Association News 12-4-19
Healthcare IT has a wide net of careers and employers. As the industry has evolved so have the supporting membership associations and organizations. From tech support to CIOs, from practice administrators to hospital administrators, from product developers to EHR vendors there is an association for you. Whether you are looking to broaden or renew your specialty certified skills or looking for your next career, an industry association is always a good place to start. Here is the latest news from our industry associations.
HIMSS
The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is an American not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care in quality, safety, cost-effectiveness, and access through the best use of information technology and management systems. Follow them @HIMSS
HIMSS President Appointed to WHO Digital Health Technology Advisory Group
HIMSS President and CEO, Hal Wolf, has been appointed as a member of the Digital Health Technology Advisory Group (DHTAG) and added to the Roster of Experts, under the World Health Organization (WHO). The Advisory Group will work with the WHO Digital Health Department, recently established to harness the power of digital health technologies to improve health on a global scale.
AEHIS
The Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHIS) was launched in 2014 in order to provide an education and networking platform to healthcare’s senior IT security leaders. Follow them @AEHISecurity
Intersystems and Virtusa Corporation Partner to Enhance Patient Data Integration Capabilities
InterSystems (@InterSystems,) a global leader in information technology platforms for health, business, and government applications, announces that it is partnering with Virtusa Corporation, a global provider of digital strategy, digital engineering, and IT services and solutions, to enhance the healthcare data integration capabilities of its vLife™ life sciences platform.
SHIEC
The Strategic Health Information Exchange Collaborative (SHIEC) is the national collaborative representing health information exchanges (HIEs). SHIEC allows HIEs to work together across the country to elevate the conversation about HIEs’ common needs and their collective successes. It provides a forum for HIEs to work together, share best practices and together identify joint solutions to address their needs. Follow them @SHIECLive
Trends for HIEs in 2020
HealthData Answers https://t.co/WI9HQjCjTt— SHIEC (@SHIEClive) November 14, 2019
HFMA
With more than 38,000 members, the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) is the nation’s premier membership organization for healthcare finance leaders. HFMA builds and supports coalitions with other healthcare associations and industry groups to achieve consensus on solutions for the challenges the U.S. healthcare system faces today. Follow them @hfmaorg
News Briefs for December 2019
OPPS final rule keeps site-neutral payments and 340B cuts, leaves out transparency requirement; Federal policy drives hospital-practice deals but not M&A between hospitals, MedPAC finds; and Legislative fight over surprise billing is nearing an end, congressional aides say are a few of the topics covered in the December News Briefs.
HBMA
The Healthcare Business Management Association (HBMA), a non-profit professional trade association, is a major voice in the revenue cycle management industry in the United States. HBMA members collectively submit a significant percentage of all initial medical claims to the country’s governmental and commercial payers. Those claims not submitted by HBMA member companies are usually submitted directly by the provider. Follow them @HBMABusiness
HBMA Congratulates Emax Medical Billing on Compliance Re-accreditation
Emax Medical Billing recognized for program to protect patient privacy, prevent medical billing fraud, and comply with federal regulations.
AMA
The American Medical Association (AMA), founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of physicians—both MDs and DOs—and medical students in the United States. The AMA’s mission is “to promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health.” Follow them @AmerMedicalAssn
AMA Announces Policies Adopted During Interim Meeting
The American Medical Association (AMA) announced new policies adopted by physician and medical student leaders from all corners of medicine at its Interim Meeting held this week to shape guiding policies on emerging health care topics. The policies adopted by the House of Delegates this week include: Protecting residents and fellows displaced by unexpected teaching hospital closures and modernizing public health surveillance to alleviate the burden on physicians and improve data.
ATA
The American Telemedicine Association (ATA), established in 1993, is a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote access to medical care for consumers and health professionals via telecommunications technology. Follow them @AmericanTelemed
ATA2020 Annual Conference
ATA, the premier organization working to accelerate the adoption of telehealth, announced that its ATA2020 Annual Conference and Expo will take place May 3-5 at the Phoenix Convention Center. This annual event will tackle adoption — where the market is headed, what it will take and how to accelerate the pace of telehealth adoption.
We’re pulling out all the stops to drive adoption of #telehealth. Join us at #ATA2020 to see what’s coming next: https://t.co/5gnYUctjpU #GoTelehealth #digitalhealth #futureofhealth
— American Telemed (@AmericanTelemed) November 25, 2019
NAHQ
NAHQ was founded in 1976 and remains the only organization dedicated to healthcare quality professionals. Our history and successes are attributed to the great members and volunteers who work to further our mission.
