achievements
The Clinical Coding Advisory Committee (CCAC) has had a busy second year of operation There was another opportunity to meet committee members at the HIMAA Conference in October 2015 Meetings are held quarterly and all meetings scheduled for the year with the exception of one were held. Had the opportunity to participate in the HIMAA ACHI HISA Health Information Workforce Summit October 2015 Completed the Practice Standards for Clinical Coders and launched them at the HIMAA Conference in Sydney in October 2015 Work is still progressing on the Audit Working Group Work is still progressing on Coder Award information from the States and Territories
Issues and Challenges The Committee saw three resignations this year: from Tasmanian representative Val Klekociuk, and Janine Wapper our Northern Territory representative. Lynne Hostler also resigned and the Committee wished her well in her semi-retirement. All 3 had contributed with great enthusiasm and we were sad to see them go. Thank you for the time and effort that you had made to CCAC.
The Tasmania Representative position is still vacant; however we are delighted to welcome Jill Burgoyne (Northern Territory) and Lesley Ward (South Australia) to the committee.
The HIMAA Clinical Coding Advisory Committee has gained momentum and is fulfilling the requirements of the HIMAA Board as it advises on all matters relating to clinical coding.
Louise Matthews, Chair
26 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
Members: Linda Westbrook (Convenor), Milla Krivozhnya, Richard Lawrance, Vera Dimitropoulos, Joanne Callen, Lyn Williams, Cheens Lee, Leanne Holmes, Dana Higgins, Imelda Noti, Melanie Jacklin.
Activity and Achievements
Organise the upcoming HIMAA NCCH National Conference in Melbourne November 2016.
The theme for this year is “Health Information Management: At the Heart of Healthcare”. Sponsors & Exhibitors have been secured, with an increase on last year.
Conference Program has been completed. This year with the assistance of the Academic Panel we have included research papers in the program. Keynotes and chairs have been organised.
Two international scholarships have been awarded.
Two La Trobe students have been selected for assistance with timekeeping and AV assistance.
All of the logistics have been organised and booked (conference reception and dinner, entertainment, hospital visits, team activity on the last day, speakers’ gifts, conference satchels, welcome to country).
Buddy System for international delegates still to finalise.
Location for the 2017 Conference has been decided and venue has been booked.
Committee is now looking at locations for 2018 and 2019.
Issues and Challenges
The committee had difficulty attracting and securing a committee member from Victoria earlier in the year.
Conclusion
Organisation of the 2016 Conference is on track and is shaping up to be a huge success.
Linda Westbrook, Convenor
EDITORIAL BOARD
2015 /2016 has been a milestone year from the Editorial Board which is responsible for the Health Information Management Journal (HIMJ) and the HIM-Interchange (HIM-I).
Activity and Achievements
The publication of HIMJ is now managed by an external publisher SAGE. HIMJ is now fully electronic in terms of the author submission centre, the review process, editing of submission and publishing of the journal. The transition from internal to external publishing required a full evaluation process of prospective external publishers and the endorsement of the recommended publisher by the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) Board. The final step was the contract negotiations managed by Mr Richard Lawrance, HIMAA Chief Executive Office. HIMJ is the only peer reviewed journal published by a member organisation of the International Federation of Health Information Management Associations which sets HIMAA aside within the field of health information research.
27 The HIM-I subcommittee formed in late 2015 has assumed responsibility for the management of the HIM-I up to the copy editing phase. Previously the Editorial Board supported by the Managing Editor were responsible for the end-to-end processes from the sourcing of articles to the printing of HIM-I.
Issues and Challenges
It has been a big year for the members of the Editorial Board and the HIM-I subcommittee with new skills and knowledge required to ensure the right decisions are made on behalf of the profession. The challenges for HIMJ moving forward are the capitalisation of the new online platform in increasing the impact factor of the journal. For HIM-I it is the decision to move away from themed articles and to attract articles linked to the Health Information Management Competencies.
Conclusion
The achievement of these significant milestones in 2015/2016 marks a point in time for both journals; it is now a matter of building on these achievements and bringing new members of the profession on board to support the journals into the future.
Stella Rowlands on behalf of Kay Bonello, Chair
EDUCATION COMMITTEE
I am delighted to provide members with my second annual report for the HIMAA Education Committee.
The Education Committee has continued to focus on items, both new and ongoing, with enthusiasm. Barbara Postle, Rebekah Quinn, New Graduate Member, and Mark Upton, Board Member, were welcomed as new members to the committee. Natasha Prasad moved to a position at La Trobe University so she resigned from the committee. Amanda Hicks and Travis Ingram, Board Members, resigned from the committee.
Activity and Achievements
A Working Group finalised the consultation draft of the HIM Competency Standards useful also for applications for HIMAA’s Fellow Member class of membership, for design of position descriptions and performance appraisal by employers and for the HIMAA Professional Credentialing Program for members. The committee has been reviewing and providing feedback on the consultation draft. The Education Committee agreed that HIM Entry-Level Competencies must be met for health information management programs to receive HIMAA accreditation.
The 1996 Clinical Coder Competence Standards project worked on the first phase to draft a set of draft competency standards for clinical coders. The draft will be progressed to the HIMAA’s Clinical Coding Advisory Committee prior to the Education Committee.
HIMAA Education Services completed writing the Certificate IV in Clinical Classification course and the processes were implemented to accept enrolments from 1 July 2016. A significant number of enquiries were received by Education Services. The Vocational Education & Training Sub-Committee is the HIMAA Board’s Steering Committee for this project and reports to the Education Committee.
A small working group was formed to investigate the viability of an aptitude test to be available from Education Services to potential clinical coding students. A psychologist was contracted to design a test which will need to be incorporated into the Business Applications software.
The Education Committee recommended that the Talent Med qualification 10478NAT Diploma of
28 Healthcare Documentation be approved as a HIMAA Approved Program which rendered graduates eligible for senior associate membership.
The Education Committee acknowledged the work done by HIMAA (NSW) towards a scholarship for a B ICT (HIM) student at Western Sydney University as part of an agreement with the Vice- Chancellor. The HIMAA Board approved the business case.
