Professional Pursuit

Tonya A. Howard

1. Where do I see myself fitting into the HIM Profession? My goals have changed as I have followed my academic track and artici ated in the PP!. At this oint" I have a strong inclination to #e em loyed in the $evenue %ycle. &. Where will I #e in two years rofessionally? My intentions are to continue my formal education #y o#taining my 'achelor of (cience in Health Information Management Administration )HIMA* from the +niversity of %incinnati. Within this two year time frame I e, ect to midway )at minimum* through my degree" as well as" having secured gainful em loyment. I will have #oth the rofessional e, erience of em loyment and increase my theoretical knowledge through continuing education. -. What will it take to achieve the a#ove goal? It will re.uire successful com letion of my AA( of HIM from (inclair %ommunity %ollege and $HIT certification. It will also re.uire that I e,hi#it the a#ility to multi/task and stay goal oriented. 0. Where do I lan to #e in five years rofessionally? I antici ate I will have successfully com leted my '( of HIMA and my $HIA certification. It is my sincere ho e I will use these accom lishments to advance rofessionally. If o ortunities for advancement don1t e,ist with my current em loyer then I will use my marketa#le skills to secure a osition that will rovide the challenges I seek. Additionally" I antici ate continuing my education for a Master1s 2egree in Health Informatics and e, ect to #e enrolled at minimum" art/time. 3. How will I achieve this goal? + on com letion of my '( of HIMA from +%" I will reassess my career ath to focus on the disci line in which I am most interested. At this oint in time" I covet the role as HIPAA %om liance 4fficer or Privacy and (ecurity %om liance 4fficer. I lan on leveraging contacts #y networking within rofessional associations" such as AHIMA" 4HIMA and AMIA.

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5. What tasks do I see the health information management rofessional of the year &6&6 erforming? I antici ate the landsca e of healthcare will have changed drastically. I #elieve all facets of healthcare documentation" data delivery and data ca ture will #e electronic or digiti7ed 8including the virtual assessment of the atient encounter in some cases. I #elieve the work environment will #e more of a virtual network with fewer traditional offices" allowing the HIM rofessional far more fle,i#ility in terms em loyment o tions. I #elieve there will #e an e, onential growth of health informatics in terms of technology" demand due to an aging o ulation and emerging markets #ased on health care reforms. The year &6&6 will call for a high demand of HIM rofessionals to maintain ace with rivacy and security concerns9 I%2/11 will have #een issued in &61: and HIM rofessionals will #e accumulating data in re aration for I%2/1& re aration9 the focus of health care will changed from managing sick eo le to reventing eo le from #eing sick" and amidst all these revolutionary changes is the HIM rofessional" the hu# of continuum of care. :. How would I change the HIM curriculum to meet the challenges of the year &6&6? That is a challenging .uestion with no correct answer. I would antici ate the curriculum would kee ace with technological changes. That the classrooms would #e less class centric" more virtual and utili7ation of e, erienced HIM rofessionals will rovide the relevancy needed to maintain the rogram1s com etitive edge. Additionally" I envision Health Informatics will dominate the market and merge the different disci lines of Information (cience" %om uter (cience and Healthcare. ;. 2escri#e in detail how you #elieve the electronic health record will im act the HIM rofession in &6&6. As I indicated in revious answers" the landsca e will have changed com letely. The Health Information !,change along with increased ca acity and use of electronic information will drive the #usiness. Healthcare standardi7ation" technological advances" and atient centric care will reform the model to increase efficiency and effectiveness. The !H$ latform via HIT will #ecome more intelligent" decreasing the amount of manual entry and increasing the automatic data feed as systems communicate more effectively. All of which results in #etter documentation and #etter atient care. The HIM rofessional will s end more time on higher level issues involving critical thinking skills.

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<. 2escri#e your feelings a#out the HIM field now com ared to how you felt when you entered the rogram. It is much different than I originally envisioned. Initially I was concerned since this is a career change for me. I wasn1t certain if this was rovide the challenges I sought or if there would #e advancement and rofessional growth. I see the HIM field is on the cus of great changes. There is much struggle as the old ways must yield to meet modern demands. The final semester has #een most insightful as I artici ated in PP! and had first/hand e, erience as to how the im lementation of I%2/16 and the Afforda#le Health %are Act is affecting HIM roles. I have an ideal of where I want to end u in this rofession #ut must #e fle,i#le to allow for industry changes. I now know I made the correct choice for this rogram and am an,ious to #e immersed in the field. I am ready for my future and to meet challenges time will #ring governing HIM.

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