HIMAA ONLINE

The monthly digital newsletter of the Health Information Management Association of Australia Limited
Volume 8 | Issue 01 | Digital
Cheens Lee
Cheens Lee

President - HIMAA

Cheens Lee
Cheens Lee

President - HIMAA

President's Report

Hello Members

 

Welcome to the first President’s Report for 2022! During the last week I’ve been able to attend a couple of in person events. Remember the novelty of being able to see the bottom half of the person you’re talking to and not having to worry about the mute button – although in some instances it would be useful to be able to apply this function to others. I attended the Brilliant Women in Digital Health function hosted by Telstra Health and the Digital Health Institute Summit, both held in Melbourne. There was a lot of energy and missed human interactions that we have craved in the last two years. I can’t wait until October when the HIMAA National Conference will be held in Adelaide. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of excitement and pent-up energy when we get together again in person.

 

Digital Health

Attending the events reinforced for me the strong contribution HIMs have made in digital health and the various career paths and opportunities that are available to us. Two HIMs that were recognised as part of the Brilliant Women in Digital Health awards were Kate Quirke as the CEO of Alcidion, a publicly listed Australian digital health company, and Heather Grain, an internationally recognised expert in health information standards. I was also able to catch-up with fellow HIMs Jackie McLeod, Chief Operating Officer of The Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Bronwyn Taylor, Principal eHealth Advisor at the Department of Health Victoria. I’m name dropping here to illustrate the breadth in roles that the skills and competencies we as HIMs have acquired to enable us to be leaders in digital health. Anything is possible!

 

Board Update

We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Korean Accreditation Board for Health & Medical Information Management Education (KAHIME). This aligns with our strategy of “Developing partnerships with like-minded organisations” and we hope to see representatives from KAHIME here next year when we host the IFHIMA Congress. I’m also looking forward to hearing from our branches, committees and community of practices on the activities and initiatives that they aim to achieve this year as part of the strategic plan when we meet on Friday.

 

That’s all for now.

 

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

I trust you have settled into 2022 and had a safe and relaxing break over the festive season.

 

Our office was closed from 23 December 2021 to 6 January 2022. Some of the staff took the opportunity (including me) to take extra time, but we are all back as of late January and raring to go!

 

The 2022 HIMAA Conference will held at the Hilton Adelaide from 26 to 28 October 2022. Mark these dates in your diary!  The theme is Health Information Management: Keeping Health Information HumanPaper submissions are now open HERE, closing Monday 2 May 2022. We encourage you to put your paper forward. Please feel free to view past Conference Proceeding papers. If you have questions or require guidance about your proposed paper, please contact me and I will put you in touch with Joan Henderson, our Program Lead.

 

2022 HIMAA Conference Committee members are:

Chair – Jae Redden

Deputy Chair – Cheens Lee, President

Board Representative – Catherine Garvey

Responsibility: Program Development

Program Development Lead & Scientific Chair, Academic – Joan Henderson

Scientific Chair, Industry – Kathleen Rogers

Senior HIM, Coding Stream – Lesley Ward, Naomi Johnson (TBC)

Senior HIM, HIM Stream – Tanya Reid (TBC)

Branch Representative – Terry Seery 

HIMAA Representative – Lyn Williams

Responsibility: Marketing & Sponsorship

Marketing & Sponsorship Lead – Jae Redden

Marketing & Sponsorship Lead Deputy – Louise Edmond

Sponsorship Deputy – Andrea Gall

Marketing Deputy – Ivan Lam

HIMAA Representatives (as required) – Philida Chew, Brenda Chamroeun, Pat Verma

We have also formed the 2023 HIMAA Conference Committee. I am in discussion with Lorraine Fernandes, IFHIMA President as representatives from IFHIMA will be joining the Committee. They are excited to work with us and we are looking forward to kicking off the 2023 HIMAA Conference preparations in May 2022.

