Keystoner

Inside This Issue

PHIMA President's Address 2008 PHIMA Annual Meeting Recap 2008 PHIMA Election Results Recap PHIMA Membership Drive Valerie J.M. Watzlaf for AHIMA Director AHDI 2008 Member of the Year AHDI Student Essay Contest Winner

Student Scholarships RHIA/RHIT Exam Reimbursement Award Board Member Spotlight CPHIMA Regional Report SePHIMA Regional Report WPHIMA Regional Report Gold Corporate Sponsorship Highlights

PHIMA President's Address

Submitted by Paula Lawlor
President, PHIMA

I can’t believe it is that time of year!  The summer is here and I will be starting my new PHIMA position as Past- President as of July 1, 2008.  It is with great regret that my tenure is over.  I was just getting into the swing of things.  I absolute loved my time as your President and I would welcome the opportunity to do this again.  I had a great Broad of Directors and an amazing Executive Director.  I will so miss all the activity and the constant contact with the professional relationships that I have made.  I also made a great deal of new friends. These friends came from the colleagues that I have always known but never had the chance to really get to know.  I have been a member of PHIMA since 1980.  I have seen colleagues come and go, volunteer and not and have never really understood why.  I can tell you that in this day in age, volunteering is truly a lost art! When I was young and my teachers told us to volunteer, I thought they were crazy. Do something for nothing? NO WAY! But guess what - they were right.

            **“WHEN YOU DO SOMETHING, even if it is wrong, YOU LEARN and ACHIEVE”**

Volunteering for PHIMA and AHIMA has provided me with a community of like minded people to talk to and stay connected.  There has never been a time in my career that I didn’t know how to do something or what to do in a work environment.  This was because of the vast community of PHIMA and AHIMA members.  If you don’t participate in the associations, you do not feel confident in asking for help or seeking the assistance.  At this point in my career, I can call many many HIM professionals for anything you could possibly imagine, even how to make beef stroganoff - I am not kidding! All of this because I volunteered.  All of this because I am a member of PHIMA and AHIMA.

You are all probably sick of hearing me say “I LOVE THIS PROFESSION”, but I do. And if there is anyone out there reading this and they don’t understand why I feel this way, please contact me at Plawlor@diskriter.com so that I can help you really see what your organization and profession can do for you. I have been so blessed in my life and am very grateful for all that I have. Without HIM this may not have been possible. We have a GREAT Profession and association in PHIMA.  So get out there and volunteer.

We have accomplished, I believe more in our year together than in most years.  I believe that this is a direct result of our Executive Director and the Board.  Thanks to all of you. To our members, and volunteers, a double thank you.  For a recap of the accomplishments this year please see the CoP for board reports.  Do not forget that we hosted the National Convention this year which was a double whammy!  I had so much fun, and I really enjoyed myself.  A personal thanks to my boss Randy Baker and Diskriter for allowing me all the time, support and assistance while I was your President.

And for those of you who did not attend the annual meeting—all I can say is OMG! We had a great time.  Our Executive Director had so much fun dancing to the DJ that she broke her foot.  LOL.  No really she did!

Until next time much love, health and happiness, your President, Paula

Top

2008 PHIMA Annual Meeting Recap

Submitted by Lorri Luciano, RHIA
Executive Director

Thanks to all our members, speakers, vendors and volunteers for making the 70th PHIMA Annual Meeting “Reaching for the Stars” at the Penn Stater Conference Center in State College a success.  The planning and preparation for this year’s Annual Meeting reminded me what it was like planning a wedding, a year’s worth of planning and it is all over in less than 3 days!  However, what an exciting 3 days we all had!

Some of the highlights from this year are:

• 276 Registered Attendees (one of all highest attendance for an annual meeting)

• 55 Attendees participated in the CCS Preparation Readiness Workshop.  This is the first year we offered an all day workshop prior to the Annual Meeting.  This gave individuals who are not credentialed an opportunity to become more prepared to become credentialed.  Out of 55 attendees, 27 attended the entire Annual Meeting at ½ price, earning an additional 13 CEs!

