With the world gradually moving towards the full-fledged integration of progressive technology and the internet into the provision of quality patient care, we observe traditional methods dwindling with time. The widespread practices that involve computerization of various processes, such as the collection of medical information and health records has paved the way for HIM or health information management. With the US, AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) governs and sets rules for how the HIM is conducted to deliver quality health and medical care for the public. It has been reported that the health information management salary of associates working full time can be around $57,370 per year. In this post, we would like to offer you some valuable reasons as to why Health Information Management plays a vital role in public healthcare and its administration. So let’s take a quick look at each one of them.
A Safe and Secure Haven for Patient Care
One of the primary functions of HIM is to offer patients with complete privacy and security for their medical history and records. It includes coding for medical billings and fulfilling the obligations necessitated through government regulations to keep information secure at all times. Customers can request for their PHI (Personal Health Information), which under US law concerns about the health status as well as the provisional care provided to Covered Entities that can be linked to each specific individual. In recent years, we have seen the rise of cybercrime and cybercriminal activities, which resulted in the loss and damage of more than 100 million healthcare records. Nowadays, we find healthcare providers implementing additional protection for safeguarding the privacy and security of personal records. HIM is thus vital for every healthcare organization or those associated with similar kinds of businesses. It not only exercises certain legal requirements for organizations to follow through but can also help them avoid any penalties which can be attached to them for any discrepancies or issues regarding non-compliance.
Lastly, HIM also mandates organizations to take responsibility for their actions that can otherwise be termed as unethical or practices that fail to protect PHIs under their possession. Thus, in a nutshell, HIM protects and safeguards the patients and their information from being taken for granted.
Building Trust and Public Rapport
Since HIM is backed with a complete set of a legal framework that seeks to intervene whenever unethical practices are being followed at a healthcare organization, it also serves to create value for those who follow such regulations. It has been observed in the past that the establishments that failed to support and provide adamant protection for their patients and their information would often lose vital and valuable data at the hands of hackers, cybercriminals, and delinquents. It resulted in a terrible loss of credibility in the eyes of the general public, and hence patients were less willing to seek care from those certain providers in the future. Hence to instill robust integrity and reliability for their services, HIM can provide certain strategies to prohibit patients as well as members of the healthcare organization to share information with any unauthorized person. Those who abide by rules set by HIM enjoy unprecedented goodwill from the public as they not only receive further cementing of their image as an ethical practitioner, but the positive word of mouth that goes about them is simply priceless. Organizations that follow this lead thus open new doors of opportunity to grow in the future and continue to sustain their profitability over a longer period of time.
Unlocking Future Growth & Progress
Another focus which HIM centers around is the potential increase in the general operations of the healthcare organization. It makes them not only efficient in what they do but also empowers them to optimize their functionality regarding the key aspects of running their day-to-day tasks. Once they have reached such a spot, there is no doubt that it will eventually reflect in their revenue cycle management. By standardizing healthcare and putting in the effort to coordinate tasks and various other procedures, managers can achieve more in a lesser amount of time. It makes their efficacy to improve, especially for larger organizations that deal with a lot of patients every year. The current trends already show that data and information management is a keystone for the health industry, with HIM backing you up, the transitions from traditional to digital becomes less tedious. While many healthcare organizations are still in the process of deploying HIM effectively, there is no doubt that such services will grow much bigger over time. One of the most promising aspects for the future includes preventive care to which the industry is already showing a positive response by deploying smart devices to monitor the patient’s health. With better and more improved technologies being integrated into the healthcare system, the opportunities for newer fields will naturally be made available for further research and studies.
Improved Support for Developing Regions
Rural areas and those located far from urban settlements will also benefit from HIM because it prioritizes health equity. Hence it offers much better treatment and prevention from diseases. HIM also augments healthcare delivery and reduces the chances of medical errors. In countries or regions where the majority of the population belongs to low and middle-income classes, HIM can guarantee affordable and dependable healthcare by allowing doctors to understand their patients and their medical history better.
A comprehensive data of the patient provided to the doctor can help them to treat ailments more accurately. It also helps them in prescribing the best medicines for their ailments as well. Hence we can clearly see that HIM can work wonders for such regions as it would allow people to acquire better medical aid and support from doctors and hence it will improve the level of health and medical care exponentially. Complications can be found everywhere but time and again we have observed that progressive technology has always served to offer major breakthroughs for various industries in the past.
Health information management is such a breakthrough that can assist developing regions to overcome their limitations and steadily move towards improved and value-added healthcare systems for the masses and the general public that is both accessible and affordable at the same time.
Managing Growing Demands
Let’s face it, in complete honesty without holding back any punches; the future belongs to the centennials and the millennials. If you understand this statement, then realize this that with our population growing rapidly without any remorse, the majority of the people on the planet would like to seek out services that serve their own individual preferences and are delivered to them in a fashion that is acceptable to them.
HIM can do that and is currently working to make it possible even today. As time moves forward, our general perception of healthcare management systems will also evolve. HIM allows us to lay the foundation through which we can build the future of our healthcare systems.
We have come too far out, and turning back is simply not a possibility anymore. Gone are the days of waiting in lines, dreading the lack of available resources, and the inability to gain access to reasonable health support during times of emergencies.
Technology is shaping the landscape of healthcare services as we speak. While we are not fortune-tellers, but current trends do suggest that a lot of emphases are going to be made on the prominent fact of acquiring immediate support for patient needs in real-time, regardless of geographical locations. These demands can so far be only theorized as plausible if we have the means to offer them in the first place. With HIM, we can serve these growing demands because we keep on improving our technology without failure.
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