In international news, the Reciprocal Certification Working Group between HIMAA and the Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA) continues to work towards the signing of a joint certification reciprocation agreement at the Tokyo IFHIMA Congress in October 2016. Special thanks to Dianne Williamson for cross-mapping the HIM Entry-Level Competency Standards with the Canadian HIM learning outcomes and to Richard Lawrance for chairing the regular teleconferences.
Issues and Challenges
In April this year, HIMAA withdrew its application for National Assessor status for skilled migration applicants in the occupational categories of HIM and Clinical Coder. This was for two reasons. Primarily HIMAA learnt as a result of submitting their application that the Association would be expected to retrofit non-HIM qualifications to HIMAA’s Entry-Level HIM Competency Standards and, where the fit was not possible from qualification match alone, complete the assessment based on skills gained through experience.
The Education Committee’s Overseas Qualifications Review Panel attempted two such assessments and found that lack of HIM competencies in the non-HIM qualifications resulted in assessment failure, and experience-based skills were not assessable based on the level of documentation provided. It became clear to HIMAA that the retrofit approach undermined HIMAA’s competency standards and, as a result, HIMAA-accredited qualifications. Secondly, as a result of the application process the Education Department accepted a view from the current National Assessor that Australian employers did not specify HIMAA-accredited qualifications in HIM job vacancy postings. This meant that if HIMAA proceeded with its application the profession’s own industry-based competency standards would not be the accepted benchmark. HIMAA thus had no choice but to withdraw its application and issue a national policy calling for the cessation of government-sanctioned importation of skilled migrants in the HIM and Clinical Coder categories who did not have HIMAA-accredited qualifications, or qualifications mutually recognised with IFHIMA peer countries.
Conclusion
My sincere thanks for the support and assistance of the current members of the Education Committee, viz Cameron Barnes, Kate Horkings, Ralph la Tella, Lynne Paine, Barbara Postle, Rebekah Quinn, Yvonne Seidel, Alex Toth, Mark Upton, Phyllis Watson AM, Lyn Williams and Dianne Williamson. Also sincere thanks to Amanda Hicks and Travis Ingram. Special thanks to HIMAA staff members Richard Lawrance and Stephanie Zbik for their commitment.
Acknowledgement:
The Education Committee is a long-standing committee of the Health Information Management Association of Australia. Its origin dates back to approximately 1971 when Rosemary Roberts AM convened the first education sub-committee to address the issue of course accreditation, the registration of graduates and the possibility of a correspondence course. A Standing Committee of the two Directors of Training, Dorothy Bell (Victoria) and Professor Phyllis Watson AM, exchanged documents and it was recognised that the course contents were similar and only varied due to differences in the health systems and specific state requirements. In 1972 the two sub-committees were amalgamated and the Federal Committee on Education was established with Rosemary Roberts AM as the first Chair. Their charter was to deal with all aspects of a common syllabus and national registration examination, the proposed correspondence course
29 nd other aspects of education as they arise. This was the beginning of the long journey to the development of course accreditation, with the first set of standards developed in the late 1980’s, after the introduction of two more programs, one in Perth and the other in Brisbane. The first program accreditation was at the University of Sydney in 1992 for the Bachelor of Applied Science (HIM) and the Graduate Diploma of Applied Science (HIM). Special thanks to past Chairs of the Education Committee who have made the journey possible: Barbara Anderson, Jennifer Mitchell, Beth Reid, Rosemary Roberts AM, Alexandra Toth, Phyllis Watson AM. Helen Cooper provided a valuable contribution as Secretary.
Cassandra Jordan, Chair, HIMAA Director
PRACTICE QUALITY & SAFETY STANDARDS COMMITTEE
The Practice Quality and Safety Standards Committee (PQSSC) was set up in 2014 in response to the 2013-2016 Strategic Plan under Strategic Priority Area (SPA) 1 Positioning and Advocacy, sub heading 1.3 c “Develop and promote quality practice and safety standards for the profession, particularly in its two recognised occupations, Clinical Coder (CC) and Health Information Manager (HIM). This committee is a committee of the HIMAA Board.
Activity and Achievements
As outlined in the Annual Report 2015 the major work for the Committee was the development and the launch of the HIMAA Professional Practice Guidelines which can be now found on the HIMAA website under the publications drop down.
After the launch of this major body of work for the HIMAA members the PQSSC has turned its attention to reviewing the Terms of Reference which were endorsed by the HIMAA Board in May 2016. The Committee has also developed an oath for all members to be taken at graduation ceremonies, the HIMAA Annual Conference and Branch events, or whenever appropriate. The oath was developed to encompass those values found in the Practice Guidelines, including pursuing our professional practice with competency, integrity, leadership, compassion and goodwill. Taking the oath will be offered to all financial members.
The Committee has also put some time into reviewing the work health and safety principles and legislation especially as it relates to HIMs/CCs including remote work. The Committee is also reviewing guidelines for recruitment of HIMs and CCs. Other topics that have been under review by this dynamic group of people have been a practice-based framework for competency standards (collaborative approach with the Education Committee, Quality Framework for quality control at a HIMAA level, and an approach to the Australian Commission for Quality in Healthcare in relation to HIMAA’s involvement with the development of any standards relating to information management).
Recognition of qualifications and a list of occupations that would fit our competencies are other areas that PQSSC is reviewing in light of the release of the Health Information Workforce Summit report.
Issues and Challenges
The Committee is very outcome focussed and will undertake projects that relate back to its original intent. The challenge we face, however, is keeping the original intent of Practice Quality and Safety in mind in all our deliberations as this is a very broad area of interest.
30 Conclusion The outstanding work undertaken by this committee cannot be underestimated. Each and every member including Jen Lee (NSW), Cassie Rupnik (NSW), Jacki Luker (NSW) Glenda Wyatt (VIC) and Lesley Ward (SA) and our two new members Trixie Kemp (Tas) and Nicholas Heng (student member VIC) are to be congratulated for their input. Jenny Gilder , Chair, HIMAA President
RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The Research Advisory Committee (RAC) is a newly formed committee of the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) Board. The Terms of Reference were endorsed by the Chair and the President HIMAA on the 16 March 2016.
