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South Eastern Michigan HIM Association
Delegate's Corner
What’s happening with AHIMA and MHIMA?

This page allows our State Delegate and MHIMA Advocate to provide continuos updates to our membership. We are aware that members cannot always make it to seminars and that our delegates cannot attend all of our Board meetings. Therefore, SEMHIMA is proud to offer this direct connection between our members and their Delegates.

If you would like to ask our MHIMA Delegate/Advocate a question or provide feedback on a topic listed below, please visit the "Contact Us" page on our web site. Your questions or comments will be forwarded to the appropriate person.


MHIMA Delegate News April 2010
Submitted by: Peggy Chapo, MS, RHIA

Michigan delegates are participating in various House of Delegate teams, which means you are being represented year-round on important issues relevant to our profession.

I am on the Volunteer and Leadership Development Team and we meet every other month via conference call. This team has several different goals related to increasing volunteerism among our colleagues.

One of the things that this team has accomplished so far this year is to draft a document on mentoring. Once it is finalized, you’ll be seeing it highlighted in some of the AHIMA publications, as well as posted on the Communities of Practice (CoPs). The document helps identify ways that we can mentor others, both within the work environment, and also within our professional organizations. People can mentor and be mentored in many ways and this team wants to try and capture many different ideas into a single document useful to our membership.

Another thing this team has done is draft lists of competencies for various volunteer leadership roles (i.e., Component State Association President/President-Elect, Treasurer, etc.). It is designed to help the Nominating Committee when soliciting names for the ballot each year and also helps any potential candidates decide which volunteer role might fit their skill set best.

There is still much discussion about the apportionment issue for the House of Delegates. There are various proposals under review and this will be further discussed at the Winter Team Talks. You can read more about this on the AHIMA CoP.

Several members from the Michigan delegation will be at the Winter Team Talks and Capitol Hill Day on March 22-23 in Washington, DC. It will be a great opportunity to interact with other delegates and meet with our elected representatives in Congress.

For those who cannot attend the Team Talks in person, I would recommend participating in the Virtual Team Talks on April 1 (1pm-2:30pm). You can register on the AHIMA CoP! It is a condensed version of the live meeting and worthwhile tuning in!

It is exciting news to have my fellow delegate, Charlie Robinson, be nominated to the AHIMA ballot for Director! Please make sure you vote for Charlie! It would be great to have a SEMHIMA/MHIMA member involved in a highly visible role at the national level!

If anyone has any questions or comments to share with me, please contact me a (248) 471-8180 or pchapo@botsford.org It is great to be able to represent our state and work with the SEMHIMA board!



MHIMA Attends 2010 AHIMA Capitol Hill Day
Submitted by: Charlie M. Robinson, BS, RHIT, CCS-P

March 23, 2010, Denise Holstege, RHIT, MHIMA Delegate, and Charlie Robinson, BS, RHIT, CCS-P, MHIMA Delegate and Legislative Liaison attended AHIMA’s 2010 Capitol Hill day in Washington, D.C. Denise and Charlie met with the offices of Congressman Peter Hoekstra, Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, Congresswoman Candice Miller and Senator Debbie Stabenow. Holstege and Robinson met with these offices to discuss two key initiatives for HIM professionals in 2010. Congressman McCotter’s office supplied a letter that urged for a two year delay in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s (ARRA) requirement for EHR adoption by 2015. In addition, this letter requested the critical access hospitals (CAH) and hospital based physician offices not be excluded from ARRA stimulus money for EHR adoption.

Senator Stabenow’s office expressed interest in additional funding of education dollars that would support training and/or retraining for the use and implementation of EHRs. Congresswoman Miller suggested that there are federal grants that could assist with training and/or retraining for the use and implementation of EHRs. During a time of enormous change in our healthcare system, each of the offices that were visited expressed genuine understanding and need for the items that Holstege and Robinson presented.

Below are the two key issues presented to our State Representatives:

Issue 1: Health Information Management Workforce: Introduce and Support the "Allied Health, Health Information Management and Medical Informatics Investment Act"
  • HIM professionals serve patients and the healthcare industry as not only the stewards of health information, but also as the workforce leading the adoption of standards-based electronic health record (EHRs) systems and interoperable health information exchange (HIE).

  • At time when our nation’s need for HIM skills is increasing, the number of educated and trained HIM professionals is limited and notably insufficient to meet projected needs.

  • Healthcare workforce shortages were recognized in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its Health Information Technology and Education for Clinical Health Act (PL 111-5).

  • In addition, many Allied Health professionals need training in the use of EHR systems. A study by AHIMA and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) found a significant lack of such curriculum in Allied Health Programs (see the AHIMA/AMIA report and competency requirements on the attached Health Information Management Workforce Resources sheet).

  • Introduce and pass AHIMA’s draft legislation the "Allied Health, Health Information Management and Medical Informatics Investment Act." The bill reauthorize Title VII of the Public Health Service Act to:
    • Provide funding and programs under the Health Resources and Services Administration specifically for allied health and health information education – allied health professionals are the largest segment of healthcare employees who must be skilled in the use of EHRs and HIE.

    • Provide funding for the development and use of EHR education laboratories so that those being trained or educated have an EHR system on which to learn. Many of today’s allied health students and professionals do not have access to EHRs for skill building and practice readiness.

Issue 2: Workforce: Circulate a "Dear Colleague" Letter in Congress to Direct the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics to Reflect the New Roles of HIM
  • The current Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) categories that encompass the HIM profession are divided between 1) Medical Records and health information technicians; and 2) Medical and health service managers.

  • These categories do not capture the true capacity of today’s HIM workforce nor do they accurately provide HIM workforce projections for the future.

  • AHIMA has petitioned the Bureau of Labor Statistics to adopt a new category to determine the workforce level of HIM.

  • Because the current classifications are unclear, the target workforce numbers as provided by the BLS are unrealistic and the occupation itself is not clear to the public, to employers, to the government, and to potential students.

  • AHIMA recommends renaming "Medical Records and Health Information Technicians" (29-2071.00 (116c)) to "Medical Records and Health Information Specialists."


    • Consider subcategories under this classification


      • "Medical Records and Health Information Technician" (29-2071.01)

      • "Medical Records and Health Information Manager" (29-2071.02)


    • Remove "Health Information Manager" occupational information from "Medical and Health Services Managers" (11-9111.00 (114c) and place within the new "Medical Records and Health Information Management Specialists" (29-2071.00).




For more information, go to www.AHIMA.org and click on the Advocacy Center or contact Charlie Robinson, BS, RHIT, CCS-P, MHIMA Legislative Liaison at: charlie.robinson@caretech.com