SEDOM, the Spanish national HIM association member of IFHIMA, celebrated its XV National Congress (XV Congreso Nacional de Documentación Médica) in Valencia (Spain) during the past 8 to 10th of June gathering over 200 attendees.

Workshops were held prior to the official opening covering the following two topics: electronic aids for ICD-10-ES (adaptation to Spanish of ICD-10CM and PCS) coding of hospital emergency room discharges and experiences of Certification of the HIM departments with ISO 9001.

SEDOM has had the pleasure of hosting in Valencia during the Congress this year’s face to face meeting of the IFHIMA Executive Board.

The Congress approached four areas of interest.  The first area approached results and process of the ICD-10-ES implementation in Spain in 2016. Case studies were previously distributed for a ICD-10-ES coding contest. Additionally, limitations regarding the use of the APR-DRG grouper were discussed, such as the limited knowledge that we have of its algorithms, the issue of excluding from grouping certain complications not present on admission and, finally, the need for an adaptation of the weights.

During the Big Data and Open Data sessions, the discussions uncovered the need of HIM department digital transformation improving daily operations and team management (Mini Data), empowering the HIM departments, new professional profiles, more and better information and processes to facilitate an excellent experience for the patients. The continuous education of the HIM professionals, our role in the shared use of data ecosystem and the implementation of FAIR principles of research data management (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-useable) mandated by the European Commission 2020 Horizon.

Citizens accessing and managing their own e-health data are progressively empowered and the HIM professional has, in this context, a role as guarantor of the information.

IFHIMA was presented at the Conference regarding Pay per Performance retribution systems for patient based activity in the Health Systems, with an international perspective (UK, Republic of Korea, Canada, Germany and USA). These systems try to increase healthcare quality and the efficiency of healthcare, however difficulties arise when trying to objectify health outcomes.

Finally, some initiatives concerning HIM training were discussed, such as those arisen from the University of Valencia, regional HIM associations like in Cataluña or the Healthcare administration in Madrid.

The Congress has been a satisfying encounter in which the attendees have been able to share knowledge, experiences and outlines of the present and future challenges for HIM professionals.

 

Authors

Ramón Romero Serrano

MD, PhD, Chief of the HIM department

Hospital Universitario Dr Peset. Valencia

IFHIMA Co-Director for European Region (2016-2019)

Past president of SEDOM

romero_ram@gva.es

 

Carolina Conejo Gómez

HIM Department MD

Hospital Universitario Virgen de la Victoria Málaga

Coordinator for Málaga of the Andalucía Cancer Registry

IFHIMA Co-Director for European Region (2016-2019)

Past president of SEDOM

carolina.conejo.sspa@juntadeandalucia.es