Comparative Records for Health Information Management

No other health information management book covers health care practice in such a wide variety of settings. From ambulatory care to long-term care, from dental practice to veterinary practice, from home health care to health care in correctional facilities, Comparative Heath Information Management, Second Edition provides a comprehensive survey of current health information practice. Each chapter includes didactic aids as well as opportunities for more in-depth analysis of subject matter to enhance learning.

This textbook describes the various settings outside of acute care that employ health information managers, and addresses the challenges of managing information flow among these sites. The 16 chapters overview regulatory issues, documentation, reimbursement and funding, coding and classification, computer systems, quality improvement, risk management, and the role of the HIM professional. The second edition reflects changes in the Medicare payment system. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:LouAnn Schraffenberger, MBA, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P(Univ of Illinois at Chicago School of Biomed & Health Info Mgmt)
Description:The book provides a comprehensive survey of health information management practices in a wide variety of healthcare settings with the focus on settings other than acute care hospitals. This is the second edition of a book first published in 1998.
Purpose:As more health care is delivered outside of the acute care hospital, health information managers are challenged to meet the unique information needs of the nontraditional settings. Most health information managers' original training focused on hospital settings. As more and more practitioners are finding themselves in nonhospital settings, a reliable reference that discusses the characteristics of these new arenas is needed. The purpose is to help health information managers and students prepare to meet these challenges.
Audience:The audience is two major groups. The first includes practicing registered health information technicians (RHIT) or administrators (RHIA) who are working in or moving into the nonhospital setting. The book would also be valuable to HIM managers in nonhospital settings who are in their positions without the benefit of formal HIM education. The second major group includes RHIT or RHIA students in health information educational programs. This could be a valuable textbook in a survey course.
Features:The first chapter is an introduction that describes the recent history of healthcare in the U.S. including the effects of changes on payment systems, regulatory and accreditation issues, the impact of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the evolution of the electronic health records. The remaining 15 chapters focus on a particular healthcare setting including hospital based ambulatory care, freestanding ambulatory care, managed care, dialysis, correctional facilities, mental health facilities, substance abuse treatment centers, facilities for individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities, long term care, rehabilitation, home healthcare, hospice, dental care settings, veterinary medicine and a final chapter on consulting in all settings. Each chapter follows a consistent outline: introduction to the setting, regulatory issues, documentation, reimbursement and funding, information management, coding, computer systems, quality and risk management, legal issues and trends. New in this edition are the changes in payment systems in the nonacute care settings. As an example, the book addresses risk-adjusted systems in managed care. The impact of HIPAA privacy and security of health information in a variety of settings is thoroughly addressed. Each chapter contains well-structured learning aids such as objectives, key terms, summary, review questions, web activity, and a case study.
Assessment:This is a one-of-a-kind book that puts reliable, practical information into the hands of health information managers who need to know the facts about managing health information in nonacute care hospital settings. It is a book that can be (or should be!) read cover-to-cover as a textbook in an education program. It is just as valuable to the practicing health information manager to read one or a couple of chapters to get up to speed on the unique characteristics of these alternative settings. The author has assembled an impressive group of contributors to share their expertise. You can't find this level of detail in many other books. For that reason, I highly recommend it as a valuable addition to your reference shelf.

Ms. Peden is associate professor, Health Information Management
in the School of Health Related Professions at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi. She has her MBA from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La., where she also taught in the medical record administration technology program.
Ms. Peden has served as president of the Louisiana Medical Record Association and the Mississippi Health Information Management Association. She is also an advisor to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).