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HIMAA MATTERS The monthly newsletter of the Health Information Management Association of Australia Limited
MARCH 2020
VOLUME 6/ED 3
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INSIDE
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ISSUE
President's Report
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From the office of the CEO
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HIM Awareness Week
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Tales from Tassie
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membership@himaa.org.au
LaTrobe Professional Practice Seminar
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MARKETING & EVENTS
HIM - Interchange
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IFMRO to IFHRO to IFHIMA
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Hot job of the week
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Work Web Listings
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GENERAL ENQUIRIES +61 2 9887 5001
himaa@himaa.org.au MEMBERSHIP SERVICES +61 2 9887 5002
+61 2 9887 5821
marketing@himaa.org.au ACCOUNTS +61 2 9887 5007 +61 2 9887 5003
accounts@himaa.org.au EDUCATION SERVICES +61 2 9887 5898
education@himaa.org.au I.T. SERVICES +61 2 8877 5378 +61 2 8877 5014
support@himaa.org.au
ABN: 54 008 451 910
RTO ID: 91660
Locked Bag 2045, North Ryde, NSW 1670
PRESIDENTS
REPORT
Hello Members, We’re living in unprecedented times. The most important thing is that we’re taking the necessary precautions to stay healthy and follow the advice from the experts i.e. Chief Medical Officer and the government.
Board Meeting The Board met last Friday via videoconference, which is the medium that we’re going to utilise through the foreseeable future. This new way of work is now common to many of us as workplace lockdowns come into place. In his first month, Mark Upton our interim CEO has been busy assessing our National Office operations and uncovered a number of potential risks for HIMAA in the current environment of a down-turning economy. Considering the impact of COVID-19 where we’ll see a lot of small and medium sized businesses struggle to survive, the Board and interim CEO will start looking at necessary options to keep HIMAA viable. The Board was pleased with the tone and function of the meeting when faced with such a rapidly changing environment.
National Conference The Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM)/ HIMAA Leadership conference that was to be held on the 20th of March with high profile speakers including HIMs that have progressed to senior ranks in healthcare was cancelled on the 11th of March. ACHSM showed leadership by making the conference cancellation call early when many were at that stage still pontificating on what to do with COVID-19. Further to this and in breaking news, the HIMAA Board has decided to postpone our National Conference that was scheduled to be held in late October in Melbourne given the uncertainty of COVID-19 and the viability of sponsors, delegates and their employers to support a mass gathering of people in confined spaces. This decision gives HIMAA certainty of intent and focuses our energies on investigating and delivering professional development events virtually in conjunction with our branches and special interest groups. Expressions of Interests for Conference Committee positions are open till COB Friday 27th of March, 2020. I encourage
you to apply as the committee will be crucial for the success of the conference in 2021.
Advocacy I was invited to attend the Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) Special Interest Group on the 10th of March. I presented on why the group should be part of HIMAA. The group has rapidly grown under the stewardship of Dreda Heard. Prior to the meeting, I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours to learn about CDI in the Australian setting from Dreda and saw the passion she has for this emerging field. Let’s not forget that good clinical documentation standards have always been an entry level competency for HIMs. HIMAA will continue to support members involved in CDI. Mark Upton and I attended one of the consultation sessions for the National Health Information Strategy Framework facilitated by one of the sub-committees of the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Council (AHMAC). We emphasised the role and contribution of HIMs and CCs in good health information practices. The session was facilitated by Dr Norman Swan of ABC Radio National fame and who has been a high-profile commentator during the COVID-19 crisis. He gravitated to Mark and I on a number occasions for our thoughts.