• We offered a Full Registration Attendee the opportunity to earn 15 CEs for the low price of $13/CE.

• We had an entire educational track focused on Transcription topics.  Thanks to the Co-Sponsors PA-ADHI.

• We had speakers from Florida, Colorado, Texas and Pennsylvania that provided topics from e-Discovery, Privacy, Maintaining the Legal Record, Trauma Registry and Speech Recognition.  Plus we offered an entire coding track just for the coders.

• We had 50 Vendors (this is the highest number of vendors registered at an Annual Meeting in the last 5 years) that were given the opportunity to meet new people, catch up with some people they have not seen in a while, and enjoy the PHIMA Meeting.

• The President’s Reception this year had a twist – MUSIC and DANCING – and everyone had a great time. We want to thank all the attendees and vendors who embraced this change and danced to the very last dance. 

• Along with the Dancing and Music during the President’s Reception, we were able to raise $1500 with a Chinese Auction for PHIMA. Thank you to all the vendors who supplied the awesome gifts and to the guests who came to enjoy the fun evening!

• PHIMA had a massage therapist to help you relax and enjoy yourself throughout the conference.  Many of you took advantage of this opportunity (some more than once) and thought this was an awesome way to relax and help those aching muscles.

• Our Business Meeting and Installation of Officers Dinner moved to Monday night enabling PHIMA to get all of their business done at the beginning of the conference.  This gave everyone the opportunity to relax and enjoy the remainder of the conference. 

As you can see, this year’s Annual Meeting did have you “Reaching for the Stars” by the time you were ready to head back home and back to reality.  Once again THANKS to everyone that made a commitment to attend the 2008 PHIMA Annual Meeting. 

PHIMA is already in the planning stages for the 71^st PHIMA Annual Meeting on May 18 to May 20, 2009 at the Penn Stater Conference Center.  So make sure you mark your calendars and continue to visit the 2009 PHIMA Annual Meeting Website for up-to-date details by visiting - www.phima.org/AnnualMeetingHome.htm.  You don’t want to miss out on the CEs, networking, and other fun and relaxing events.

 Top

2008 PHIMA Election Results Recap

Submitted by Lorri Luciano, RHIA
Executive Director

Each year PHIMA tries to increase the number of participants in the voting process for the PHIMA Board of Directors Elections.  This year, PHIMA offered a little competition among our regional associations by offering the local association with the highest percentage of participating voters a $50 gift certificate for the 2008 PHIMA Annual Meeting.   PHIMA had a total of 2,093 eligible voters for the 2008 election year.  This year a total of 321 (or 15%) of eligible PHIMA voters chose to vote electronically or via paper ballot between February 25, 2008 and April 4, 2008.    This was an increase of 1% from last year’s total. 

Thank you to all the regional associations for promoting this year elections.

 Congratulations to SePHIMA for winning the $50 Gift Certificate for the 2008 PHIMA Annual Meeting!

 Top

PHIMA Membership Drive

Submitted by Lorri Luciano, RHIA
Executive Director

 Top

PHIMA Honors Its Distinguished Member

Submitted by Dee Lang, RHIT, 2^nd Year Director

PHIMA honors an outstanding member every year, recognizing their loyal service to the Association as well as their contributions to the profession.  This year’s recipient of the PHIMA Distinguished Member Award was Jennifer Hornung-Garvin, PhD, MBA, RHIA, CPHQ, CCS, CTR, FAHIMA.  Jennifer was presented with this award during the appreciation luncheon at the recent annual meeting,

For over 20 years, Jennifer has promoted our profession of health information management in many different roles; as a volunteer, an educator, writer, lecturer and researcher.

She has held many elected positions including President of her local association (LVHIMA), President of PHIMA, AHIMA Delegate and Director of the Board of Directors at AHIMA. She has served as a member of numerous committees and has chaired just as many.  Currently she is a member of the Health Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP) Population Health Technical Committee.

Her professional experience includes fellowship research, numerous academic positions teaching courses in informatics, public health, and health information management as well as having been a consultant, director and coder.

