In the news: Katrina’s toll on health records still lingers
In a matter of hours, Katrina turned 400,000 health care records into pulp, according to a
report in the Journal of the American Health Information Management Association
.
Now three years later, most of the physical damage has been repaired, according to the AHIMA report. But every HIM department is still dealing with its impact as the city slowly starts caring for patients again. The management challenges include continued staff shortages, wage increases for HIM positions, and scarce funds for health IT.