HIMAA ONLINE

The monthly digital newsletter of the Health Information Management Association of Australia Limited
Volume 7 | Issue 07 | Digital
Cheens Lee
Cheens Lee

President - HIMAA

Cheens Lee
Cheens Lee

President - HIMAA

President's Report

Hello Members,

 

With more than half the Australian population experiencing lockdown in the past month it is important to maintain our physical and mental health, as well as looking for the unexpected positives. For instance, using the permitted exercise time I have walked and explored different paths within my neighbourhood. The kids and I recently stumbled across a delightful electronic projection of a possum within the trees, presumably put up by the local university students. Our normal routine would likely render us oblivious to this art, which brought us joy. Always try to find the small positives.

 

I was delighted when Dr Kerin Robinson, Chair of HIMAA’s Education Committee, informed me that La Trobe University has given approval for a single three-year HIM undergraduate degree that can be completed face-to-face or online. As you may be aware, La Trobe is one of the few universities that teaches a HIMAA-accredited HIM degree. It is vital that we have accredited HIM degrees to produce sought-after HIMs for our profession to exist and flourish. The three-year program I suspect will be attractive to a large cohort of students; the option of online delivery is significant given that Curtin University ceased their online HIM program several years ago, denying many students across Australia the opportunity to seek a career in health information management.

 

One of HIMAA’s future goals is to encourage more HIM programs to be delivered by accredited universities. The more HIMs working in the Australian healthcare system the better.

 

When COVID-19 hit early last year HIMAA had to pivot quickly to deliver more online content, such as webinars, to offer our members professional development. The Board and I are delighted to see that our calls for more engaging and responsive content are being delivered in response to members’ feedback. This was kicked off last Friday with Operational CDI. Well done to Jae and her team in the National office in delivering. The Board will continue to provide support and resources to members to expand our professional development offerings in the coming year and beyond.

 

In the meantime, stay safe and healthy.

 

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 extended lockdown directive from the NSW government HIMAA staff continues to work remotely from home. We have minimum coverage in the office to attend to mail and educational enquiries, and it would best if you contact us via email during this time. I hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe.  

 

Despite the uncertainty, we are continuing with our plan to hold the National Conference face-to-face at the Crown Melbourne on 25-27 October 2021. Most of us are tired of sitting through a long virtual conference and seek to network in person. By the end of October 2021 we trust this Delta variant of COVID-19 will be under control. We are, however, seeking to live stream selected sessions, or provide a full virtual conference in the case of a lockdown. Excitingly, the program is being finalised and speakers confirmed. We are pleased to announce our first speakers, Dr Stephen Parnis, Consultant Emergency Physician, St Vincent’s Hospital, the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital and Werribee Mercy Hospital in Melbourne, and Karen Cusack, Health Complaints Commissioner, Victoria. EAlerts are being sent to members to keep you updated on the progress. We will soon release a FAQ to address any questions. In the meantime please follow our LinkedIn and Facebook pages for regular news and to register for the conference. 

 

We had a record number of attendees for our Operational CDI webinar on 23 July 2021, which is part of an overall professional development plan. You can expect more webinars in CDI, HIM, Clinical Coding and Clinical Updates in the next 12 months, as well as other resources. This is part of the strategic directive from the Board to expand our member services and increase the value of membership. If you are yet to renew your membership, or are thinking of re-joining HIMAA, this is the time. Please feel free to view the benefits of membership, including the opportunity for organisational membership, and contact membership@himaa.org.au with any questions you may have.   

 

I would like to congratulate the hard-working members of the HIM Journal who have achieved an incredible result in 2020 Impact Factors. HIMJ had a great showing of 3.185, which is the highest result the journal has received to date. It is ranked 29/88 in the Health Policy & Services category, and 15/30 in Medical Informatics, moving the journal from the third to the second quartile in both categories. You can read more about the significance of the result in this issue of the HIMAA Matters. 

 

In the Education News, you will see we have featured one of our graduating students, Sandhya Chavan from South Australia. I hope this will be a regular monthly feature where we highlight one our high-achieving students. We are happy to connect potential employers to our students who have completed, or soon will be completing, our rigorous Certificate IV in Clinical Classification course, and who are actively seeking entry- level coding positions or internships. 

 

Finally, I would like to advise the Expression of Interest process for the Accreditation Council has been completed. We welcome Sally McIntosh (NSW), Sharon Campbell (WA) and Stella Rowlands (QLD) to join our existing members Elizabeth Moss, Jenni Shepherd, Joy Smith, Julie Brophy and Julie Newland. Stella has been nominated to the Chair,  with Sharon as Deputy Chair. We are pleased to include such experienced members and thank all Council members for their time in undertaking this work on the behalf of HIMAA. 

 

I would also like to congratulate Danica Jong for her appointment as the Queensland Branch Convenor. She will work alongside Grant Duffill, who is acting as an Interim Convenor. Danica will assume this position officially following the AGM in late October 2021. I look forward to supporting Danica and our membership in Queensland. 

 

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  

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