Job Description

Job Summary
Healthcare organizations must have a health record that is created and maintained to meet the requirements of a legal business record. It must be maintained in a manner consistent with state and federal requirements. HIM professionals are charged with reconciling health records, as well as certifying them as accurate and complete. Proper management of corrections made within the health record is imperative to maintaining the best quality and integrity of information possible for patient safety purposes.

What You'll Do
BASIC FUNCTION AND RESPONSIBILITY\
The Data Integrity Specialist works at the center of the chart correction process. Coordinate the parties and interdisciplinary teams involved in each case (i.e., finance, clinical departments, and Pharmacy) and is responsible for ensuring all necessary corrections are made in a timely manner and each case is validated prior to closure to ensure that documentation is complete and accurate to support patient safety and continuity of care. The Data Integrity Specialist is also responsible for being available to respond to urgent corrections 24 hours a day/7 days a week.

Provide assistance and guidance regarding documentation needs and requirements in accordance with compliance guidelines, Joint Commission, CMS and other regulatory requirements. Possess an in depth knowledge of how to provide customers of MiChart with proper information when they are experiencing problems and to perform chart corrections.

Communicate with clinicians, health care providers, and Information Technology personnel critical and complex information on how to report and correct health record documentation, often in an urgent timeframe. Provide customer service to UMHS staff to ensure that incorrect data is identified, charting errors are communicated to the parties identified in the chart correction policy, erroneous data is corrected, and is verified that the clinical information was updated completely and correctly. Document outcomes of the chart correction process according to organization?s policies. Make independent decisions on how best to address critical registration and documentation errors impacting patient safety and direct clinicians and ancillary and clinical departments on the necessary actions that must be taken to mitigate.

Provide comprehensive management reporting of assigned HIM unit metrics supporting process control and continuous improvement to executive leaders, HIM leadership, and HIM staff. Extract data from systems, create and maintain a database of reporting information, construct queries, compile and analyze data, create regular and ad hoc reports for presentation to executives, departmental leadership, and HIM and MCIT staff. Ensure data quality, well-defined metrics, and support ongoing management review.

Create reports and perform data analysis to create new knowledge.

Notify management of errors and potential problems and provides appropriate follow-up. Work with clinicians and ancillary and clinical departments to improve processes and reduce errors. Maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the job. Notify clinicians and health care providers of misdirected results routing and the impact of potential patient safety issues. Make corrections to clinical information sent to the Health Information Exchange, Patient Portal and Care Everywhere.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
OPERATIONS
Review, prioritize, and facilitate reported chart corrections (24 hours a day/7 days a week)
Facilitate emergent multiple registration number merges on inpatients and emergency department patients, interfacing with and directing multiple stakeholders as to the appropriate actions to take to quickly resolve data quality issues as a result of multiple registration numbers being assigned in a manner and timeframe to minimize the impact to patient safety
Facilitate emergent wrong registrations through the Contact Move process on inpatients and emergency department patients, interfacing with and directing multiple stakeholders as to the appropriate actions to take to quickly resolve data quality issues as a result of wrong patients being registered in a manner and timeframe to minimize the impact to patient safety.
Investigate and resolve misdirected test results to ensure timely communication to support patient care.
Activate Patient Highlights facilitating communication with users that there is a chart correction in progress.
Investigate and facilitate chart corrections related to Patient Portal, Care Everywhere and Health Information Exchange.
Communicate error resolutions to the end users.
Perform analysis of department and end-user business needs. Document end-user requirements. Utilize technical, analytical, and customer service skills, knowledge of regulatory requirements, and HIM policy and practices related to the EHR to identify options to meet end-user needs. Articulate the costs, risks, and benefits of all options presented to enable informed decision-making.
Analyze data trends to identify system deficiencies and operational problems
Validate all reports to ensure accuracy
Support the creation of executive, departmental, and unit operational benchmarking activities and reporting for assigned projects.
Collaborate with HIM Leadership to implement production, productivity, quality, and customer-service standards.
Design and execute database queries; design reports that can be run by HIM management / administrative staff; analyze and support department statistical reporting requirements.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Provides telephone triage and handles identified charting issues through resolution.
Advise clinicians, HIM staff, and other customers on HIM procedures and assist in resolution of incorrect documents and documentation related issues.