President’s Message
Submitted by Rae Freeman, RHIA, CCS-P

It’s a favorite time of the year, spring!  Time where the grass is getting green, the flowers are blooming, and things are growing. 
Speaking of growing… are you?  Does your current position have you in a rut lately?  Maybe all you need is to reach out and volunteer!  TxHIMA now has four regions in our state association.  Each of the four regions has a director and several committees.  Have you volunteered to chair or assist on a committee? Whatever your expertise or passion, we have a place for you!  Please contact your regional director to see what is available.  Not sure which region you live in?  Check the map and information or contact any board member.

Soon you will be seeing an email regarding the Environmental Scan.  When you receive the email, please take time to participate in the2011 TxHIMA Environmental Scan Survey.  It’s easy to do –only 6 questions plus a place to comment.  You can do it in about 5 minutes!
 
Enjoy your day and thanks for actively participating in TxHIMA!
Mark your calendar for the 2011 TxHIMA Annual Meeting and Convention - June 27-29 in Arlington. 

Plan now to participate in the Silent Auction: 2011 Silent Auction Letter and Form

---

Education

Coding Roundtable
Friday, April 15, 2011
San Antonio, Texas

Coding Roundtable
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Houston, Texas
 
Region 3 Meeting - Sat. April 30, 2011 - University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler

• 8:30 - 9:00 Registration and breakfast.
• 9:00 - 10:15 Coding Roundtable.
• 10:15 - 11:30 ICD-10 Update -Ron Vrba Paris Junior College
• 11:30 - 12:15 District Organization Meeting-Rae Freeman/Tina O’Daniel/Jennifer Stone

Great opportunity to obtain 3.5 hours of CE!

Anyone interested in running for district office?  Make sure to attend this meeting!

Click here to register online.

Registration Fee $25 for TXHIMA Member/Non-Member-Cert
Online Registration only no walk-ins

---

AHIMA Hill Day
  
AHIMA's Hill Day included 170+ volunteers to represent 40 states with legislative visits on March 29th, 2011. 

There were four Texas participants for Hill Day 2011 in DC.  These include: Diann Brown from Arlington, Nicole Walker from Houston, Lilly Timon from Austin, and Melinda Teel, TxHIMA Legislative Director from Big Spring.  We had appointments with John Cornyn, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Randy Neugebauer, and Joe Barton.  AHIMA informational packets were left with 2 other Texas representatives. 
 
In the discussions with legislative aids, we discussed four topics: 

1. AHIMA requests maintaining existing funding of educational programs, scholarships, and loans that allow HIM programs to attract and maintain students;
2. request that Congress authorize the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to investigate the workforce and resource needs for HIM and informatics as the HITECH resources evaporate in FY 2013.  This can be achieved by establishing an Office of Allied Health within HRSA similar to offices for physicians and nursing professions;
3. Request authorization and funding of Title VII of the Public Health Service Act to provide specific program support funding for HIM education under a HRSA office 4) AHIMA offer patient identity solutions for electronic health records.

The meetings went well overall, and the HIM profession and history of educational programs was shared with the legislative aides as we went from representative and senator meetings.  Informational packets were left behind for references to our materials and requests.  Hopefully, in the future, these legislators will remember that AHIMA has information and resources available at their fingertips when information is needed about the workforce and business practices of health information. 

---

HI-TECH UPDATE
 
Dear Texas HIE/HIT Stakeholders,
The Texas Health Services Authority (THSA) is aware that certain organizations, such as Independent Physician Associations (IPAs) or hospitals and Integrated Delivery Networks (IDNs), consider themselves to be "community HIEs" and may choose not to exchange health information through a local or regional health information organization.  In addition, other organizations may offer HIE services on a non-geographic basis.  For these reasons, the THSA is seeking information on "community HIEs" supported through an IPA, hospital, IDN or others through a Request for Information (RFI).  The information collected through this RFI will ensure the THSA has a broad understanding of the level of HIE services being provided across all HIE models in Texas.  

A copy of the RFI is available at:  www.thsa.org/announcements/thsa-seeks-responses-to-rfi-on-texas-hie-network-services.aspx.  Responses must be submitted by 5:00 pm CST on Friday, April 29, 2011.  Please direct all questions about the RFI to Steve Roddy, THSA's Associate Director of Policy and Planning, at steve.roddy@thsa.org or (512) 814-0321. 

Best regards,

Tony Gilman | CEO
Texas Health Services Authority
San Jacinto Building
221 E. 9th | Suite 201 | Austin, Texas 78701
512.814.0321 (office) | 512.619.9961 (cell)
www.thsa.org    
 

---

REMINDER:   TXHIMA Board of Directors Election April 1-16 2011.  All eligible voters should have received an email on April 1 from TxHIMA regarding the election at the email address in their membership profile with AHIMA.  Please remember to make your voice heard and VOTE!!!!
 

---

Contact Us

President – Rae Freeman 
President-elect – Kathy Willis       
Past President – Carol Smith
Executive Office – txhima@txhima.org
Region 1 – Melinda Teel       
Region 2 – Linda Brown     
Region 3 – Jennifer Stone       
Region 4 – Sonja Davis

Please submit your news for our next newsletter to Jennifer at region3director@txhima.org