Jennifer’s accomplishments are many including publications in various journals such as Journal of AHIMA, Educational Perspectives in Information Management, and Perspectives in Health Information Management.  In addition, she has authored numerous technical papers, poster abstracts, and books.  The number of speeches and workshops she has conducted span over many years and cover a wide variety of topics. 

We all take great pride in our profession and we are very passionate about what we do, but Jennifer is one individual who has distinguished herself and receives national recognition. As one of her colleagues stated, Jennifer is a “good ambassador for the profession”.

People that have the privilege of knowing her will all agree that she is a dedicated professional.  Based on her service, leadership and dedication to PHIMA and our profession overall, we are proud to honor this exceptional woman as our 2008 Distinguished Member.  Congratulations Jennifer!

Top

Valerie J.M. Watzlaf, Ph.D., RHIA, FAHIMA for AHIMA Director

Top

AHDI 2008 Member of the Year

Submitted by:

Sharon Allred, CMT, AHDI-F
Judy Lichtenberger, CMT, AHDI-F, RHIT
Norma Lopresti, CMT, AHDI-F
Donna Lape, CMT

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) has named Carol Croft, CMT, AHDI-F the 2008 Member of the Year.   This is one of the most distinguished awards a medical transcriptionist can achieve in this industry.  The award is based on the following attributes:  bringing recognition to the medical transcription profession; contribution to the medical transcription profession’s body of knowledge; exemplifying exceptional or outstanding service to AHDI; demonstrating a consistent pattern of outstanding professional achievement.   Carol was nominated by many of her fellow PA-AHDI members for this award.  We congratulate Carol in achieving this recognition; she certainly is very deserving of this award!

The accomplishments of Carol over a 30-year span are almost too numerous to mention!  She has received professional awards in the past including FAMT 1998 Member of the Year and AAMT 2006 Advocate of the Year.  Prior to moving to Pennsylvania in 2004, she served for the Florida Association for Medical Transcription (FAMT) in many capacities – Region V Director, FAMT President, Annual Meeting & Educational Conference Chair, Chapter Representative, Fundraising Chair, Policies & Procedure Committee, Nominating Committee, MT and Corporate Membership Committee Chair, and editor of Sunscripts Newsletter.  Carol was a founding member of the Treasure Coast Chapter in West Palm Beach, Florida, serving on a multitude of committees as well as Chapter President several times between 1982 and 1993, and was a member of the Advisory Committee for the Palm Beach Community College Medical Transcription Program.  On a national level, her involvement with AHDI has also been impressive:  Membership Task Force Chair, Business Issues Committee, Business Issues Section, E31.22 Subcommittee of ASTM, Health Information Documentation & Medical Transcription, HOD Policies & Procedures Chair, HOD Resolutions Committee, HOD Lead Team, Ethics Committee, and E-mentor. 

Since moving to Pennsylvania in 2004, Carol has provided great leadership and guidance for the state as PA-AHDI President.  She has been actively involved in the Military Spouse Initiative, developed an alliance with the Pennsylvania Health Information Management Association (PHIMA), served on the South Central Workforce Investment Board for allied health professions, and has actively participated in the PAeHI - Pennsylvania eHealth Initiative, national Bylaws Committee chair, and co-chair of the Component Association Support Team (CAST).  Carol has assisted PA-AHDI in building their annual meetings into very productive, informative and educational sessions.  Carol has been of incredible assistance in getting the Susquehanna Chapter up and running, faithfully supporting it through the years and is still a member of this chapter.  Recently, in the March 2008 issue of “Advance for Health Information Professionals,” Carol is pictured at Capitol Hill for AHDI Advocacy Day, promoting the profession with our government officials.  She regularly meets with state congressional leaders in Harrisburg and organized the first Pennsylvania State Lobby Day in 2006.  Carol has made a valiant effort to create legislation in Pennsylvania coined “The Sunshine Report” to approve mandatory licensure for medical transcriptionists and has pushed for an addendum to a bill to exclude medical transcription from PA Sales & Use Tax category.  This advocacy led her to the PA Workforce Investment Board, addressing MT work shortages, and the Patient Safety Authority, addressing the MT’s frontline position for preventing medical errors.  She has been featured in the Business Woman newsletter of the Harrisburg Business Women’s Group, in which she brought attention to the medical transcription business as a profession.  Carol has served as a role model, mentor, leader, and consultant for many of the younger, next generation associates, speaking to students and educators across the state.  She also finds time to volunteer for several local agencies such as KPETS, Road to Recovery, Pinnacle Health Hospice, and Operation Life Transformed.  Carol and her husband Harry currently reside in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and are parents of 6 children and a number of grandchildren.

