7 Habits of Highly Effective HIM Leaders

Transcription

1 7 Habits of Highly Effective HIM Leaders

2 Introduction The department of health information management has grown a lot from the days when it was just a little filing room in the hospital basement. Today, HIM leaders manage and secure powerful clinical data, lead integral hospital staff, and impact the revenue of their organizations. As the HIM department has grown, so has the role of HIM leaders. We sat down and talked with successful HIM directors, consultants, and educators to understand the secrets of their success. Here are 7 habits of highly effective HIM leaders.

3 1. They understand that HIM is about more than just numbers. Health information management is more than just coding clinical procedures. Effective HIM leaders understand that the role of their department is changing because healthcare is becoming more and more data-driven. Cindy Zak, Executive Director of Health Information Management (HIM) at Yale New Haven Health System, captures this when she says, All this data from big data to mobile tech transforms to information and helps drive innovation. In healthcare, innovation means creating new ideas and solutions that help patients, but it s also about becoming more efficient and effective. This data -- and how to be more creative and efficient with it -- informs decisions hospitals make about everything from revenue to patient care. LouAnn Schraffenberger, Manager of Clinical Information at the Advocate Health Care, reflects the connection between HIM data and her hospital s larger strategic initiative to maintain patient safety. In the HIM department, if any information is inaccurate, it can be unsafe for the patient. This also requires us to collaborate with other departments. So, we put a lot of effort into centralizing the process and into making sure our coding is stellar. Advocate Health Care uses the following strategies to achieve that goal of excellence: Safeguards to prevent record mix-ups Accuracy standards to ensure correct information Strict coding deadlines to make sure our billing cycle flows smoothly

4 Chris Simons, HIM Director and Privacy Officer, Maine General Medical Center, also links impeccable data with helping medical staff take care of patients. If the work we do and the data we produce isn t supporting our medical staff, we re not doing our job. Chris Simons, HIM Director and Privacy Officer, Maine General Medical Center

5 2. They encourage teamwork to promote productivity. No HIM director is an island. The strongest leaders know that the strength of their department rests on the strength of their relationships. For Schraffenberger, building strong connections with colleagues is synonymous with success. When I think of a successful HIM Director, I think of someone who knows how to work with other people. -- LouAnn Schraffenberger, Manager of Clinical Information at the Advocate Health Care It really depends on having a partnership with the good people you work with, recognizing and drawing on other associates strengths, and sharing your expertise. This makes the strongest team possible. She encourages strong teamwork in her coders, noting that a foundation of trust helps everyone work better. We make sure our experienced employees offer a helping hand to new folks so that no one is out there doing something they don t know how to do. We work to encourage trust between coworkers so they can always reach out to ask for help. Zak encourages trust in her staff by making herself available. I make rounds and visit with staff throughout the campus just to chit-chat with employees in HIM. I need to be seen so that my employees know that I m always there to answer questions. My door is always open.

6 3. They focus on interdepartmental connections to boost the role of HIM. The importance of making connections extends beyond the department. HIM is now the department without walls, says PJ Floyd, Director of Health Information at the Medical University of South Carolina. We have built bridges and worked to cross department lines. The process has really empowered HIM as a department and brought out how integral we are to the smooth functioning of the hospital as a whole. PJ Floyd, Director of Health Information at the Medical University of South Carolina. Zak agrees, noting, We have a body of knowledge that s relevant and needs to be promoted across the organization. So, we work with medical staff, clinicians, finance, tech people and more we connect across the board.

7 4. They are positive managers focused on encouraging growth. HIM leaders are responsible for the next generation of thinkers about health information management. To encourage innovation and efficiency, they choose positivity in their leadership, encourage growth in their staff, and work hard to help their teams succeed. Pamela Haney, Coding Trainer Lead at the AHIMA Foundation, says that her advice to new HIM directors is to be a coach to their teams. Our role as a manager is to provide the resources, support, and direction for our teams to be successful. Make sure they are empowered to do their jobs. One of the best ways to do this is to praise in public, correct in private. If you re going to work every day, have fun!, she adds. If people enjoy what they do, they re more productive. Zak believes demonstrated employee appreciation also encourages staff success -- and contributes to the success of the HIM department as a whole. We have an employee engagement committee that really drives employee appreciation and education initiatives... They meet with leadership and are acknowledged more widely for their strong service. Being a good manager is the most important part of my job, says Simons. She espouses a common-sense philosophy of Golden Rule leadership. It s not rocket science you don t need to go to management school to learn it.

8 "You ve got to be able to motivate people and treat them the way you want to be treated. Play to your employees strengths, not their weaknesses. Chris Simons, HIM Director and Privacy Officer, Maine General Medical Center Freda Evans, HIM Director and Privacy Officer at Lake City Community Hospital, would agree. She goes the extra mile to make sure her employees are happy. If they re stuck, I ll help them. If they re behind, I ll cover for them. I give them all the resources I can to help with any coding changes. If I find they re coding something wrong, I m not harsh. I give them friendly one-on-one feedback.