The Terms of Reference and associated RAC Work Plan were developed by the Research Working Group in 2016 in response to feedback from the HIMAA members.
Activity and Achievements
The RAC is actively working on the tasks outlined in the Work Plan including the establishment of priority areas for health information management research, the development of a research webpage on the HIMAA website and the identification and development of funding sources to support research by HIMAA members.
Specific outcomes have included:
The formation of an Academic Review Panel responsible for the review of research papers submitted to the HIMAA / (NCCH) Conference 2016. Such a review process enables the author/s to receive Higher Research Education Data Collection (HREDC) points which in the future will increase the attractiveness of the conference to those wishing to present their research.
The acceptance of an abstract for the presentation of a Research Workshop at the HIMAA / NCCH Conference 2016. The workshop participants will be asked to select from three health information management research topics and will be mentored during the workshop in the development and further exploration of the topics within a research protocol development framework. It is hoped that the participants will work with their assigned mentor following the workshop to develop the research project.
Development of a list of strategies to promote the Health Information Management Journal (HIMJ). These strategies were accepted by the HIMAA Editorial Board and shared with SAGE, the publisher of HIMJ.
Issues and Challenges
Starting from the bottom affords both opportunities and challenges. Whilst the members are able to set the agenda in relation to how the objectives outlined in the Work Plan are met they also have to do the work as well. However it is considered that given the committee has only been established for just over six months, significant progress has already been made.
Conclusion
The growth of any profession is underpinned by the fact that, to be the master of our own destiny we need to create our own knowledge. Hence this is a call to arms for all members of HIMAA to become researchers. Stella Rowlands, Chair
31 HIMAA BRANCHES AND NETWORKS
HIMAA Branches include:
Capital Region (ACT and SE NSW) New South Wales Queensland South Australia Tasmania Victoria Western Australia
CAPITAL REGION BRANCH (ACT and SE NSW) The Capital Region Branch (amending name from Capital Region Network) has had a successful year. Activities have included networking events and collaborative meetings with ALIA. Further work in professional development sessions aligned with members’ requirements is being progressed.
Activity and Achievements
The members noted that whilst activities for and within the CRB had been limited in the first quarter, many members attended the NSW Professional Development Event in Goulburn (September 2015) and the HIMAA National Conference in Sydney (October 2015).
Elections for the executive positions for the CRB were held in September 2015. Brooke Macpherson (convenor), Vicki Bennett (coordinator) and Miriam Lum On (journal liaison) were welcomed as the new CRB executive team for 2016.
The Capital Region Branch hosted a social/marketing event titled ‘An Evening with Phyllis’ (Watson). This event was held on Thursday, 9th June 2016 at the Belconnen Premier Inn in Canberra. Sponsorship was provided by Rolls and 3M. The evening provided its 27 attendees (from surrounding areas including Cowra, Cooma and Sydney) with opportunities to network over drinks and canapés before listening to presentations from Brooke Macpherson (as the new Capital Region Convenor) and Phyllis Watson (the main event) over a 3-course dinner. Phyllis’ presentation covered her impressive health information management career. It was a fantastic evening with positive feedback and further ideas for additional sessions generated.
The Branch has progressed work on an event schedule including collaborative sessions with ALIA and other local groups/agencies. A meeting with the ALIA representative and CRB members has laid the foundations for further collaboration and HIMAA representation on a national Information Management Governance session (subsequently attended by CRB member on behalf of HIMAA).
Issues and Challenges
The CRB recognises that a major local issue for our members is professional development opportunities. Geographically, events are not routinely held for or near the CRB. Accordingly the CRB executive team are working towards assessing current professional development needs and organising events for our members in line with these needs to take place in 2016 (and beyond).
Conclusion
The Capital Region Branch continues to springboard from the achievements in the last 12 months. In addition, the development of collaborative relationships with other compatible groups/ associations is an opportunity worthwhile exploring further in the coming months.
Louise Edmonds for Brooke Macpherson, Convenor
32 NEW SOUTH WALES BRANCH
The NSW Branch of HIMAA has had another successful year. Below is a list of the committee members and the positions they were elected to:
Position Elected HIM President Cassandra Rupnik Senior Vice President Joanne Williams Junior Vice President Jennine Freshwater Secretary Laura Harris Treasurer Joanne Williams Membership Officer Jenn Lee HIM Student Representative Cathy Whitworth and Greg Nolan Website Support Officer Emily Pezzotti Education Portfolio Vera Dimitripoulos (Western Sydney University) and Kim Osborne (Clinical Coding Leadership Advisory Group) HIMAA Board member Cassandra Jordan HIM Award Portfolio Elizabeth Bush HIM Professional Development and Events Linda Westbrook and Elizabeth Lindley
Activity and Achievements
Our activity has been outstanding this year. Our PDs, functions and other events are listed below:
HIM Awareness Week
A number of facilities from Northern NSW Local Health District down to those in Sydney and the Central Coast participated in this inaugural event. It was found by members to be a success as it brought the various departments and their skilled workforce into the limelight.
th HIM Awareness Week Dinner – 18 March 2016 This was a great social and networking night for NSW. It was held at the Eden Gardens with a theme of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The evening started with HIMAA President and NSW Member, Jenny Gilder, giving a short talk on her career and the changes she has seen. We then went on to a beautiful 3 course dinner surrounded by Willie Wonka and his Oomp-loompas. Everyone had a ‘scrumdiddlyumptious’ time. Professional Development
Successful Professional Development Days were held at Goulburn, Liverpool and Concord in 2015/16. Over 50 people attended each event. New members were signed up and welcomed to the Branch.
NSW Committee members also travelled to Canberra with Professor Phyllis Watson for a dinner with the Capital Branch. The dinner titled ‘A Night with Phyllis’ was an outstanding success and NSW was pleased to support the Capital Branch.