As AHDI 2008 Member of the Year, Carol will be honored at the 2008 ACE meeting in Orlando, Florida, in August with registration, airfare, and hotel accommodations, and will be recognized at the Awards Banquet on the final evening of the ACE conference.  The state of Pennsylvania is proud to have this national award given to such a remarkable woman! 

  Top

AHDI Student Essay Contest Winner

Submitted by:

Sharon Allred, CMT, AHDI-F
Judy Lichtenberger, CMT, AHDI-F, RHIT
Norma Lopresti, CMT, AHDI-F
Donna Lape, CMT

AHDI has named Kathryn Agnew of Allenwood, PA, the winner of the Marilyn Craddock Student Essay Contest.  Kathryn “Ryn” Agnew is completing her studies and internship at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA.  Ryn enrolled in the Medical Language Editing program at Penn College in August 2007 as part of a partnership between Penn College and Opti-Script, a medical transcription company in State College.  Although the majority of her studies were completed in a distance learning environment, Ryn met at least weekly with her adjunct professor, Sharon Allred CMT, AHDI-F.  In February 2008, Ryn qualified for an internship opportunity at Opti-Script, working as an acute care MT. 

Prior to beginning her studies at Penn College, Ryn worked as an LPN and paralegal.  She is married to Bob and resides in Allenwood, PA.  Ryn attended the PA-AHDI meeting last year as well as the national AHIMA meeting in PA and is very motivated to succeed in her new career choice. 

PA-AHDI congratulates Ryn for her winning essay and looks forward to hearing from her at ACE in Orlando in August. 

 Top

Student Scholarships

Submitted by Kathy Arner LPN, RHIT, CCS, CPC, MCS
1^st Year Director

Every year Student Scholarships are presented to deserving College Students who have met specific criteria that are posted on the PHIMA website. The PHIMA Executive Board is responsible for selecting the students for Vendor sponsored awards, and for the first time this year PHIMA also sponsored and selected 2 scholarships. These were all presented at the PHIMA annual conference held at the Penn Stater in State College, Pa. in May. Each student received $500.00 and a certificate of recognition.

 Vendor Sponsored Scholarships:

Iod Incorporated - Information on Demand – Presented by Bonnie Heim

iod Incorporated is a leader in providing medical release of information and secure record storage services for clinics and hospitals.  PHIMA is proud that they are again a sponsor for PHIMA Student Scholarship program. This year iod Incorporated sponsored:

Lauren Houseal

2008 Student Scholarship Recipient

Lauren is currently enrolled in the Health Information Management program at Gwynedd-Mercy College in Gwynedd Valley, Pa.  Lauren’s cumulative grade point average is 3.89 and she has been on the Deans list for 2 years and is also on the National Scholastic Honor Society for Allied Health Professionals.

She is a member of AHIMA, PHIMA, and LVHIMA, and has volunteered on a local level in several different capacities. Lauren also volunteers at college during open house and has volunteered for her church during youth group activities.  Lauren’s long term goal after graduation in May 2009, is to continue to work in the Health Information Management area, possibly for a cancer registry. She is currently taking classes to obtain her CTR credentials. 

Lauren was chosen by the Executive Board for this award in large part due to reference letters and her application reflecting her enthusiasm, interest and dedication toward her studies and the Health Information Management profession.

