Long Term Care (LTC)

The need for health information management (HIM) expertise in long term and post-acute care presents unique and interesting opportunities for HIM professionals. HIM professionals are essential resources for organizations especially related to adoption of electronic health records and coding. The skill sets of HIM professionals in LTC facilities and Home Health Agencies are critical in managing electronic records, supporting compliance, coding, reporting, and data quality initiatives.

While many facilities may not be in a position to hire a full-time HIM professional, an HIM consultant should be sought after to ensure the facility is providing sound HIM operations. HIM professionals can provide proper coding guidance in addition to proper documentation requirements. HIM professionals are also in a unique position to manage:

• data management needs
• managing electronic records
• increased payer scrutiny
• quality reporting initiatives
• the switch from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM
• the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

AHIMA provides multiple resources to assist HIM professionals in long term and post acute care settings:

LTC Education and Training Products

LTC Resources and Links