NAHQ Awards Recognize Outstanding Healthcare Quality Professionals
Four healthcare quality professionals earned top honors from the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) during NAHQ NEXT 2019, its annual conference. Awards and recipients are as follows: Claire Glover Distinguished Member Award — Recipient Tricia K. Elliott, MBA CPHQ; Rising Quality Star Award — Recipient Krishnan Sankaranarayan, MS MBA; Journal for Healthcare Quality Impact Article of the Year Award — Author Young-Rock Hong, MPH; Fellowship — Terri Savino, DNP RN CPHQ CPXP.
HCAA
The Health Care Administrators Association (HCAA) is a prominent nonprofit trade association supporting the education, networking, resource and advocacy needs of benefit administrators (TPAs), stop loss insurance carriers, managing general underwriters, audit firms, medical managers, technology organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, brokers/agents, human resource managers, plan sponsors and health care consultants.
Why Not Self Funding For All? That’s the hot topic for the #HCAAExecForum! Put your best 👓 #2020 👓 vision on because our speakers will be bringing all the forward thinking! Let us know what you hope to hear this year in #Vegas below ⏬⬇https://t.co/hdrRUiE98C pic.twitter.com/i1weHHqshY
— HCAA (@HCAAinfo) October 9, 2019
AAFP
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) works to solidify family medicine as the cornerstone of a functioning health care system. They lobby government, negotiate with payers, partner with employers, educate patients, and champion family medicine on the national stage. Follow them on Twitter @aafp.
Health and Parent Groups Urge Trump Administration – Kids’ Health Must Not Be Compromised
The following organizations, Statement of American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, American Medical Association, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Parents Against Vaping e-cigarettes (PAVe) and Truth Initiative, issued the a statement after participating in a White House meeting on e-cigarettes. Here is the first paragraph: “Our organizations have commended President Trump and his Administration for recognizing the severity of the youth e-cigarette epidemic and the need for bold action to prevent e-cigarettes from addicting a generation of children. Today, we reiterate our strong and united support for the Administration’s plan, announced in September, to clear the market of all flavored e-cigarettes including mint and menthol, and we urge the Administration to implement this plan without further delay and without weakening it.”
AAPC
The American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) is the nation’s largest medical coding training and certification association for medical coders and medical coding jobs. Follow them on Twitter @aapcstaff.
2020 Therapy Services Code Updates
Updates to the list of codes that sometimes or always describe therapy services under Medicare Part B go into effect Jan. 1, 2020. Make sure all coding and billing staff are aware of the following updates impacting coding for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology service claims.
AHA
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is the national organization that represents and serves all types of hospitals, health care networks, and their patients and communities. Nearly 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 43,000 individual members come together to form the AHA. Follow them on Twitter @AHAhospitals
AHA Forum spotlights opportunities to improve care delivery through AI; new Market Insights report available
The AHA’s Center for Health Innovation hosted an executive forum in Chicago exploring how artificial intelligence is transforming health care delivery. AHA Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Maryjane Wurth welcomed participants to the event, which featured panel discussions on reimagining health care and using AI to standardize and personalize treatment and prevention; a success story “slam”; and opportunities to share and exchange ideas.
AMIA
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) AMIA is a community committed to the vision of a world where informatics transforms people’s care. Over the last 35 years, the use of informatics has grown exponentially to improve health and to make better healthcare decisions. Today, informatics is the key to accelerating the current goals of healthcare reform. AMIA’s 5,600+ members are subject matter experts in the science and practice of informatics as it relates to clinical care, research, education, and policy. Follow them on Twitter @AMIAinformatics
AMIA Calls on NIH to Fund FHIR R&D
Nation’s clinical informatics professionals tells NIH there are several ways to advance FHIR. In comments submitted to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) recommended that the institutes devote substantial resources to develop a strategy and a framework for FHIR research and development (R&D) to maximize the utility and secondary use of EHR-based, clinical data for research and to encourage the development of clinical informatics innovations aimed at improving care.
AHIP
The America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) serves as a strong, unified voice for an industry that is leading the way in transforming health care. Tens of thousands of industry professionals rely on AHIP to provide first-class advocacy, education, and information on our changing health care system, covering topics such as delivery and payment reform, high-cost drugs, Medicare Advantage (MA), Medicaid, and provider networks. Follow them on Twitter @AHIPcoverage
AHIP Statement for Senate Finance Hearing on Alzheimer’s Awareness
AHIP issued a statement to the Senate Finance Committee for a hearing on Alzheimer’s Awareness and Barriers to Diagnosis and Treatment. AHIP and our members are committed to finding solutions to these barriers, and we support the Committee’s focus on addressing Alzheimer’s awareness and their commitment to caring for the people living with this disease and their caregivers.
