Director Health Information Management (HIM)

About Shepherd Center 

With five decades of experience, Shepherd Center provides world-class clinical care, research, and family support for people experiencing the most complex conditions, including spinal cord and brain injuries, multi-trauma, traumatic amputations, stroke, multiple sclerosis, and pain. An elite center ranked by U.S. News as one of the nation’s top hospitals for rehabilitation, Shepherd Center is also recognized as both Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems. Shepherd is the only rehabilitation facility in the nation with an intensive care unit on-site, allowing us to care for the most complex patients and begin the rehabilitation process sooner. Shepherd Center treats thousands of patients annually with unmatched expertise and unwavering compassion to help them begin again.

Shepherd Center’s culture is one of hope, humor, and hard work. You will enjoy career growth, strong relationships with co-workers, strong support from leadership, and fun activities that have kept over 12% of staff members working at Shepherd for more than 20 years. 

The Health Information Management Director Manages the compilation, processing, and maintenance of patient health information. Acts as a consultant on health data management, documentation improvement, medical record release of information, confidentiality, and data security issues. Assists the medical staff in complying with regulations governing the accurate and timely completion of medical records. Coordinates department policy and procedure creation. Contributes to facility statistical data collection. Responsible for oversight of members who maintain the patients’ clinical records, including coding, auditing, clinical documentation improvement and providing pertinent staff education in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations, and standards. The HIM Director will present at national, regional and local seminars. In addition, the HIM Director engages in advocacy work, collaborating with federal and state agencies for supporting enhanced services and long- term care for people with brain injuries and their families. Through appropriate surveillance, the HIM Director ensures compliance with local, state, federal governing bodies and external accrediting bodies (TJC, CARF, State, CMS) within their scope of responsibility.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Responsible for overseeing the planning, organizing and execution of health information management (HIM) services.
• Responsible for ensuring standardization and “best practices” for HIM processes.
• Develop and implement HIM tactics that support the strategic plan and new business development opportunities.
• Annually review and update plans to reflect changing strategic opportunities.
• Oversee the review, approval and implementation of department job descriptions, policies, process guides, assuring the department’s compliance with State, Federal and other regulatory organization requirements.
• Oversee the management, retention, access, and destruction of medical records within the organization.
• Direct and manage departmental projects to ensure proper completion according to time schedule and budget.
• Management and oversight responsibility of the departmental budget including participation in budget development, approval responsibility and monitoring for productivity and cost.
• Participate in the development, implementation, and updates of applications that support the electronic medical record (EMR) and document management systems.
• Participate in quality performance activities that support a state of readiness for regulatory surveys and audits.
• Ensure and oversee HIM practices that support quality performance initiatives.
• Direct team training to ensure there is caregiver proficiency in HIM processes that promotes excellence and quality outcomes.
• Maintain department productivity, quality, and efficiency for all processes within the department.
• Serve as an internal consultant on health information management issues and protocol.
• Serve as a member of designated leadership councils, policy, and quality committees.
• Maintains confidentiality of all proprietary and/or confidential information.
• Promotes a culture of integrity, maintains an “open door” policy, and does not participate in or allow retaliation against those who report good faith concerns.
• Actively implements the compliance program and Code of Conduct and ensures participation by department staff.
• Will contribute to and/or lead interdisciplinary teams and projects.
• Practices proper safety techniques in accordance with Center and departmental policies and procedures. Responsible for the reporting of employee/patient/visitor injuries or accidents, or other safety issues to the supervisor and in the occurrence notification system. 
• Monitors and ensures compliance with all regulatory requirements, organizational standards, and policies and procedures related to area of responsibility. Identifies potential risk areas within area of responsibility and supports problem resolution process.

REQUIRED MINIMUM EDUCATION: 

• Bachelor’s Degree from a four-year college or university

REQUIRED MINIMUM CERTIFICATION:

• Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) certification/registration can be earned within two years’ employment/role assignment.

REQUIRED MINIMUM EXPERIENCE:

• 5 – 10 years of direct health information management experience required Computer/information system required Multidisciplinary project implementation required Vendor contracting and management required

REQUIRED MINIMUM SKILLS:

• Proficiency in all competency areas including but not limited to medical coding, auditing, clinical records, privacy official responsibilities, supervisory responsibilities, patient rights, safety, and sanitation.
• Must demonstrate excellent communication skills to work effectively with physicians, other hospital staff, employees, and the public.
• Knowledge of JCAHO standards for maintaining patient records.
• Must possess the ability to make independent decisions when circumstances warrant such action.
• Must be knowledgeable of medical records practices and procedures as well as the laws, regulations, and guidelines governing medical records functions in the post-acute care facility.
• Must have the ability to implement and interpret the programs, goals, objectives, policies, and procedures of the medical records department.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• N/A

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time but may involve walking or standing for brief periods of time or exerting up to 15 pounds of force occasionally or a negligible amount of force frequently to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects, including the human body.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• No potential for exposure to blood and body fluids.

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by people assigned to this classification. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by the personnel so classified.

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