Information Management & COVID-19 with AHIMA's Tammy Combs and Julie Dooling

Logan chats with Tammy Combs and Julie Dooling, directors of American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Practice Excellence, about medical data and health information management during the COVID-19 pandemic. This data and health information help the medical field to recognize and boost patient outcomes, code effectively, and improve clinical documentation. Dooling explains that medical coding is front and center right now because of the emergence of telemedicine and relaxed regulations on HIPAA guideline and the way data are collected. Combs notes that AHIMA is always in touch with its more than 103,000     members about changes in health care information management brought about by COVID-10. AHIMA has provided a wealth of templates and resources for providers to use, such as the QUERY form. This assists in providing clarification on diagnoses, including information accessible on the AHIMA website by primary care physicians, ER physicians, and CD and coding professionals.  Dooling explains OCR's reasoning for relaxing the rules regarding HIPPA guidelines, especially as telehealth providers move in the direction of utilizing platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Google Hangouts, and Skype. This is a great time to look at company policies and procedures regarding confidentiality and security. Coombs closes out the episode in response to Logan's question about advice for health care startups or clinics by emphasizing the importance of understanding the changing rules. This episode is sponsored by Ora, www.oraclinical.com; Bridge Patient Portal, www.bridgepatientportal.com; Telehealth Associates, www.telehealthassociates.com; and Software Advice, www.softwareadvice.com.