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From
the EO
In
publishing parlance, June is a "bumper edition",
please read on to learn what your association has been doing
in the past month.
Branch
Funding.
As
foreshadowed in last month's newsletter the HIMAA Board has
approved increased funding support to branches over the
period FY09/10 - FY12/13.
In
approving the increased funding the Board recognises that:
·
More
needs to be done to attract and hold members, at the Branch
level;
·
HIMAA
is first and foremost a member - based association;
·
One
of, if not the prime attraction for members is an active
branch program of professional development and social
events; and
·
State
Branch committee members are generally able and willing to
volunteer the intellectual direction necessary for an active
branch program but have difficulty committing the time
needed to implement the program.
Approximately
$50,000 has been allocated in the FY09/10 budget for this
initiative.
Interprofessional
Learning.
The
Council of Australian Governments (COAG) initiated the
workforce reform initiative National Registration and
Accreditation Scheme for Health Professionals in March 2008.
The scope of the initiative is broad; however, it prompted
the establishment of Learning & Teaching for
Interprofessional Practice
Australia
(L-TIPP). The L-TIPP "launch", at which HIMAA was
represented by Board member Kerryn Butler-Henderson, was an
open conversation for invited universities, government
agencies, NGOs and professional associations/accrediting
bodies to discuss issues in interprofessional learning. The
represented universities recognised the need to include
interprofessional education in their curriculum, and there
was agreement on the topic of support, or even a push, from
accrediting bodies (professional bodies) for
interprofessional learning and practice standards.
The
HIMAA Board has taken the view that this is a significant
initiative and has developed a Position Paper on it (to be
posted to the HIMAA Website shortly). The Introduction to
the Position Paper is as follows:
The
Health Information Management Association of
Australia
(HIMAA) agrees in principle with:
1.
The concept of interprofessional practice to enhance quality
of patient and client care and service delivery (McNair et
al 2006; Stone 2006);
2.
The education of health professionals to support this
practice, as proposed in the L-TIPP proposal (Learning and
Teaching for Interprofessional
Practice
,
Australia
2008).
HIMAA
believes that the involvement of Health Information Managers
is essential to enable this mode of health care delivery and
practice. Specifically, whilst Health Information Managers
are not directly involved in the immediate person-to-person
delivery of health and human services, both Health
Information Managers and the information systems they design
and manage are directly linked to patient care and are
essential enablers for interprofessional practice.
Australian
Health Informatics Education Council.
The
Department of Health and Ageing (
DoHA
) has commissioned the
Australian
College
of Health Informatics (ACHI) to establish an Australian
Health Informatics Education Council (AHIEC) "to
address the supply of health informaticians and to increase
the information management skill and knowledge base of
health workers across the sector". HIMAA has
a representative (Board Senior Vice - President, Louise
Edmonds) on the AHIEC Interim Committee and has been invited
to nominate a co - chair of AHIEC. This initiative could
have major implications for the HIM profession and the HIMAA
Board is heavily engaged in negotiating a governance
structure and draft AHIEC workplan.
Coders
& Health Information Workforce Workshop.
Vicki
Bennett, HIMAA President, and Lyn Williams, Team Leader
Education Services and I attended a workshop on Coders &
the Health Information Workforce in
Sydney
on the 18th June. The workshop was convened by the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), on behalf
of the Department of Health and Ageing (
DoHA
), to address shortages in the health information workforce
in
Australia
. The workshop was attended by a wide range of stakeholders
from academia, State Health Departments, NEHTA and
DoHA
. The aim of the workshop was to develop implementable
solutions to both the short and long-term supply and demand
issues in the workforce, which will be presented to one of
the sub - committees within the Australian Health Ministers'
Advisory Council (AHMAC). It is expected that the outcomes
of the workshop will be available shortly.
Members
might remember that In February 2009 HIMAA was a signatory
to a letter to the Federal Health Minister, the Federal
Minister for Education and all State/Territory Health
Ministers alerting them to shortages in the health
information workforce and the potential impact of such
shortages on national eHealth initiatives. It would appear
that this representation has borne fruit.
HIMAA's
participation in the workshop placed the HIM profession
squarely at the forefront of the rapidly evolving health
information arena.
Victorian
Branch Committee.
The
Vic Branch had its AGM on the 17th June and voted in the
following Committee:-
·
President:
Glenda Wyatt
·
Vice
President: TBD
·
Treasurer:
Elizabeth Lawson
·
Secretary:
TBD
Other
Members:
·
Terri
Letitizia
·
Cathering
Obuch (Professional Development Group liaison)
·
Leanne
Daking (Events SubCommittee liaison)
·
Kerin
Robinson (Latrobe Uni liaison)
Sione
Veilofia.
Members
will no doubt remember the sad loss of Sione Veilofia in
Tonga
on the 16th May. Members were invited to contribute to a
fund to assist Sione's family through what would be a very
difficult time. I am pleased to report that we have received
$1,663.00 in donations and these funds will be forwarded to
Sione's family in the near future. Thank you to all those
who contributed.
Reciprocal
Agreement with AHIMA.
On
advice from the Education Committee, the HIMAA Board has
approved a proposal for the basis of a reciprocal agreement
with AHIMA.
The
proposal is that:
Each
association recognises the equivalence of the other's
accredited university courses and consequently:
US
HIMs:
·
US
HIMs seeking Full Membership of HIMAA will have to
demonstrate:
·
Eligibility
to sit the RHIA qualification, or
·
RHIA
qualification.
Australian
HIMs:
Australian
HIMs seeking to sit the RHIA exam will have to demonstrate
either Full Membership of HIMAA or eligibility for Full
Membership of HIMAA.
The
rationale for this proposal being as follows:
·
In
the
USA
the critical professional criteria is eligibility to sit the
RHIA (which requires graduation from a CAHIIM accredited
course), rather than membership of AHIMA, and
·
In
Australia
the critical professional criteria is eligibility for Full
Membership of HIMAA (which requires graduation from a HIMAA
accredited course).
The
proposal has been forwarded to AHIMA and we await their
response.
Until
next time...
Bob
Blue
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