CBIZ KA Consulting Services, LLC – Presented by Patty Belluomini, RHIA

CBIZ provides experienced consultants to ensure accurate and complete coding and reimbursement , grouping, auditing and data entry.  PHIMA is proud that they again are a sponsor for PHIMA Student Scholarship program. This year CBIZ sponsored:

Rachel Colavita

2008 Student Scholarship Recipient

Rachel is currently enrolled in the Health Information Management program at Gwynedd-Mercy College in Gwynedd Valley, Pa.  Rachel’s cumulative grade point average is 3.45 and she was on the Dean’s list in 2005 and 2006. She is a member of AHIMA, PHIMA, LVHIMA and SePHIMA and will be graduating in May 2008.

While being a student, she not only attends the Associations meetings but she also enjoys volunteering. While attending the AHIMA conference in October 2007, she volunteered for two different days.  She also volunteers at her church by doing sign language interpretation for the hearing impaired, playing the piano and chaperoning teenagers for their monthly activities. She currently works as the Office Manager for Keystone Human Services, a non-profit organization which supports individuals with autism and developmental disabilities.

Rachel’s current goals are to proceed with a career in HIM and to go back to school to get an ASL Interpreting degree to interpret for the hearing impaired in healthcare settings. The Executive Board chose Rachel for her professional application and her interest in the field of Health Information Management. 

PHIMA Sponsored Scholarships:

PHIMA decided this year to sponsor 2 students show our commitment to all students. The students that were sponsored are as follows:

Nancy Tang

2008 Student Scholarship Recipient

Nancy is currently enrolled in the Health Information Management program at Devry University – Online Philadelphia Campus.  Nancy’s cumulative grade point average is 4.0 and she was on the Deans list in 2007.

She is a member of AHIMA and PHIMA and volunteered in 2007 at the AHIMA National Conference in Philadelphia, Pa.  At this time, Nancy does most of her volunteering at the children’s school, whose ages are 4 and 5.  Nancy’s long term goals after graduation in December 2009, are to continue on to receive her Masters in the Health Information Management arena and to work as an insurance contract negotiator. She currently is an Oncology Pharmacist for Penn Home Infusion Therapy in King of Prussia.   

Nancy was chosen by the Executive Board for this award due to her reference letters and her long term goals with Health Information Management profession.

Donna Lougher

2008 Student Scholarship Recipient

Donna is currently enrolled in the Health Information Management program at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, Pa.  Donna’s cumulative grade point average is 3.83.  She is a member of AHIMA and PHIMA and will be graduating in May 2009.

While being a student, she is active in the College Health Information Association where she will be Vice President. While attending the AHIMA conference in October 2007, she was amazed with all of the potential job opportunities that are available in this field. She volunteers in her community as a music director and is a team member of Life Under Construction Ministries at her Church.  She is a single Mom of two teenage daughters who keep her busy with their school activities. .

Donna’s current goals are to proceed with her education and after graduation work as a coder or abstractor. Her long term goal (now that the College will begin an RHIA program through distance learning) is to eventually continue her education through this program. The Executive Board chose Donna for her interest in the field of Health Information Management.

Top

Premiere PHIMA Credentialed (RHIA/RHIT) Exam Reimbursement Award

Submitted by Kathy Arner LPN, RHIT, CCS, CPC, MCS
1^st Year Director

For the first time, PHIMA offered Full Reimbursement to any Premiere PHIMA member who had successfully graduated in good standing AND successfully passed the RHIA/RHIT credentials exam within this past fiscal year.  We, as associations, strongly feel taking the RHIT/RHIA exam demonstrates a commitment to the field of Health Information Management.  The following premier members received a check and a certificate at the Annual meeting held at the Penn Stater Hotel in State College, Pa. 

PHIMA congratulates all of you on your accomplishments.

Top

Board Member Spotlights

Kathy Arner LPN, RHIT, CCS, CPC, MCS
1^st Year Director – PHIMA

Without NEPHIMA and PHIMA I would not have accomplished all that I have done since I became a member many years ago. I have had the opportunity to hold many different offices at NEPHIMA and PHIMA including President of PHIMA. I have been on committees for AHIMA and IFHRO and have written several articles for publication including an article in the AHIMA journal Feb. 2007. I have been a speaker at NEPHIMA, PHIMA, AHIMA as well as a Poster presenter several times and I am currently a member of NEPHIMA, PHIMA, AHIMA, AAPC, NHCAA, and AHIP.

