Dear Members,
Recently I caught up with a long-time member and past colleague who shared his challenge of promoting the skills of HIMs in his workplace. He was concerned that at times the opinion of clinicians was taken instead of HIMs on health information related issues. We have been regarded as the custodians of the medical record in the paper format. As health services have migrated to electronic medical records, increasingly stakeholders, including clinicians and administrative managers, have taken a keen interest in the management of the medical record, a domain that was traditionally exclusive to HIMs, with our holistic understanding of capturing patient histories for the primary use in treating of patients and the secondary uses of funding and research. The environment we operate in is changing and as a profession we do not want to be left behind.
As the peak association for HIM professionals, HIMAA has a responsibility to support the profession in defining our place in the contemporary Australian healthcare system and to promote the value of HIMs and Clinical Coders. These key activities are at the forefront of current Board discussions as part of redefining HIMAA’s Strategic Plan. Without pre-empting the output, I suspect there will be greater focus on the few things we do well. We cannot continue with our scatter gun approach of past as our resource and energies are limited.
As Jae writes in her CEO report, we have decided to outsource our National Conference delivery. I would like to acknowledge Milla’s contribution to the National Conference over the years. She is very much appreciated by members and colleagues, and I wish her the very best.
During our regular Branch Convenors catch-up, I was pleased to hear that events and face-to-face get togethers are being planned by our states and territories. There is nothing better than the energy that comes from grassroot membership activity. Many of you who work in hospital settings are likely to have had the COVID-19 vaccine by now and hopefully it gives you more confidence to attend events in person.
Onwards and upwards!
Cheens Lee
President
Email: cheensl@himaa.org.au