Paparazzi On a lighter note, I noticed our very own Phyllis Watson in a photo from the Sydney Morning Herald/ The Age in relation to shopping hours for the vulnerable. I shared the photo with Phyllis and her response was “Yes that’s me! A man was taking photos and I stopped and he waved me on I continued walking - I didn't know he took it! I have no idea who he was and I wasn't going to Woolworths”. Damn paparazzi, leave our Phyllis alone! Stay healthy! Cheens Lee President Email: cheensl@himaa.org.au
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FROM THE OFFICE OF THE
Chief Executive Officer My first interim CEO report was brimming with good news. This report will start with a little more sobering tone. Well, what a time we are facing. Unprecedented impacts to the way we run our businesses and our lives due to the ongoing global pandemic event. The HIMAA National Office has literally gone into planning and mitigation overdrive to ensure we can continue to deliver our business in support of members, students, strategic partners and other affiliated organisations. Some of the approaches we have taken: • Cancellation of meetings, conferences and travel is now commonplace, and, in their stead, we move to greater reliance on (existing and pending) technology. • National Office Work from Home (WFH) considerations. Who? How? When? Who currently can’t and what can we do to fix this? • Preparing communiques distribution as required
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• Working with office staff to ensure we are all aware of our personal responsibilities and to ensure we all maintain health and wellbeing All in all, the National Office team have risen to the occasion and are working proactively to ensure we continue to deliver as needed. Keep an eye out for announcements.
A good example is my attendance at the recent (Melbourne based) Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC) as part of the consultation for the development of a National Health Information Strategy (NHIS). HIMAA provided pertinent and salient points and these were well received. I will continue to review all Memorandum of Understanding, Service Agreements and Strategic Partnerships to make sure they hold value for our association. Further, I look forward to undertaking market analysis to see who is new and investigate whether forging professional relationships with these professions/ fields can bring value to HIMAA members. In continuation of my theme from my first report, I am also pleased to raise the profile of the ongoing work of the Membership Committee. This committee now also includes Branch Convenors amongst its membership so we are confident that our capacity to consult with members at the local level will be greatly enhanced. Meeting attendance was strong, discussion was robust and authentic and a clear program of work (with a strong focus on quality over quantity) was established. We feel strongly that the program of work identified will be of value to HIMAA members both new, old and emerging. In my last report I started with a thank you. Today I want to finish with one. Thank you to HIMAA national office staff for making my transition into the role as easy as possible
It was disappointing to note the cancellation of the HIMAA/ACHSM Conference to be held in Melbourne on 20th March followed by a scheduled face to face Board Meeting. For those who were attending the conference, watch this space.
Thank you to my (other) team for supporting me to undertake this role.
My first few weeks in the CEO role have seen me undertake a significant level of knowledge acquisition and I find myself impressed by the way that HIMAA has affiliated itself with many professional groups and that these groups welcome HIMAA input.
Finally, thanks to all of us for doing a great job in supporting the outputs of the health Information profession in such challenging times.
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Thank you to those members who have reached out to offer an opinion or value statement
Mark Upton (ACTING) CEO, HIMAA
NATIONAL HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT AWARENESS WEEK ia
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11-17 May 2020 | #himawareness20
HIMAA is once again organising and promoting the National Health Information Management Awareness Week from 11 to 17 May 2020. The idea is to honour and celebrate health information professionals, to raise awareness that HIM professionals have the knowledge, skills and capability to contribute to and improve health care systems together with the health and wellness of the nation. It’s all about raising awareness of the important work health information management professionals perform. In the evolving situation with COVID-19, we understand that most of the usually suggested activities, e.g. HIS Department tours and hospital tours, workshops, presentations and all types of social gatherings are out of question. However, we still have cyber space to promote ourselves and potentially organise unmanned educational displays or run online quizzes and competitions that do not involve face-to-face interactions. A lot of opportunities for the creativity of your team members. We would also like to encourage you to contribute to your organisation’s news hubs, newsletters and social media posts. With the current burden on health sector, the work of all involved becomes even more prominent and deserves encouragement. We will be running a National Poster Competition amongst HIM Students. More details will be available in the next issue. Upon request HIMAA will supply event Posters for display as well as other collateral and potentially merchandise. To request your promo pack, please email events@himaa.org.au Postage will be organised in April, COVID-19 situation permitting. When planning your virtual events and social media presence please make sure you submit them to events@ himaa.org.au as well. We will add them to the HIM Awareness Week webpage. Do not forget to use the event’s # when you will be posting on social media #himawareness20 We understand that this year’s HIM Awareness Week will look different due to unforeseeable forces but it’s still in our hands to spread the word out about our wonderful profession and its passionate members. We look forward to hearing from you what planning is underway, and we thank you for the tremendous support in advance.