I am a previous 2008 Board Member for DeVry University, Phila, Pa. and currently a member of Advisory Board of Penn College in Williamsport, Pa. and a member of Biltmore’s Who’s Who.

I have been employed for 35 years in the Geisinger Health System. My current position as a Program Integrity Investigator has me auditing all types of coding, reviewing progress notes as well as Physician Billing for problem areas.    

I have had many wonderful opportunities being a board member of PHIMA -  they are too numerous to write about.  Many of you know me and that I love to read, walk and travel. In July, I have an opportunity to take an exam in Vermont for auditing and I’m looking forward to that.

My family has been my biggest support system for so many years. I have been married to my husband Jim almost 34 years, 2 children Lori and Jeremy. Lori became a Mom on Jan. 10, 2008 and has been married to Brian for over 2 years, now we are grandparents! Jeremy was married Sat. April 19, 2008 to Emily. We all currently work at Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa.

Joyce Garozzo, RHIA, CCS
Second Year Delegate

Joyce Garozzo has been in the HIM Profession for over 35 years.  She is an Associate Professor of Allied Health at the Community College of Philadelphia. She is an active member of AHIMA, PHIMA, and SePHIMA and currently serves as a second year Delegate for PHIMA.  Joyce is also currently serving as the Bylaws Chair for SePHIMA.  She is a past President of both PHIMA and SePHIMA and has received the Distinguished Member award from both associations.  She recently served as Chair of the Credentials Committee at the PHIMA Annual Meeting held at State College in May. As a member of the House of Delegates this year, she is serving on the HIM Higher Education and Workforce Team.  She believes her biggest contribution to the profession has been the success of the many HIT graduates she has had the pleasure to teach and the encouragement she given them to volunteer and serve the HIM profession.

Joyce has lived in Philadelphia all of her life and has one teenage son Gianni who will be a junior in high school next year.  She has a massive collection of over 5000 Peanuts/Snoopy items, loves the beach and to read mystery novels. 

Andrea Thomas-Lloyd
Delegate – Past President/Director

Andrea (“Andi”) Thomas-Lloyd is finishing up her second year term as Delegate and, after an unexpected vacancy, is also filling the remaining term of Past-President/Director for the PHIMA Board of Directors.  She has been employed by Lancaster General for over 20 years and is currently Sr. Director, Information Management and Privacy.   She’s held various roles at Lancaster General such as Evening Shift Supervisor in Medical Records, Concurrent Review Analyst in Utilization Management, and other leadership positions in Quality Improvement, Utilization Management, and Health Information Management.  In her current role she has operational responsibility for 160+ employees in Health Information Management, Transcription Services, Clinical Coding and serves as the Privacy Official.

Andi has been a member of PHIMA and CPHIMA since 1984.  She held numerous board positions for CPHIMA and got more actively involved in PHIMA leadership positions in 2003.

Andi recently married Mark Lloyd in August, 2007.  Together they have 5 children – Alexa (18), Kristen (13), Kimberly (12), Brett (10), and Jarrod (9).  The kids’ activities - horseback riding, competitive dance, football, lacrosse and baseball - keep Andi and Mark on the go constantly. 

For fun when they can find the time, Andi and Mark enjoy a fun game of billiards and playing Texas Hold’em poker. 

Top

CPHIMA Regional Report

Submitted by Jennifer Zimmerman, RHIA
Public Relations Chairperson

CPHIMA held its final education session of the 2007-2008 year on Friday June 13, 2008 at Normandie Ridge, York, PA. The session featured the following speakers; Donna M. Balsley, RN, MBA, FACHE who started off the day discussing the “Overview of the Proposed 9^th Scope of Work for QIO’s”, Melissa N. Speck who spoke about the “Implications of Compliance”, Gail M. Snyder, MPA who presented a “Get with the Guidelines Update” and Richard Imbimbo, CFO and Carrie Frey who closed the day speaking about “The Reimbursement Process of Healthcare”.
During the CPHIMA business meeting, CPHIMA installed their new board members for the 2008-2009 year.