33 Careers Expos/Days Under the guidance and enthusiasm of National Board member and NSW Committee member, Cassandra Jordan, we have attended in the last year Knox Grammar School Careers Night and Western Sydney Careers Expo which attracted 22,000 people over the 4 days.
We have attended Western Sydney University to speak to prospective students about what a HIM is, what we do and the different career paths that can be undertaken.
Cassandra regularly submits a short piece to the Careers Advisors Association on the available courses (university and HIMAA distance education), which is distributed to all Careers Advisors in NSW and ACT.
We will be continuing this activity through 2016/17 year.
WSU Scholarship
We have finalised the offer of a scholarship over 2 years in the first instance with Western Sydney University. We will be offering this scholarship only once and will then change to an academic prize at the completion of the B.ICT (HIM). This academic prize will be offered every year to the student who achieves the highest overall result.
We thank Vera Dimitropoulos, Cassandra Jordan and the committee in achieving this pleasing result. We hope that this will continue for many years.
IFHIMA Congress
It is with great pleasure that we have a number of NSW members attending the IFHIMA Congress, October 2016, in Tokyo. A number of those members are also presenting papers. These members include Jenny Gilder, Professor Phyllis Watson, Vera Dimitropoulos, Laura Harris, Gowri Sririman, Cassandra Jordan and myself, Cassandra Rupnik. We wish them the best of luck and enjoyment.
Issues and Challenges
Our challenges are to continue to raise funds to cover the expenses of attending the numerous Careers Expos / Information Days. The committee is enthusiastic to continue advocating in this way and to bring our profession (HIM and Clinical Coding) to forefront of people’s minds when thinking about career choices.
We would like to bring more of the NSW membership into volunteering in special interest groups, PDs, events and other functions we hold. There is a very dedicated core group that we do not want to burn out. We aim to keep our committee vibrant, embracing and enthusiastic – it is the way forward for NSW.
Conclusion
I would like to thank the NSW Branch committee for the outstanding and committed work that they have undertaken again this year. I am proud to be a part of this wonderful group of people. They keep me enthused, as I am sure they also enthuse their colleagues on the committee and at their work places.
Congratulations for another successful year.
I am confident that 2016/17 will be just as good if not better!
Cassandra Rupnik, Branch President
34 QUEENSLAND BRANCH
The primarily focus of the Queensland network in the 2015/16 financial year was professional development activities for Queensland members and non-members and planning for 2016/17.
Activity and Achievements
Network activity and achievements for the 2015/16 financial year:
1. Professional Development Day, 11 July 2016, Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital The day attracted 55 delegates both members and non-members and 5 videoconference sites including sites in North Queensland and New Zealand. The program covered a variety of topics including: Health Funding Principles and Guideline Changes 2016/17 Coded Data Highlights, Considerations and Challenges Performance, Activity and Patient Cost Reporting Coding Auditing and Coder Clinical Liaison Analytics Tracking of Documentation and Reporting of Key Performance Indicators in the Scanning Unit ieMR Update and Site Experiences Primary Health Networks Setting up a Scan Centre. Keys to Success Private Patients in Public Hospitals – An Information Management Perspective 2. Professional Development Day, 10 August 2015, Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital The day attracted 70 delegates both members and non-members and videoconference sites. The program covered a variety of topics including: A Quartet of Project Management Concepts – Notes for the Busy Manager Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital Tour The Journey to Lady Cliento Children’s Hospital ICD-10-AM 9th Edition Changes Review and Data Element and Validation Changes Annual Changes to Perinatal Data Collection 2015/2016 Health Funding Principles and Guidelines Changes 2015/2016 3. Inaugural Queensland branch planning day completed, Mater Health Services Springfield
4. Engagement in National Office initiatives through branch president/network convenor meetings
Issues and Challenges Engaging and supporting members in rural Queensland Offering low cost professional development activities to members and non-members located outside of Brisbane Attracting members and non-members to professional development activities Offering professional development opportunities that meet the needs of members and non -members Regular communication to Queensland members from the network Expanding membership numbers through contact with non-members and past members in Queensland Review and update of Queensland component of HIMAA website to include specific Queensland content.
35
Conclusion The key focus for the Queensland Network, going forward into 2016/17, will be: Development of Queensland Branch road map following planning day and engagement with Queensland members Quarterly face-to-face professional development opportunities Engagement and support of rural members and non-members through targeted professional development opportunities Expansion of membership through engagement of non-members and previous members (including focus on clinical coder membership)
Gemma van Fleet , Branch Convenor
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN BRANCH
Office Bearers for 2015/16
Catherine Garvey President
The late Sandie Benz Senior Vice President
Lesley Ward Honorary Treasurer
Chris Robey Membership Officer
Jenny McCartney Continuing Education Facilitator/Website Liaison
The South Australian Branch Executive has met quarterly to discuss the issues of interest to the SA Branch.
Although our Membership rates have remained steady our only gathering of the Branch was in October last year as a social event to allow new members, local business interests and members to meet in an informal manner. One of the major influencing matters in South Australia, particularly for public sector employees, is the Transforming Health initiative introduced by the Minister. This Ministerial initiate engages a significant amount of change which has engrossed all our members in their daily responsibilities. In addition, SA is still working through the roll-out of the statewide electronic patient record EPAS (Enterprise Patient Administration System) and will in the not too distant future move the long-standing Royal Adelaide Hospital to a new location and hospital buildings.
Our Branch was saddened by the passing of our colleagues Lisa McDonough, formerly SA Health’s Account Manager with Recall on 3 April 2016, and our Senior Vice President (and former Elective Surgical Service Manager at Lyell McEwin Hospital), Sandie Benz on 14 June 2016.
We continue to sponsor at least one of our members to attend the HIMAA conference and look to organising an event before the end of 2016.