9 5. They create adaptive staffing strategies. In HIM, as throughout the healthcare system, staffing levels fluctuate with changing demand. It s imperative for good leaders to remain flexible and creative in their staffing strategies. They accomplish this by hiring top talent, rethinking the nature of traditional coding positions, and hiring contingent staff. To remain effective and relevant, successful HIM leaders keep an eye on the fierce competition for good talent. One thing that will continue to be a big challenge moving forward is recruiting good people. We re competing with other organizations and vendors for coders. We want to recruit the best and the brightest. -- Cindy Zak, Executive Director of Health Information Management (HIM) at Yale New Haven Health System Having a multitiered plan of attack that includes finding new staff, growing current employees, and regularly supplementing with contingent workers is a recipe for success. Floyd lays out the specific tactics she uses in her department: Create some positions that are more generalist Capable of covering several different departments Can flex depending on departmental need in any given week Rely on supplemental contract coders Fill in for defined time frames, such as when someone is on sick leave or maternity leave Cover gaps during audits, as permanent coders take time to step back and review past work

10 Emphasize the possibility of advancement to motivate current staff members to succeed Encourage more seasoned coders to work their way up with more and more specialized education Provide incentives for people to further their training and education Johanna Crider, Associate Director of Health Information Management at Regional Medical Center, also benefits from incorporating remote coders into her staff. We have a great split between in-house and remote coders. That allows us to be more flexible and expands our capabilities.

11 6. They believe in the power of education. Education is the cornerstone of advancement in HIM. As the field gains more and more relevance in every aspect of the hospital s smooth functioning, strong HIM leaders will encourage continued education for themselves, their staff, and non-him colleagues. Carole Okamoto, principal of C.O. Concepts, Inc. a health information management consulting firm, finds education crucial in keeping up with constant changes in the field. We are no longer focusing our energies within the four walls of the HIM department. We re now responsible for the protection, privacy and security of vital digital health information no matter where it resides inside or outside healthcare organizations. As such, there s a constant need for HIM professionals to educate our colleagues from hospital administrators to IT professionals to clinicians so that they understand the complex and ubiquitous nature of electronic health information which has become our new reality. Zak notes that the importance of educating other departments, too. It s essential for HIM leadership to share their passion, enthusiasm, and love of the profession. It s all about helping others to understand the issues we are promoting and why HIM is important. If you are passionate about it, you can help other departments and employees get on board with our body of knowledge. Evans extends her education initiatives to physicians. I make myself available to our physicians for whenever they have questions about protocols or clinical information. This helps them learn more quickly how to work with our department and it helps us get our charts back more quickly.

12 Schraffenberger links her coder s success to departmental education initiatives. They are dedicated to a daily protocol of internal learning: Continually monitor coders Spot-check records to ensure standards are met Implement external reviews, facilitated by a third party Use third-party payer s feedback to challenge coders to continually improve The AHIMA Foundation s apprenticeship program also provides a good model for on-the-job education of early-career coders, CDI professionals, Business Analysts and Data Analysts. Fostering new professionals is so key and the best way to do that is to share what you know and what you ve learned. Pamela Haney, Coding Trainer Lead at the AHIMA Foundation. I encourage my peers to consider an apprenticeship or taking a new graduate, Haney continues. In our program, we focus not just on the technical skills, but the soft skills that are so rarely taught in schools, such as communication and ethics. Lynn Olson, Director of Health Information Management at St. Mary s Hospital and St. Mary s Janesville Hospital, encourages active discussion among her coders so that they learn as a team. We like to agree on how a case will go out the door. It takes extra time to bounce things off of each other but we re all better for it. They also confer with staff in other departments to increase everyone s knowledge. We confer with CDI (Clinical Document Improvement) staff. The coders educate CDI on coding rules, everyone shares information and learning. It s really a win-win situation.

13 7. They anticipate HIM trends. An effective HIM leader must always be anticipating what changes are coming around the bend. With their training, staffing, and strategic initiatives, they must understand the larger healthcare landscape and how HIM will evolve with it into the future. Strategy is so important for a HIM director, says Zak. We need to anticipate our role in the future to remain relevant and remember that we re leaders who define strategy, who create a roadmap for HIM within our organization. Zak believes this forward-thinking will elevate the role of HIM in hospitals. In the coming years, I also see HIM leaders advancing and entering into the executive level. We have a body of knowledge that is integral to the success of healthcare organizations on information integrity, quality of information, confidentiality, and privacy. These are core issues facing healthcare today, and we need HIM leaders in the executive level to guide us towards success, says Zak. Okamoto predicts that information governance will become the it topic in the years to come. Information governance is evolving within the healthcare industry. We will need to be readily available to provide HIM leadership in support of new IG strategies and initiatives going forward. Carole Okamoto, Principal of C.O. Concepts, Inc.

14 Haney notes that at the AHIMA Foundation, they are always looking forward. Haney says, In our program, we try to look to the future: what additional roles are coming down the pike that we need to prepare apprentices for? Information governance is going to be huge, along with the link between business and clinical data analysis. I see us focusing more and more on information management within or between organizations.

15 TotalMed Coding Solutions Looking for more to help you be an effective HIM leader? Check out our HIM leader interview series. Learn More