Your Medical Term of the Week

Rhotacism

An inability or difficulty in pronouncing the letter "r".

Elmer Fudd's description of Bugs Bunny as a "wascally wabbit" is an example of rhotacism.

Studying for the CCA

Did you know there is an AHIMA COP (Communities of Practice) for individuals who are Studying for the CCA (Certified Coding Associate) examination?

Logon to AHIMA: www.ahima.org, sign in, and go to MyAHIMA. Click on Communities of Practice (COP), then click on Join/Visit Communities, then choose 'S' in the alphabetical index at the top of the screen. In the window, you will see the 'Studying for the CCA' link - click on this link and you will be directed to this COP. Don't forget to click on 'Join Now' in the upper left corner if you wish to join this Community.

What a great way to network with other HIM professionals while studying for this exam!

Your Medical Term of the Week

philtrum

The vertical groove in the middle of the upper lip.

AHA endorses Identity Force to thwart identity theft

The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced in a November 4 press release that it has endorsed Identity Force™, a company specializing in proactive identity theft protection for individuals, businesses, and government agencies, for its development of an identity theft solution product. The product is designed to help hospitals protect patients and employees from identity theft and fraud, respond quickly to breaches, and comply with regulatory requirements.

http://www.identityforce.com/

Ahima has certainly been busy!

They've posted their comments to the CMS on the adoption of ICD-10 - It is interesting reading.

http://www.ahima.org/icd10/documents/comments_icd10_nprm.pdf

Also, they have been hard at work with AMIA developing competencies for anyone who will be working eith electronic records.

http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_030746.pdf#page%3D5

and
http://www.ahima.org/infocenter/whitepapers/workforce_2008.pdf#page%3D1

Loretta

Types of Transcribed Reports

Medical transcriptionists type a variety of reports. One report type is the Discharge Summary.

The discharge summary is the concise summarization of the patient's hospital stay and outcomes. Some headings included on the discharge summary:

Admission date/Discharge date
Admitting diagnosis/Discharge diagnoses
Specialist physicians consulted during hospitalization
Procedures/surgeries performed
Complications incurred during hospitalization
History of patient upon admission
Hospital course
Discharge plan (including medications, therapies, consultation follow-ups, etc.)

The discharge summary will be placed on the patient's hospital chart, and may also be forwarded to the patient's primary care physician and/or consulting physicians whom they saw during the hospitalization or are advised to followup with afterward.

Visit AHIMA

Visit AHIMA at www.ahima.org and click on Schools/Jobs and visit their Student Website. This is a great resource for HIT Students!

Your Medically Related Word of the Week

Valetudinarian

A weak or sickly person, especially one morbidly concerned with his/her health.
Can also be used as an adjective.

Your Medical Term of the Week with bonus synonym

trichoptilosis:
tricho=hair
ptilon=feather
osis=condition

The splitting of hairs at their ends, giving them a feather-like appearance.
Also known as schizotrichia, although there is a subtle difference between the two terms.
schizo=division
tricho=hair
ia=condition

AHIMA urges HHS to delay ICD-10 implementation under 2012

In a letter to Michael Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, dated October 20, Dan Rode, MBA, FHFMA, vice president of policy and government relations for AHIMA, urged CMS to delay ICD-10 implementation to no later than October 1, 2012.

Although Rode, on behalf of AHIMA, applauded CMS in issuing the proposed rule, he also stated that it’s important to recognize the cost of such a conversion on some "financially burdened segments of the industry." Rode also urged CMS to provide information about how ICD-10 will affect the existing DRG and other Medicare prospective payment systems.

On behalf of AHIMA, Rode suggests that HHS do the following:

• Deliver a final rule as soon as possible so providers have a uniform compliance date with which to work
• Provide a three-year implementation period beginning with the effective date and that the compliance date should be the immediate October 1 date after that three-year period
• Freeze all ICD-9-CM, ICD-10-CM, and ICD-10-PCS code sets for one year prior to the compliance date

Rode also states that providers should not perform intensive coder training more than six months prior to implementation so coding professionals retain what they have learned. He also advocates for assistance from the federal government and health plans, such as a low-cost or interest-free loan, that will help offset adoption costs.

AHIMA Job Bank

AHIMA has an excellent resource for new grads - a Job Bank! Go to www.ahima.org and login. Then, click on Schools/Jobs tab and Career Assist/Job Bank. Click on the Job Search then select by job function and state to narrow down the listings. New jobs are posted daily and employers are searching for you! Be sure to post your resume and search the latest job listings available.