Catherine Garvey, Branch President
36 TASMANIAN BRANCH
The Tasmania HIMAA Branch is continuing with a small group of dedicated members. The Tasmania Branch Executive consists of: President – Trixie Kemp Vice-President – Nicola Hunt Treasurer – Mark Upton Secretary – Trixie Kemp
University Representative and Board Liaison – Dr Kerryn Butler-Henderson Activity and Achievements
Professional Development: Another successful professional development day was held in Launceston on 11 December. There were two streams held:
Kidneys, Babies and More: Clinical Update and Coding Workshop
Top Tips for Sharpening Your Information Management Skills
The event was well attended with 50 participants from Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales and two from New Zealand. All participants enjoyed the day and thought it was beneficial.
The day commenced with Dr Kerryn Butler-Henderson welcoming everyone and discussing the Professional Practice Principles. Richard Cornish then followed updating the participants on HIMAA membership options and benefits.
Coding Stream - Kidneys, Babies and More: Clinical Update and Coding Workshop
The Clinical Coding stream had fantastic feedback, especially for the clinical updates. The demonstrations provided by the Clinical Midwifery Educators were quite entertaining and the Renal update provided coders with a fantastic link between the disease processes and the ICD- 10-AM codes used to capture them. The afternoon session provided some great tips on ways that coders can connect with clinicians to not only improve their documentation, but also enhance their understanding of the coding process. The clinical coding workshop also achieved its goal with some great case presentations from coders around the state which generated lots of questions and discussion amongst coders.
Information Management Stream - Top Tips for Sharpening your Information Management Skills.
The Information Management stream had a broad range of topics including resilience, Personal Information Protection Act, record keeping basic, information risk, data standardisation and Master HIM degree.
The data standardisation session had lots of discussion and had the participants thinking. For instance, how you complete the following field: Name: ...... - how would you write your name? Mr J Bloggs Mr Joe Bloggs Joe Bloggs Bloggs, Joe Joe John Bloggs etc. This needs to be considered when designing eForms and interoperability.
37 National Conference: A Tasmania HIMAA Branch member presented a Practice Paper at the HIMAA NCCH Conference in October 2015 in Sydney. The paper titled ‘HIMS Contribute to High Completion Rates of Electronic Discharge Summaries’. The Tasmania Branch used funds raised through the professional development workshop to sponsor Melissa Jones, Clinical Coder from North West Tasmania, to attend the conference. Melissa found the event to be enjoyable and informative and has shared information gained with her colleagues.
HIM Awareness Week
The Branch planned activities during the Health Information Week from 14-18 March 2016 which included training in documentation and alerts, foyer displays, communication is staff newsletters and a Find-A-Word with prizes.
HIMAA-HISA Tasmania Joint Event
On 30 May 2016 the Branch and the newly formed HISA Tasmania hosted an education session in Launceston with video conference link to Hobart and Burnie. The presenters were:
Dr Tony Sahama (Queensland University of Technology) who spoke about the role of e- health in Sri Lanka.
Trixie Kemp (Tasmanian Health Service) who spoke about local initiatives, including the state-wide digital medical record and the electronic discharge summary system.
Issues and Challenges
Recruiting members continues to be a challenge for the Branch as many of the staff working in the field do not see benefits of being a member or find the cost too expensive.
Due to the low member numbers the burden of organising and running events sits with 2-3 people. Despite requests for assistance from other members, engagement remains poor.
Conclusion
The Branch is in a strong financial position due to excellent attendance at the annual professional development event and with the support of sponsors to host these events.
We have membership across clinical coding and health information management. Events are likely to continue to focus on Clinical Coding due to the workforce demand in Tasmania being more Clinical Coder focussed training than Health Information Management.
Joint education opportunities between with HISA will continue to be explored for staff working in the fields of Health Information Management and Health Informatics.
Trixie Kemp, Branch President
38 HIMAA BOARD WORKING GROUPS Working Groups include: Positioning and Advocacy Working Group Privacy Working Group Workforce Working Group
POSITIONING AND ADVOCACY WORKING GROUP
HIMAA’s 2014-2016 Strategic Plan identified positioning and advocacy as one of the plan’s three key strategic priority areas.
Positioning the profession involves placing the profession as we would want others to see it. This includes from within the workplace involving industry with the profession, through press releases and in policy documents. We are talking influencing here and how those in industry value the profession.
Advocacy is what we do on behalf of the profession through coal face engagement, setting the agenda for the profession to influence and change.
Activity and Achievements
The major focus for the Positioning and Advocacy working group has been the development of the Stakeholder Engagement Plan and Matrix. Outward engagement is very important to HIMAA as we are at the heart of the health environment. Identifying external stakeholders with whom we should be engaging and positioning and advocating on behalf of the profession needed to be determined. The stakeholders’ level of engagement was developed by identifying: Status of relationships – established engagement and those we need to contact Level of engagement desired by HIMAA – this was done by using HIMAA’s adopted adaptation of the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) levels of participation. The levels of engagement include: inform, consult, involve, collaborate and partnership Degree of functionality: working functional relationships with an MoU, working functional relationship, information/representation relations, apparitional relationships, unstable relations and barrier relations The Stakeholder Engagement Plan and Matrix was a major piece of work and I congratulate all involved in its development.
Issues and Challenges
The P & A working group did commission a HIMAA survey to measure the extent of underutilisation of the HIMAA workforce and the Workforce Working Group was engaged to design the survey. The aim was to determine the extent of role substitution in the HIMAA workforce. The Workforce working group quite rightly felt that the survey needed to be broader and more comprehensive and suggested university involvement in the process to add research vigour. It was felt through thinking out this project that a higher priority was to develop a common data set to research the configuration of the health information workforce (HIW) which could be used in successive years to ensure workplace requirements were keeping pace with the rapidly changing HIW workplace. The P & A working group looks forward to further developments with this project.
Conclusion I congratulate all past and present working group members who have provided valuable insight into developing the original statement of intent around positioning and advocacy as we move towards the adoption of the stakeholder engagement plan and look forward to future involvement
39 in positioning the profession and advocating on the professions behalf through future HIW studies. Jenny Gilder, Convenor, HIMAA President
WORKFORCE WORKING GROUP
The Workforce working group met regularly through 2015/16 with the purpose of driving sustained attention to the theme of workforce in the delivery of the HIMAA Strategy.
