MEDRECON 2020 – the 20th annual national conference of the Health Records Association of India (HERAI) organized and hosted by Health Informatics and Health Information Management Association (HIIM) Kerala State was held at Nihara Resort, Kochi, Kerala on 7th& 8th February 2020. The theme of the conference was “Value of Data in Health Care Ecosystem, its quality and eloquent uses in healthcare practices, delivery and decision making”. MEDRECON 2020 was a remarkable milestone for HIM profession in India, as it was for the first time a national level HIM conference held in the presence of the honorable IFHIMA president.
The grand inaugural ceremony witnessed a special address on the importance of big data and Artificial Intelligence in emerging healthcare scenarios by the Chief Guest Dr. Madhu Raikwar, Director – Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India. Ms. Lorraine Fernandes, the President of International Federation of Health Information Management Associations (IFHIMA) was the Guest of Honour and delivered keynote address titled “The new decade: What lies ahead for the HI and HIM Professions” on the first day of the conference. HERAI President Mr. Suresh Carlton and Dr. Sabu Karakka Mandapam, President HIIM association welcomed the gathering and emphasized about the significance of HIM profession in India. Mr. Mujeeb C Kandy and Mr. Selvakumar Swamy, President HERAI- International also spoke about the importance of the conference theme and highlighted the excellent support received from HIM professionals across from India and the Gulf region for the successful conduct of MEDRECON 2020. Ms. Lorraine officially released the MEDRECON 2020 souvenir during the inaugural session.
The conference was attended by around 500 delegates from all over India, including a sizeable number of international delegates from United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Sultanate of Oman. The professionals from diverse fields of healthcare such as Directors, CEO’s, Health Information Managers, Healthcare IT experts, Revenue cycle managers, Medical records officers, Executives, Hospital administrators, Clinicians were participated in the conference. More than 100 HIM students from various institutions across India made the conference sessions more vibrant. MEDRECON 2020 was also awarded with 4 AAPC CEUs, which added more value for the conference sessions and beneficial for the participants.
In two days of the conference, 30 scientific sessions were held under eight themes with lots of meaningful deliberation. A special panel on ‘Data Privacy’ led by Ms. Lorraine Fernandes was well received by the delegates. Dr. Osama Elhassan, Dubai Health Authority was the keynote speaker for the second day and he spoke about ‘eHealth Implementation in United Arab Emirates – Case Study’. Eminent 30 speakers from national and international level shared their expertise through various sessions held under following themes:
- Emerging Data Uses, Information Governance & Resource Needs
- Revenue Cycle Management & Clinical Coding
- Clinical Documentation Improvement & Patient Experience
- Governance, Leadership & Laws on HIT
- Data Standards, Data Uses & Data Quality
- Accreditation, Healthcare Settings & Process Flows
- Documentation & Data for HIM
On the first day, several HIM professionals were recognized for their contribution towards HIM profession during the awards ceremony. An exciting cultural show depicting the traditional art forms of Kerala and performance by HIM students was the center of attraction during the award ceremony held at the end of the first day of the conference.
A post conference workshop on ‘Clinical Coding and Clinical Documentation Improvement’ for HIM professionals was held on 9th February. AHIMA qualified trainers conducted the workshop on Cardiovascular CPT coding, CDI program implementation for IP and OP settings, ICD 10CM and ICD 10PCS – practical approach. Around 25 HIM professionals participated in the workshop and the workshop has been credited with 5 CEUs approved by AHIMA. All the scientific sessions of conference and workshop were video recorded and made available for the benefit of registrants who could not able to attend the conference and workshop. Subsequently, the recordings of the sessions will be made available in the public domain as educational modules. The MEDRECON organizers would wish to place on record the support received from various exhibitors and sponsors, especially the MEDRECON 2020 learning partner – Centre for Health Information Studies and Solutions (CHISS) Kerala, India.
Photo – MEDRECON 2020 Meeting. Data Privacy Panel deliberations.
Figure: MEDRECON 2020 Conference – Inauguration ceremonies
Submitted by:
Dr. Sabu K M, M.App.Sc, PhD.
Professor of HIM, MCHP, MAHE, Manipal, India
President – HIIM Association- Kerala State, India.