The Vancouver General Hospital Health Records Team.

Realizing the value of your Health Information Professional

This year’s Health Information Professionals Week is from March 14-18, and it provides an opportunity to showcase the thousands of Health Information Management (HIM) professionals who make valuable contributions to the health care industry.

The health care system depends on the availability of quality data to support patient care, and HIM professionals have the expertise, skills, and motivation to turn health information into knowledge that will improve the health of patients.

HIM is a leader in the collection, storage, and use of patient information within British Columbia. As a consolidated Lower Mainland department of Providence Health Care, HIM provides service to 148 health service sites geographically dispersed sites across Fraser Health, Providence Health Care, Provincial Health Services Authority and Vancouver Costal Health.

HIM Areas of Service

Approximately 1,450 staff working in one of five service areas: Registration, Records Management, Transcription Services & Health Information Exchange, Coding & Informatics, and Business Operations.

Realizing the value of your Health Information Professional - Infographic

HIM’s health care impact

HIM professionals are trained to meet these challenges:
• Contribute to health care delivery as members of the health care team who interact with medical staff, care providers, and researchers;
• Manage health information services ensuring privacy and accessibility of information to patients and care providers;
• Use technologies to capture, manage and analyze data for use in health care delivery and financial and management planning;
• Facilitate clinical research and health care quality, by providing data to organizations such as CIHI (The Canadian Institute for Health Information) reports and the Canadian Patient Safety Institute;
• Play a key role in the Clinical and Systems Transformation that the B.C. health system is undertaking to move to an electronic health record (EHR)

Come and show your support for Health Information Management professionals during HIP Week 2016. Connect with your local HIM professional, and ask them about how their roles are impacting patient care on a daily basis.