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Enquiries: Milla Krivozhnya, Marketing and Events Manager, HIMAA Ph: +61 2 9887 5821 E-mail: events@himaa.org.au
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HIMAA MATTERS | MARCH 2020
TALES FROM TASSIE Farewell from Trixie and welcome to new Tasmania Branch Convenors After five years in the role of Tasmania Branch Convenor, I am stepping down to concentrate on my PhD. I am very proud of what the Branch has achieved over the last 5 years which included hosting the very successful National Conference in 2018. I was also very honoured to receive the award HIM Practitioner of Year for Tasmania 2018. It has been my privilege to work is such an active branch at the National and State level as well as host to multiple Health Information Awareness Week activities and the annual professional development day. I was also pleased that as a branch we funded 8 people to attend the National Conference in the last 4 years. The Tassie Branch has been wonderful work with, and I will continue to work in the background supporting the branch. After an expression of interest recruitment process, a new Branch Convenor has been found. Well two actually! Following on the model from NSW which shares the workload, the Tasmania Branch will have Co-Convenors – Nicola Hunt and Hayley Niewerth. This offers more opportunity for face to face contact with the Branch Convenor. Nicola is based in Launceston, with regular travel across Tasmania as the Statewide Clinical Coding Manager. Nicola has been the deputy-Convenor for the last five years and one of the key organisers in all the Tasmania branch events. Many people know Nicola from working in Victoria and Tasmania as well as her involvement with committees and special interest groups. Some of you may even remember Nicola from the HIM-Interchange 2012 (vol 2) ‘Health Information Management – Tasmania’s Experience’. Outside of the HIM world, Nicola can be found enjoying Tasmania’s beautiful natural environment of beaches, bush and mountains – walking, bike riding, camping… Hayley is Hobart based and brings a wealth of knowledge from clinical coding overseas in Qatar, in Australia (Queensland and Tasmania) working in hospitals and remote coding. Hayley has a background in clinical coding, health informatics, auditing and education. Hayley is passionate about the HIM profession, particularly coding accuracy. As one of the newest members of the Branch, Hayley brings some fresh eyes to branch activities. Please give Nicola and Hayley all the support and encouragement that has been offered to me. Nicola and Hayley can be contacted at: himaa@himaa.org Bye for now, Trixie.
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HIMAA MATTERS | MARCH 2020
La Trobe University’s
Professional Practice Placement Seminar 14 February 2020 La Trobe University recently hosted a Professional Practice Placement event, inviting industry, students and academics to share perspectives on the placement experience. There a total of 26 attendees at the event. A special thank you to the Sydney HIMs for their remote participation via Zoom. Constructively, students provided honest insight into the value of this placement to build relationships with industry, grow their confidence through professional experience and the struggles to articulate if the work demands/expectations were too great. Catherine Perry, Information Architect, provided professional wisdom tempering the placement experience according to the student’s level of learning and David Mangano, Operations Manager, generously shared a snapshot of a comprehensive orientation schedule created for the student. Merilyn Riley, acting Discipline Lead provided advice pertaining to the placement requirements and mapped these to the HIMAA competencies. Natasha Prasad, Associate Lecturer facilitated the day’s events as well as harnessing the direction of discussions from the convened panel. The opportunity to mingle, network, learn and share ideas is suitably captured in the accompanying photographs. La Trobe University will be hosting another exciting one-day seminar and workshop suitably titled “Celebrating HIMs” discovering ways to enhance industry partnerships forged between the University and HIM workforce. Save the dates in your diaries!
