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HIMAA ONLINE

The monthly digital newsletter of the Health Information Management Association of Australia Limited
Volume 7 | Issue 05 | Digital
Cheens Lee
Cheens Lee

President - HIMAA

Cheens Lee
Cheens Lee

President - HIMAA

President's Report

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 

 

 

 

Table of Contents
From the CEO's desk
From the CEO's desk

Jae Redden | CEO, HIMAA

From the CEO's desk

From the CEO's desk

Jae Redden | CEO, HIMAA

With the implementation of COVID vaccines and as we move more freely with less restrictions, I feel we are starting to feel a sense of optimism. Similarly, we are feeling a renewed energy at HIMAA as we embark on the new financial year. We are upgrading systems, implementing operation efficiencies, and refocusing our efforts. 

 

Claire Bell

We will shortly be reminding our members to renew their HIMAA membership before 30 June 2021. With the appointment of our new Member Engagement Manager, Claire Bell, I am committed to building and improving our member experience and benefit with Claire. Claire comes to HIMAA with over 12 years of membership experience with the Australian Water Association and the Association Forum.

  

I am very much looking forward to the coming year, working closely with our members in supporting the HIM profession and positioning HIMAA. I hope you will continue to support your professional membership with HIMAA in 2021 and beyond. 

 

As we welcome Claire, I also need to announce the departure of our Marketing and Events Manager, Milla Krivozhnya. A hard look at our capabilities determined that it is best to outsource our annual conference delivery to a professional event management company. With the growing expectation for a higher-quality event, we recognise that HIMAA’s core capability does not lie with the event delivery and decided it will not be a function for further investment. We will continue to develop and direct the event program but work with a professional event management company to bring you the annual Conference on 25 – 27 October 2021. Unfortunately, this decision affected Milla’s position and she will be leaving HIMAA on 3 June 2021. We are indebted to Milla’s professionalism and dedication over the years in supporting HIMAA’s initiatives. She leaves with our best wishes.

 

We had an activity filled HIM Awareness Week during 10-16 May 2021. I enjoyed following all the activities on LinkedIn. Thank you for joining us for the two webinars: How to Write Resumes with Emma Maslen and our star-studded Bradycardia Bunch panel discussion. Congratulations to the winners of the HIM Awareness Week Student Poster Competition – Deborah Carlile (1st prize) Lily Pacey (2nd prize) Tim Gillies (3rd prize). Thanks all for getting on board and taking the opportunity to showcase your profession to your colleagues.

  

A reminder that enrolments for the 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification close on 22 June 2021 – please feel free to spread the word. Also, do not forget the HIMAA 2021 Research Grant Scheme is now open. The applications closes on 30 June 2021 and it is open to all financial members. 

Please check out the new online HIM-Interchange platform. The first 2021 issue, Issue 11 Volume 1, is now published at https://him-i.himaa.org.au/. Led by the dedicated editors and the subcommittee, it was a tremendous effort to launch this platform. I thank them and to those contributing articles for this issue. Included is an article about me with interview questions from Maryann Wood. I have to say some of those questions were a bit tricky to answer! 

Our state branches continue to be committed in bringing opportunity for members to network and upskill. We have two branch events in June: 

WA Branch, Sundowner for Students – 2 June 2021 

NSW Branch, Clinical Day Focus  – 3 June 2021

Please take advantage of these local face-to-face events and enjoy meeting up with your colleagues. 

In the last newsletter I announced that we had a mini office makeover and now have a meeting room and a hot desk that members are welcome to use on occasions. You can email us at himaa@himaa.org.au to check if the space is available and book.

 

I remain keen to work with you in leading HIMAA to serve the health information profession. Please feel free to reach out to me to chat. 

 

Jae Redden, CEO 

ceo@himaa.org.au  

Latest News

Education News

Member News

Latest news and updates submitted by members. Any member updates, please submit to membership@himaa.org.au.

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Dear Members   I am very pleased to have the opportunity of working with you as the new Member Engagement Manager.   In 2021 HIMAA

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Editorial Board

HIM-Interchange Update

HIM-Interchange issue one for 2021 is now available online. In this issue we have two Question and Answer style articles, one to welcome HIMAA’s new CEO, Jae Redden, and one to farewell Stella Rowlands, former Secretary of the HIM-Interchange Subcommittee. Both articles provide inspiration for members of HIMAA with comments from both auguring well for the future of our profession.   San Le and colleagues at North Western Mental Health in Victoria have provided an informative article on the development of a health information governance framework for their health service. So much of what they write about is transferable to other settings in which health information managers are involved.   Dr Amod Karnik and colleagues from a Queensland health service report on the development of checklists for use by medical practitioners to improve Diagnosis Related Group outcomes, another initiative that may be transferable to other hospital settings.   The development of rapid mortality reporting in Australia is described by Emma Torrens and her colleagues at the Australian Bureau of Statistics and illustrates yet again how the COVID-19 pandemic has driven innovative changes to the way health information has traditionally been managed. These changes, which will become permanent, have provided a more agile reporting mechanism for mortality data which is being welcomed by users.   Finally, Anne-Marie Tsoucalas explores the many opportunities that exist outside traditional roles for those with a qualification in health information management.   The HIM-Interchange Subcommittee hopes you enjoy reading this very interesting publication and we look

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Email: news@himaa.org.au
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