Note from the Instructor: Happy Health Information Professional Week!

By Laurie L. Prescott, RN, MSN, CCDS, CDIP, CRC

In 1986, many of us were humming to Timbuk3’s one hit wonder, “The future is so bright—I gotta wear shades.” Well, we do have a bright future, and sunglasses always make a person look so HIP! So, slap on your shades in celebration of HIP week. March 18-24 is HIP week, honoring Health Information Professionals, whose theme proclaims, “Our Future is Bright!”

Many of ACDIS’ members wandered over to the CDI world from the HIM realm (many are coders). I often remind nurse CDI specialists that the original CDI specialists were all coders. I was hired to work in CDI within the HIM department and tell people every day I was certainly raised by a pack of coders. I would not be the CDI professional I am today without the assistance of the staff of the HIM department.

Prior to my venture into CDI, my impression of HIM professionals was misinformed. They had so many rules for us to follow and always seemed irritated when I asked to have old records pulled. I did not understand the work happening in those offices.

While my perspective has certainly changed, one thing hasn’t—HIM professionals have always had their eyes on the future.

The HIM director looking at my resume during my first CDI interview noted I switched jobs every two to three years. She questioned my commitment. They would have to train me and with that investment of time and resources, they wanted to be sure I would stick around. It was a pointed and honest question.

I confirmed for her that I would give the job at least three years, but ended the discussion with my opinion that no one should ever stay in one position too long—everyone should seek growth and change and take on new challenges.

“People get stale and ineffective if they remain in the same role,” I said.

She patiently smiled, looked at me very seriously, and replied, “I have been the HIM director at this facility for almost 30 years.”

I pulled my feet out of my mouth. Somehow, she actually hired me. In the six years I stayed in this job, she and her staff taught me what HIM professionals did, and how seriously they took the responsibility of protecting the stories of the patients who chose care at our organization. Staff worked diligently to care for the hybrid records, never losing a loose paper, never compromising a patient’s privacy. Transcriptionists worked to ensure the story was clearly told, and the coders ensured those stories translated accurately to codes representing that patient’s complexities.

She taught me you don’t have to change jobs to grow professionally. In the short time I spent with this group, the focus of the department evolved to an integrated EHR, re-design of transcription services, ICD-10 implementation, integration of CDI, and a drastically changing world with new expectations of all those involved in the revenue cycle. In listening to the HIM professionals’ stories, I began to understand how, in the director’s 30 years at the facility, she had likely re-invented herself three or four times.

When I read this year’s HIP Week theme “Our Future is Bright,” I picture my team, the ones who so lovingly took me under their wings, all wearing their shades. As Lou Ann Wiedemann, MS, RHIA, CDIP, CHDA and FAHIMA, interim AHIMA vice president said in the AHIMA HIP Week press release, “It’s a transformational time for healthcare, and health information is at the heart of this transformation. In the midst of all this change, positive opportunities are being created. HIM professionals understand clinical and financial data as well as information governance and data management, all tools that can help reward value.”

As the ACDIS position paper “CDI: More than a credential” states, ACDIS is proud of the diversity of our membership and wishes to celebrate this week by recognizing those HIM professionals who have chosen to join us with a passion for clinical documentation improvement. Their presence in our organization makes us stronger, more diversified, and allows to look straight into the bright light of our future… with our shades on of course!

Editor’s note: Prescott is the CDI Education Director at HCPro in Middleton, Massachusetts. Contact her at lprescott@hcpro.com. For information regarding CDI Boot Camps, visit www.hcprobootcamps.com/courses/10040/overview.