The group is chaired by Julie Brophy, with contribution from Janine Carter (former HIMAA Board), Jenn Lee, Vicki Bennett, Cheryl Waugh, Dr Kerryn Butler-Henderson (HIMAA Board), Bhavna Sehgal and Mary-Ellen Wetherspoon (NZ). Richard Lawrance, CEO HIMAA, also participates and the Executive Support Officer from HIMAA provides secretarial support.
Activity and Achievements
The efforts of the working group in 2015/16 have concentrated around the organising, delivery and summation of a Health Information Workforce Summit which was held on 30 October 2015 in Sydney. Over 100 attendees heard from a range of speakers on current workforce trends and participated in small group discussions and a facilitated forum to provide feedback.
A comprehensive report has been published on the HIMAA website was prepared of the findings from the Summit. It contains eighty five suggested actions for the profession, employers and government to address current health information workforce shortages and future needs.
Delegates also strongly supported the need for a unified voice to advocate and drive progress in building and transforming the future health information workforce. This is an important acknowledgement of the peak bodies represented: Health Informatics Society Australia (HISA), and Australasian College of Health Informatics (ACHI), Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA), Group Health Libraries Australia (HLA)) and will facilitate future closer working relationships with HIMAA.
Findings from the Summit have also informed the HIMAA Workforce Strategy and the work of the working group who are now focussing on how to implement relevant recommendations. The first significant piece of work will be to organise a follow up Summit, scheduled for 11 November 2016, with the aim of engaging with employers to progress implementation of recommendations from the 2015 Summit.
Issues and Challenges
Maintaining momentum in the face of day-to-day pressures is always a challenge for members of working groups. However, the importance of this work is strongly felt by working group members and supported by the HIMAA Board.
Conclusion
There are many challenges facing the health information workforce – lack of pathways into work, access to appropriate training and professional development, and transforming to meet the needs of the future, to name a few. However, it is encouraging that HIMAA is taking a proactive role for its members in contributing to a sustainable and value-added vision for the profession.
Julie Brophy, Convenor
40 SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
HIMAA Special Interest Groups (SIGs) include: Health Insurance SIG International HIM SIG National Clinical Coding SIG National Private Hospitals SIG NSW Private Hospitals SIG Rural and Remote SIG Scanning and eHealth SIG Victorian Chief HIM SIG Victorian Mental Health SIG
National Private Hospital SIG
The HIMAA Private Hospital Special Interest Group (PHSIG) which consists of 18 members from all states within Australia has been meeting quarterly for 2016. The PHSIG provides the opportunity for networking, sharing of information, promoting best practice and discussing issues of common interest within the private health sector.
Activity and Achievements
The group reviewed the NSW document on Guidelines for the Retention of Medical Records in Private Hospitals and is currently working towards developing National Guidelines.
Many of the private hospitals represented within this group use WebPAS as their PAS system and there has been considerable discussion around the functionality and enhancements of this product. These discussions led to the establishment of a WebPAS user group meeting. The first meeting of this user group was held in August 2016.
Privacy Awareness Week was celebrated by a number of hospitals and ideas and suggestions were shared within the group. Benchmarking activities have been undertaken and many hospitals have benefited from exchanging this information.
Issues and Challenges
One of the significant challenges facing the private hospitals is the recruitment of experienced HIMs. Strategies were discussed within the group and support offered to members in addressing this gap. Other challenges discussed were the amount of audits that have been undertaken at hospitals and their impact on resources.
Conclusion
We welcome all members from the private hospital sector to join this group and we look forward to providing network opportunities and support for all HIMAA members
Nicole Payne, Convenor
NSW Private Hospitals SIG
The NSW Private Hospitals SIG is an active group which identifies unique issues in the private hospital industry in NSW which have originated at a national or NSW-state level. It provides an opportunity for members to address these issues and direct any concerns to the branch and also promote health information management amongst private hospitals.
41 Activity and Achievements The NSW Private Hospital SIG met for quarterly meetings at private hospitals and venues which were rotated. Teleconference facilities were available for members to dial in. Private hospitals were generous in their provision of meeting rooms, refreshments and tours of Health Information Services Departments.
Elizabeth Bush, Secretary, wrote to the HIMAA Board with the recently drafted Retention of Records Guidelines and the Board directed it to the National Private Hospital SIG for discussion.
Melissa Venn continued to co-ordinate the Duplicate MRN Benchmarking Project for the members. Members utilise the results for quality programs and accreditation.
A regular coding query and training item was added to the agenda.
Different types of medico-legal requests were discussed and new legislation relevant to members was tabled.
Health funds data submissions and issues around fund requests for clinical notes were regularly raised and discussed.
Members were aware of the various computerised patient administration systems amongst the SIG and shared information on eHealth and relevant products marketed and under development.
Issues and Challenges
The NSW Private Hospital SIG identified issues such as the shortage of Health Information Managers and qualified Clinical Coders in the private hospital industry, including in health funds. The longer term SIG members mentored newer members to the group and all members networked. Members were aware of the disparity in industrial conditions between the public and private hospital industries. The SIG plans to communicate with the Private Health Care Branch of NSW Health to determine if advocating and positioning is appropriate.
Special thanks to Vanessa Young for her term as Convenor and Elizabeth Bush for her terms as Secretary. Emily Pezzotti was welcomed as Secretary due to Elizabeth’s leave. Conclusion
The NSW Private Hospital Special Interest Group has moved another year closer to its 30th Anniversary in 2018 and is the longest functioning SIG of HIMAA. The SIG advocates Education Services of HIMAA and universities offering health information management courses in the private hospital industry. Members promote HIMAA membership in their private hospitals and network. The SIG consists of a dedicated group of HIMs and Clinical Coders, many of whom have served as members for a significant length of time. Their contribution is acknowledged in this Annual Report.
Cassandra Jordan, Board Liaison
42 Rural and Remote SIG Since commencing in July 2015 we have held four meetings. Good attendance has been experienced at all meetings and people seem to look forward to the chance to catch up with other HIMs and discuss topics or ask questions related to HIM areas that they might not necessarily be able to do in their own workplace.