 

The 2023 HIMAA Conference Committee members are:

Chair – Jae Redden

Deputy Chair – President

Board Representative – Grant Duffill

Responsibility: Program Development

Program Development Lead & Scientific Chair, Academic – Joan Henderson

Scientific Chair, Industry – Kathleen Rogers

Senior HIM, Coding Stream – Cassie Rupnik

Senior HIM, HIM Stream – Trixie Kemp

Branch Representative – Danica Jong

HIMAA Representative – Lyn Williams

Responsibility: Marketing & Sponsorship

Marketing & Sponsorship Lead – Jae Redden

Sponsorship Deputy – Andrea Gall

Marketing Deputy – Tammy Kang

HIMAA Representatives (as required) – Philida Chew, Brenda Chamroeun, Pat Verma

 

I am thrilled to have the esteemed knowledge and enthusiasm from the Conference Committee members and confident we will bring you a program and experience that is not to be missed!

 

In this HIMAA Matters issue, you will see there is an Expression of Interest to join the HIM Week Taskforce. We have dropped Awareness from this annual fair because we would like to create more than an awareness for what our members and the profession contribute. The Taskforce will be led by members for members to generate ideas on what activities would be relevant and effective. The National Office will organise and implement these. I hope you will sign up and enjoy brainstorming fun ideas!

 

In the meantime, our Special Interest Group (renamed as Community of Practice) convenors have been working together reviewing and updating the Terms of Reference. They are a force to be reckoned with and I am looking forward to supporting and engaging with them through 2022. The KSA Clinical Coding CoP is also now up and running as well and it is wonderful to have our KSA members and colleagues working closer with HIMAA.

 

HLT50321 Diploma of Clinical Coding, which replaces 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification, is open for enrolments, which close on 25 March 2022. Further details and the enrolment form can be found here.

 

Please keep a lookout for our announcements on HIMAA webinars. We are committed to bringing you two webinars and one free podcast a month. The podcasts are also housed in your membership portal. We will email the podcast to members as soon as it is available (first week of the month).

 

My key project and focus for 2022 is to implement a new membership software. I am looking to integrate systems to increase our efficiency while adding features and usability for members. I will provide more information as the project progresses. Needless to say,  I am very excited about this project!

 

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

 

Keep safe. Be well.

 

Jae Redden

Chief Executive Officer

ceo@himaa.org.au

Latest News

Clinical Coder Working Group

The Clinical Coder Working Group is seeking job descriptions for clinical coders and  clinical coding auditors,  educators and managers. They will be used to inform a new set of performance standards for clinical coders.   If you have job descriptions that you would be willing to share with the  group

Read More »

Expressions of Interest – HIM Week Taskforce

The Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) is the premier association for health information management professionals in Australia and has been serving the profession since 1949. Predominant amongst our profession are the ANZSCO-recognised occupations of Health Information Manager (HIM) and Clinical Coder (CC)who operate in a broad range of

Read More »

Vale – Jonette McDonnell

We were saddened to hear that Jonette McDonnell (nee Jarvis), aged 77, passed away on Thursday, 3 February 2022, following a short illness. She will be remembered by many HIMs with whom she worked over the years, and particularly by members of the ACT HIMAA Branch.   Jonette and I

Read More »

Expressions of Interest – IFHIMA Global News Editor

The International Federation of Health Information Management Associations (IFHIMA) is looking for a volunteer to undertake the role of Editor of their online newsletter, Global News. Global News includes approximately 10-20 articles per issue, and there are 3 issues produced per year. As the next IFHIMA President will be an

Read More »

Education News

HLT50321 Diploma of Clinical Coding

Enrolments opened for our new HLT50321 Diploma of Clinical Coding in January this year. Enrolments will close on 25 March which is rapidly approaching. If you are interested please visit our website at http://www.himaa2.org.au/education/ and don’t miss out on submitting your application. This new qualification consists of 8 core units of competency listed below. HLTCCD001 Apply an understanding of the health care system to clinical coding practice HLTCCD002 Interpret and

Read More »

HIMAA Student Profile

Our student of the month for February is Beverly Stewart from Kelso in Queensland. Bev scored 97% in medical terminology and 97% in clinical coding and is due to complete the 22274VIC Certificate IV in Clinical Classification within the next couple of months. We asked Bev the following questions.   What led you to enrol in our entry level course?   The role of a Clinical Coder has interested me

