An Exploratory Study Demonstrating the Health Information Management Profession as a STEM Discipline.

It is time to make the case for health information management (HIM) to be included in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. A careful review of the HIM competencies approved by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) illustrates the role of HIM professionals in informatics, data analytics, and data use. More precisely, the competency subdomains clearly align with content in the STEM disciplines of science, math, and technology, and the individual competencies or tasks in each subdomain solidify the assertion that HIM should be considered part of the STEM disciplines. Evaluation of AHIMA membership data showed that, at the education and work setting levels, AHIMA members are employed in many areas that are common to both HIM and STEM.

Possibilities and pitfalls of outsourcing.

Outsourcing can save healthcare organizations costs related to staffing and training. Organizations should ensure that a vendor's staff is credentialed, knowledgeable, and properly trained. Outsourcing firms should ensure the confidentiality and security of the information they will handle. Outsourcing carries risks for providers, including potentially negative impact on tax-exempt status and loss of control over business processes.

Improving quality of health care through pay-for-performance programs.

The issue of quality of care is not new to the US health care system. Providers have been required to participate in quality improvement activities by governmental and accrediting agencies for quite some time. The public, too, is becoming increasingly involved in evaluating the quality of care provided in facilities from which they seek care. Transparency in pricing and quality of care is of critical interest to patients, health plans, and employers. On August 22, 2006, President George W. Bush signed an executive order supporting the promotion of efficient and quality health care to US citizens in health care programs administered and sponsored by the federal government, such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare.However, the idea of tying reimbursement to these quality standards is growing and becoming a significant element of the health care field. Value-based purchasing refers to the many ways that health care purchasers are attempting to measure, monitor, and improve the quality of care that is received for money spent. Pay for performance is one of the emerging programs in this area. The expectation of pay for performance is that patient outcomes will be improved by rewarding providers based on predetermined measures.