Activity and Achievements
Achievements so far have included being able to have speakers from different areas across Australia talk about current projects or situations that they are involved in. Our last meeting included discussion around Coding and also Clinical Information Systems.
We are currently working on a webpage for the Rural and Remote SIG and this is something that is a collaborative project by group members. It is hoped that this will be ready for members within the next two months. Topics we have already discussed include:
Clinical Coder Education and Development Quality Improvement Clinical Documentation Improvement HIM Mentoring Program Clinician Engagement Archival Processes for Medical Records Activity Based Funding/Management Scanned Records Processes HIM Projects Challenges of being a HIM in the rural sector Electronic Health Records HIMAA Awareness Week Privacy Issues and Challenges
The issues that we face include not all HIMs in rural sectors being qualified as a HIM therefore greater encouragement for these HIMs to join as associate members would be a good idea.
Other issues being a national group includes time of the meeting and sometimes the communication network not cooperating.
Challenges for the HIM in the rural sector in general are many, including isolation, lack of understanding of what a HIM actually does, lack of management support for HIMs to attend meetings, technology breakdown and the amount of sheer hard work that a rural HIM undertakes.
Conclusion
I have been pleasantly surprised at the attendance numbers at each meeting, usually at least eight people, particularly given the challenges that we face as mentioned above. I feel that we have only just scratched the surface in terms of providing a level of support and information to HIMs in this sector but I am hopeful that this group will continue to grow and prosper. I am looking forward to our group having more of an electronic and easily accessible presence with the addition of the webpage on the HIMAA site.
Sharon Campbell , Convenor
43 Scanning and eHealth SIG 2015 -2016 has seen the merge of the eHealth SIG and Scanning SIG to form the current eHealth and Scanning SIG. Involvement by many health agencies has resulted in greater discussion and support across many health organisation and states within Australia.
Activity and Achievements
A working party has been established for the revision of AS2828. This working party processed their final submission for revision of the AS2828 on 16 March 2016. In July we were informed that the proposal to update the AS2828 Health records - Digitised health record system requirements was not successful.
With the support and assistance of Jenny Richards along with Leanne Holmes and the original members of the working party, a second submission requesting the revision of the AS2828 Health records - Digitised health record system requirements is being collated. This request is required to be submitted by 21 September 2016, where we will await the outcome.
Issues and Challenges
Resignation of Krissy Zamora from the Secretary role effective 23 August 2016.
Conclusion
The eHealth and Scanning SIG have been diligently working as a cohesive group to support fellow health organisations across Australia transition from paper-based medical records to scanned or electronic medical records. We are sharing lessons learned and ideas of improvement while continuing to progress the revision of AS2828 Health records - Digitised health record system requirements.
Brooke Whiteside , Convenor
Victorian Chief HIM SIG
The key purpose of the Victorian Senior Health Information Manager’s (SHIM) Special Interest Group (SIG) is to provide advice and support on building linkages between Health Services.
The Victorian SHIM SIG meets bi-monthly in Melbourne. HIMs from all hospitals are welcome to be involved, including metro and country, public and private.
The SIG meets in person at the Department of Health and Human Services and teleconference facilities are available to broaden access for members.
Activity and Achievements Establishment of Terms of Reference and renaming of the group from ‘Chief HIM’ to ‘Senior HIM’ Creation of a user group portal (Gov.Dex) to upload agendas, minutes, standards etc. as a means of communication Discussions and sharing of information relating to records management, privacy and other day-to-day operations to assist Health Information Managers and their teams to operate efficient and effective health information services through a network of like-minded professionals Share advice between members in preparing for National Standards accreditation surveys Share information relating to Department of Health and Human Services statutory extracts and audits conducted with regular updates from DHHS Liaison with other relevant Special Interest Groups
44 Liaison with the Public Record Office of Victoria (PROV) around health record retention schedules and record keeping standards Review of the bi-annual Victorian hospitals HIS benchmarking KPIs for the November 2015 collection which now includes KPIs from the Victorian Coding SIG Review changes to legislation that relate to health information management Promotion of ongoing education of members Issues and Challenges Recruitment and retention of HIMs/Coding workforce Clinical Coder classification and coder competency Lack of suitable technology solutions/funding for management of clinical photography Having sufficient volunteer members to convene the meetings, produce agenda, take minutes and collate benchmarking data Conclusion
The membership of the group is stable, with more people utilising the teleconference services than meeting face-to-face. The SIG has been meeting for at least 17 years and will continue into the future. Emilia Pezzi, Convenor
Victorian Mental Health SIG
The HIMAA VIC Mental Health Advisory Group has the following goals: To liaise with Victorian Department of Health And Human Services (DHHS) representatives regarding issues relevant to records management, health information management, reporting requirements and mental health legislation To educate and promote awareness of the Victorian Mental Health Legislation Health Information Management and DHHS mental health requirements To develop and disseminate reference materials of recommended practice relating to administration of various sections of the Mental Health Act, mental health services information systems and record management To advise and assist members on the transition to electronic/digital health records in mental health services To discuss mental health coding issues and review and develop mental health codes as necessary in liaison with the appropriate coding reference bodies To provide advice to the HIMAA Victorian Branch and HIMAA Victoria Special Interest Groups on Health Information Service issues within mental health services To facilitate linkages between individual group members and to external bodies such as the NCCH and ACHS To provide peer support and assist HIMs and others working within mental health services To develop or assist in the development of standards relating to mental health medical record/health information and information sharing issues
Key Activities & Achievements Following a request from Victorian Department of Health And Human Services (DHHS) to MHAG, MHAG nominated representatives participated in:
Compulsory Notifications Project Working group – Charged with reviewing and providing solutions to the mental health compulsory notifications information workflow for mental health services
45 Following a request from the Victorian Office of the Chief Mental Health Nurse to MHAG, MHAG nominated representatives participated in:
Restraint Reporting Working Group – Charged with making reporting restraint in Emergency Departments more straightforward and to better separate physical and mechanical restraint reporting.
