Mississippi Health Information Association Urges Mississippi Legislators to Support Key Initiative to Improve the Quality of Patient Care

Contact: Robby Channell, 601-968-5135 rchannell@mbhs.org

Jackson, Miss. – April 6, 2006 - Patsy Hathorn, RHIA, met with Mississippi Legislators in Washington, DC, on March 16 to discuss the urgent need to upgrade the system healthcare organizations use to code and classify patient diagnosis and procedures.

Ms. Hathorn is Director of Clinical Resource Management at Baptist Health Systems.

“The coding system we use today was developed and implemented in the 1970s and can no longer capture today’s medical knowledge or support the transition to an interoperable electronic health record system in the United States,” said Patsy Hathorn. “Technology alone will not address the need for better information. We also need to improve the quality of the data we use in order to improve patient care.”

While visiting with Mississippi Legislators , Ms. Hathorn discussed the importance for more accurate and complete coded patient information and health data in order to improve healthcare delivery, quality monitoring and patient safety, research, analysis, and reimbursement. The U.S. is currently the only developed country not using this updated system, called ICD-10, making it difficult for the U.S. to share disease and mortality data with other countries. As a result, the ability to track and respond to international public health threats and bioterrorism events in real time is limited by the reliance on an outdated system.

In addition to upgrading the U.S. classification system, Ms. Hathorn and Mississippi Legislators discussed other issues related to improve the quality of health information for better patient care. These include education and training for a skilled workforce to manage electronic health information systems, genetic nondiscrimination laws needed to protect health information, and the development of the nationwide health information network.

“2006 is a crucial year for health information issues. Mississippi Health Information Association and its members have a professional obligation to play an active role in initiatives that can improve healthcare through quality information,” adds Patsy Hathorn. “I was pleased to have the opportunity to talk to our representatives in Congress and appreciate their interest in these issues. I feel strongly that we made our voices heard.”

Patsy Hathorn joined more than 150 health information management (HIM) leaders who made visits on Capitol Hill as part of the 2006 Capitol Hill Day, an annual event sponsored by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).

For more information visit AHIMA’s Web site at www.ahima.org.

Mississippi Health Information Association is an affiliate of the AHIMA, the premier association of health information management (HIM) professionals. AHIMA's 50,000 members are dedicated to the effective management of personal health information needed to deliver quality healthcare to the public. Founded in 1928 to improve the quality of medical records, AHIMA is committed to advancing the HIM profession in an increasingly electronic and global environment through leadership in advocacy, education, certification, and lifelong learning.

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