Save the date for upcoming CPHIMA education sessions: September 12, 2008 – Brethren Home, New Oxford, PA and December 19, 2008 – Hershey Hotel, Hershey, PA.

Additional information about CPHIMA, our newsletter and registration information for upcoming educational sessions and Coding Roundtable information can be found on our website!  www.cphima.org.

Top

SePHIMA Regional Report

Submitted by Cathy A. Flite, M.Ed., RHIA
President, SePHIMA 

Annual Meeting

SePHIMA’s Annual Meeting was held at the Glen Foerd Mansion in Philadelphia on June 11, 2008 and included a business meeting luncheon and an educational session.  Three CEs were offered to the members in attendance and the topics included the following:  Kathleen Frawley, JD, MS, RHIA, spoke on the topics of HIPAA Compliance and Medical Identity Theft.   Richard Gordon, RHIA from Health Information Alliance, Inc. spoke on the topic of Documentation Improvement Strategies.

SePHIMA 2007-2008 Activities

It has been a pleasure to serve the HIM community this year in the position as President of SePHIMA. As president of SePHIMA, I would like to share a few highlights of the year and report on the incoming board.  Congratulations to the newly elected officers and the nominating committee.  The following are the newly elected officers for 2008-2009:

President                               Karen Jadach, RHIA, CCS

Treasurer                               Dasantila (Tila) Sherifi, MBA, RHIA

Secretary                               Renee Silverman, RHIT, CCS

Nominating Committee          Gloria Farng, RHIA

                                              Heng Sok, RHIA, CTR

                                              Lula Casey, RHIA

This year SePHIMA hosted three educational sessions: November 29, 2007, April 1, 2008 and June 11, 2008.  Along with the educational sessions, SePHIMA launched a website in the fall of 2007 and made many revisions to the Bylaws.

A compilation of the financial books and filing of the SePHIMA taxes has been performed in accordance with the Bylaws.  In addition, SePHIMA maintained several internal controls for the treasury and reported a treasury in good standings.

The SePHIMA membership database was reviewed this year by the Board. SePHIMA’s membership currently stands at 253 members (student members included).   

Special Thank You

Finally, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the 2007-2008 board and committee chairs for their dedication and service this year.

President-Elect -   Fran Guiles, RHIA, CTR

Past -President -  Dina Nedorost, RHIT

Treasurer - Karen - Czirr, MS,RHIA, CHP

Secretary -  Gerri Bryers, RHIA,CTR

Membership Chair -  Carole Gammarino, RHIT & Nancy Kauffman, RHIA

Education Chair - Maria Barbetta, RHIA  & Bonnie Heim

Bylaws Chair - Joyce Garozzo, MS, RHIA, CCS

Public Relations Chair - Gloria Farng, RHIA

Legislative Chair - Hang Sok, RHIA 

Nominating Committee - Eileen Lambert, RHIT, CCS, Dasantila (Tila) Sherifi, MBA, RHIT &

Lula Casey, RHIA

Technology Advisor - Jerry Harter

A special thanks to the outgoing board, committee chairs, and the membership for their continued support and a warm welcome to the incoming board!

Top

WPHIMA Regional Report

Submitted by Michelle Wieczorek RN RHIT CPHQ CPUR
Publications Chairperson, WPHIMA

Well, summer has finally arrived.  WPHIMA just had its annual meeting on June 6^th where we induced Peri Long as President Elect, Jon Gabster as Treasurer and Michele Bartholomew as President.  We were also pleased to offer Dennis Jones from CBIZ Consulting speaking on RAC Audits and Rebecca Christenson speaking on Stress Management.  We are looking forward to having a great upcoming year.   Please check out the WPHIMA website at www.wphima.org over the next few months for upcoming events.

Top

Gold Corporate Sponsorship Highlight – DocFinity, iod, MRO

Top

Top

Top