Were approached by the Victorian Mental Health Tribunal to provide feedback in relation to the development of the MHT Case Management System’s interface with CMI/ODS, and the impact to designated mental health services. MHAG Participated in feedback to the ACCD ICD Technical Group via Victorian Representative, i.e. Victorian ICD Coding Committee secretary in relation to ACHI 10th ed Addenda Proposal – Mental Health Interventions.
Issues and Challenges
The HIMAA Victorian Branch appears to have taken down their SIG website which previously informed HIMAA members in Victoria of the MHAG, and how to get in contact to participate, it would be great if this was reinstated.
Conclusion
MHAG meetings are hosted by DHHS and are well attended in person by both rural and metropolitan members. The mental health HIM support network continues to strengthen, with several instances of members remaining in MHAG despite moving between different mental health services. The reputation of MHAG as a reliable advisory group for mental health information processes and reporting is reinforced with feedback from both members and external groups seeking MHAG advice.
Varun Krishnan , Convenor
REPRESENTATIVES
HIMAA Representations include: CHIA - Certified Health Informatician Australia - Board of Governance and Examination Committee HL7 IFHIMA - International Federation of HIM Associations
CHIA
The CHIA Partnership Board has been formed by two representatives from HIMAA, HISA and ACHI to oversee the Certified Health Informatician Australasia program. HIMAA’s representatives are Travis Ingram and Kerryn Butler-Henderson, with Travis holding the Chair position. The CPB provides the oversight function for running the CHIA program such as formal partnership agreements, strategic direction, certification quality standards and program viability.
Activity and Achievements
The past year has seen the ratification of a number of administrative processes such as the governance framework, operational procedures, complaints and appeals process and the
46 recertification process. Further Terms of Reference have been approved by CPB for the Examination Committee and Stakeholder Reference Group. Significant progress has been made to the creation and approval of a Quality Framework.
The year has seen a refresh of the examination questions and a growth in numbers. There are now 203 successful CHIAs with 374 registered since 2013 to undertake the certification.
Issues and Challenges
The main challenge is to maintain some momentum and ensure that CHIAs see relevance to recertify as there are a number heading into recertification timeframe.
Conclusion
It has been a fairly successful year with many of the outstanding administrative instruments finalised and a move towards maintenance and improving the program. Travis Ingram HL7
HL7 Australia had its inaugural working group meeting in June. This meeting is where new standards are created or old standards updated. The Patient Care working group is looking at updates to information required for communication of identifying information. All HL7 members are invited to participate.
Internationally there have been significant pieces of work, including the development of 'Formal Characteristics of Value Set Definitions'. This work defines the metadata required for information storage and exchange in order to ensure clear representation of concepts now and in the future. All EHR systems require this level of metadata for all computable data in our systems. HL7 is also moving towards a single terminology specification and repository across all HL7 products, V2, CDA and FHIR. At the moment each standard product has its own separate approach. HL7 has a formal agreement with IHTSDO for the use of SNOMED CT content in their standards.
The next year will be working out how to implement these decisions and improve the skills and understanding of the community of users (such as HIMs and Vendors) of the real needs for EHRs and EHR systems.
Heather Grain
IFHIMA
HIMAA continues to maintain its national member status with IFHIMA. This report provides an overview of IFHIMA activities over the past year.
Activity and Achievements
HIMAA was privileged to have the IFHIMA Executive Board in attendance and contributing as keynote speakers at the HIMAA National Conference in October 2015. IFHIMA Board members were present from Germany, US, Japan, Korea, Spain, Nigeria and Canada. This was a great opportunity to showcase to the international leaders in HIM the profile and work of health information management in Australia and the capability of HIMAA. The IFHIMA Board were impressed with the conference and their visit to Sydney. It was also a great opportunity for HIMAA members to learn from our international peers.
In the April edition of Global News, the IFHIMA Newsletter, I provided an article on HIMAA’s
47 Professional Practice Guidelines, for the information of the global HIM community. At the end of May I was invited to attend the 1st International Scientific and National Member Meeting on Health Information Management by the Indonesian Higher Education for Health Information Management Association in Yogyakarta Indonesia on behalf of the IFHIMA President. I was one of the main keynote speakers at the meeting, speaking on ‘International Perspectives in Health Information Management’ and a second presentation on ‘Health Information Management in Australia’. The second presentation in particular generated a lot of interest from attendees interested in undertaking post graduate qualifications in health information management in Australia. While in Yogyakarta I was also invited to give a lecture to university students on electronic medical record implementation – repeated on a second day to students who had travelled a few hours to attend. There are over 40 education institutions in Indonesia that provide diploma, bachelor and/or master degree education in health information management. A report on the meeting is available in the August edition of Global News.
At the end of May, Vicki Bennett, the Australian IFHIMA Deputy-Director, attended the Pacific Health Information Network’s Meeting on Strengthening Health Information Systems in the Pacific. There were 17 Pacific island countries represented, with 55 people attending overall, including donor partner representatives. A report on the meeting is also available in the August edition of Global News.
At the time of writing this report, the 3 year IFHIMA International Congress is due to occur from the 12th-14th October in Tokyo, Japan. There will be 30 Australians in attendance with a number of Australian presentations during the Congress program. This will be a great opportunity to hear the achievements of the profession, the challenges continuing to be faced in many countries and the international priorities to be progressed over the next 3 years. I will be presenting on the ‘Current Status of Health Information Management in the Western Pacific Region’ as well as hosting a regional meeting for attendees from the Western Pacific. A full report will be available in the next edition of Global News, on the IFHIMA website at www.ifhima.org
At the Congress, my term as Australian National Director including Western Pacific Regional Director and IFHIMA Executive Board member will cease following 6 years of service. Vicki Bennett will also cease her service as Australian Deputy Director after more than 6 years involvement with IFHIMA. The incoming Australian National Director is Vera Dimitropoulos and the Australian Deputy Director is Kerryn Butler-Henderson. I wish Vera and Kerryn every success as they continue to represent Australia in a formal capacity at the International Federation of Health Information Management Associations. Sallyanne Wissmann, Australian National Director, IFHIMA
48