Read More »

Education Committee and its Sub-Committees and Working Groups Update

The HIMAA Education Committee has begun 2022 with a very busy agenda. Career Promotion Working Group (CPWG) At its February 2022 meeting, the Education Committee has decided to seek to establish the above new Working Group (WG). Its purpose is to research, investigate and recommend strategies and actions for an ongoing program to promote entry to the health information management profession and workforce, specifically via the health information management qualifying

Read More »

What's on

Stay up to date with the upcoming events and activities across the board at HIMAA

HIMAAQ Branch Mentoring Program 2022

HIMAAQ are pleased to announce that the HIM Mentoring Program is kicking off in 2022. The mentoring program will offer students in their 2nd and 3rd year the opportunity to link with experienced HIMs.    HIMAAQ is currently seeking HIMs with greater than 5 years’ working experience who would be willing to provide mentoring. The program will include a program launch to be held in March, free time to meet with mentees and a program close in early December.    Mentoring is such an important foundation for a strong profession.  Your contribution and experience sharing will be valuable to further HIMs.      If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please complete the nomination form below by COB Friday 4 March 2022 and we will advise you if you are successful mentor for 2022.    Mentor Nomination Form & Matching Questionnaire  If you have any questions, please email qldbranch@himaa.org.au.    Kind regards,  HIMAAQ Branch – Mentoring Program 2022   View: HIMAAQ Mentor mentoring program flyer 2022   

More Information »

HIMAAVIC Branch Update – Feb 2022

We are excited to announce that we are hosting an online social evening for our Victorian members to get the year started!Come along  on Thursday 3rd March at 6:30pm to hear about the plans for the other Victorian events throughout 2022, before participating in two rounds of games.There will be time at the end to break out for a social catch up online. Register your interest to attend by emailing us at vicbranch@himaa.org.au.A link to the event will be sent out on the day.   Kind Regards, HIMAA VIC Branch

More Information »

Member News

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

Member News
Membership Officer

HIMAAQ Branch Update

Happy New Year! HIMAAQ has been busy planning exciting things for 2022, but let’s first start with a look back how we closed out 2021.

Read More »
Member News
Andrea Gall

Accreditation Council

Hello from the Accreditation Council! The Accreditation Council is a committee of HIMAA which reports to the HIMAA Board. The Council is responsible for the

Read More »

HIM Journal

Latest from HIMJ

A lot has happened at HIMJ since the last issue of HIMAA Matters in 2021. Below is a ‘catch-up list’ of:   the January Issue of HIMJ for 2022 Virtual Special Issue on Health Data and Diversity, and Recently published On-Line First articles.   HIMJ Volume 51, No, 1 (January 2022) includes:   Review Article  Personal electronic healthcare records: What influences consumers to engage with their clinical data online? A literature review Kellie-Anne Crameri, Lynne Maher, Pieter Van Dam, and Sarah Prior   Research Articles  The likelihood of requiring a diagnostic test: Classifying emergency department patients with logistic regression Görkem Sarıyer and Mustafa Gökalp Ataman   Utility of SNOMED CT in automated expansion of clinical terms in discharge summaries: Testing issues of coverage Aleksandar Zivaljevic, Koray Atalag and James Warren   Under-coding of dementia and other conditions indicates scope for improved patient management: A longitudinal retrospective study of dementia patients in Australia Witold H Polanski, Adrian Danker, Amir Zolal, Davis Senf-Mothes, Gabriele Schackert, and Dietmar Krex   Professional Practice & Innovation Article  A multi-method quality improvement approach to systematically improve and promote the quality of national health and social care information Niamh McGrath, Barbara Foley, Caroline Hurley, Maria Ryan, and Rachel Flynn   NEW Virtual Special Issue – Health Data and Diversity   Guest Editors Bronwyn Hemsley (PhD) and Deborah Debono (PhD) introduce this Virtual Special Issue for HIMJ with a compilation of articles grouped along the themes of:   Considering health literacy in e-health initiatives Building on the affordances

Read More »