A lofty 98% of large hospitals have certified health information technology, according to a 2015 survey from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
Health information management (HIM) departments have grown substantially to handle ever-increasing IT demands, and thanks to new technologies like cloud computing, many HIM departments can now operate remotely and separately from the hospital setting.
"It’s critical to remember that the data that HIM professionals manage—ranging from lab results to physicians’ notes—is tied to patients’ lives."
In fact, many healthcare providers across the country have moved billing, human resources and HIM offices to different campuses to maximize hospital space for other medical purposes. Unfortunately, by moving HIM off site, healthcare providers are effectively isolating HIM departments from patients and physicians.
Due to this disconnect, HIM professionals are now more isolated from the patient and the big picture than ever before. This disconnect makes it harder to equate the troves of data that they deal with on a daily basis with actual patients, which could potentially affect quality of care and accountability on a large scale.
In the past, when HIM professionals worked within the hospital, there was an easy-to-follow flow of paper records from physicians and nurses to the HIM department. With paper, HIM professionals could still hand-deliver records, giving them a chance to interact with physicians and patients in the hospital setting. However, the change from paper to digital health technology has distanced the HIM department from the medical sphere, since HIM departments no longer have to be onsite to function.
The move to health IT has, of course, been a necessary one. When hospitals use electronic health records and computerized physician orders over traditional paper records, the average quality of care increases, a previous Health Affairs study found. But this reality of the changing industry has created an interpersonal gap between HIM professionals, patients and other healthcare professionals.
It’s critical to remember that the data that HIM professionals manage—ranging from lab results to physicians’ notes—is tied to patients’ lives. When HIM departments exist outside of the healthcare setting, hospital administrators effectively sever the HIM department’s human connection, and patient data devolves into simple, cold and fairly distant, logistical information.
This distance can possibly impact bigger-picture accountability and efficiency. In order to avoid this, HIM professionals must bring the critical element of human connection back into their jobs, and instructors must incorporate it more into the training and education level.
So how can we more effectively engage HIM professionals? There are a number of ways that the human connection can be better integrated in the digital age. For example, simple actions like sending out newsletters to keep HIM professionals in the loop of patient and hospital news, or encouraging video conferences over communicating exclusively via email and chat services can make a big difference. Administrators can promote and share patient vignettes and patient stories, allowing HIM professionals to put a face to all the information and better understand the patient experience.
Additionally, encouraging HIM professionals and students to tour hospitals—or participate in virtual tours—can allow these professionals to feel more connected to the organization that they are serving. Reestablishing the human connection for HIM professionals is vital, and doing so can help to ensure that a hospital’s health data will be handled promptly and correctly, guaranteeing effective quality of care.
Pamela S. Greenstone is the program director for the online Health Information Management program at the University of Cincinnati.