latrobe.edu.au
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The Health Information Management -Interchange Volume 10 Issue 1 2020
Now Available Online When writing my editor’s letter at the end of 2019, the start of the new year, as always, brought the sense of excitement that comes with an opportunity to regroup and set new goals. The fact it was the start of a new decade provided an even greater level of anticipation. I think it is fair to say that 2020 is not what any of us anticipated. First the devastating bushfires on a scale never seen before. Now the outbreak of COVID-19 has made us face situations we hoped never to face. Some of you will be working and living in bushfire affected areas as they try to rebuild, while also manage the emerging COVID-19 situation. As workers in the healthcare sector, many of you will be working directly on the response to COVID-19, putting in place the emergency response and working long hours, while trying to keep your families safe. Our thoughts are with all of you. In these times of physical isolation and social distancing, what will get us through is staying connected with our families, friends, neighbours and colleagues. Stay safe, check in with each other and take each day as it comes. Joanne Fitzgerald Editor
IFMRO to IFHRO to IFHIMA - An Historical Overview 1949 – 2019
IFMRO to IFHRO to IFHIMA - An Historical Overview 1949 – 2019 is a new historical work by our longstanding Life Member, Professor Phyllis Watson and was launched at the recent IFHIMA Conference in Dubai. This invaluable work places Phyllis’s history of HIMAA in the global context of the HIM profession’s worldwide journey and is excellent reading for all HIMAA members! This comprehensive update to Phyllis’s original history of the International Federation of HIM Associations is available for sale now. The hard copy version of the book is available for purchase from HIMAA. To own your own copy of the book, simply email membership@himaa.org.au to order, subject heading ‘IFHIMA History’. Members can purchase at the special discounted price of $35 (incl gst) plus postage. A “must buy” for 2020 and will soon be available to purchase through the HIMAA online store!
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HIMAA MATTERS | MARCH 2020
Manager - Coding Services Bendigo, Australia
JOB OF THE WEEK
Job Ref: 29217 This senior role provides leadership to Bendigo Health on all aspects of clinical coding including managing the large Coding Services team including Health Information Managers, Clinical Coders, Clinical Documentation Specialists, Clinical Coding Auditors and Clinical Coding Educators and trainee clinical coding staff. Bendigo Health is a leader in regional health care, combining outstanding services with a strong education, training and personal development culture. Bendigo is one of Victoria's fastest growing regional cities, our vision is "Excellent Care. Every Person. Every Time."
Manager - Coding Services Bendigo, Australia
Quality and Patient Information provides leadership and support for quality improvement, patient safety and experience and health information services ... Read more
New Website, New Work-Web Checkout our new job board! Another reason to advertise with HIMAA
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Submit a job
Work Web Notice Board March 2020 | HIMAA Job Title: Manager – Coding Services
Job Title: Senior Health Information Manager
Position Type: Full Time
Position Type: Full time
Organisation: Bendigo Health
Organisation: St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne
Location: Bendigo, Australia
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact Name: Julie Ritchie
Contact Name: Brooke Phyland
Contact Email: jritchie@bendigohealth.org.au
Contact Email: brooke.phyland@svha.org.au
Application Closes: 14/04/2020
Application Closes: 22/04/2020
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Job Title: Clinical Coder Auditor / Coder ...
Job Title: Clinical Coder
Position Type: Full Time
Position Type: Full time
Organisation: Healthscope – Gold Coast...
Organisation: South West Healthcare
Location: Gold Coast, Australia
Location: VIC, Australia
Contact Name: Nadine Smith
Contact Name: Cathy Dow
E: nadine.smith@healthscope.com.au
Contact Email: cdow@swh.net.au
Application Closes: 18/04/2020
Application Closes: 12/04/2020
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Job Title: Senior Health Information Manager
Job Title: Health Information Manager
Position Type: Full time
Position Type: Full time
Organisation: St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne
Organisation: South West Healthcare
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Location: VIC, Australia
Contact Name: Brooke Phyland
Contact Name: Cathy Dow
Contact Email: brooke.phyland@svha.org.au
Contact Email: cdow@swh.net.au
Application Closes: 22/04/2020
Application Closes: 12/04/2020
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