Informatics, data analytics, privacy and security, clinical documentation improvement and information governance are among the imperatives that will dominate data trends in 2018, according to the American Health Information Management Association.

Data Analytics

Demand for services and projects will increase in 2018, AHIMA predicts. Data analysts are expected to be busy helping providers participate in new payment models and find their way through new policy initiatives such as MACRA.

Informatics

Data experts will help to mitigate physician burnout with electronic health records by streamlining processes to capture data in EHRs, protect patient-generated data in mobile apps and develop interfaces and dashboards for telehealth services, AHIMA said.

Privacy & Security

While cybersecurity incidents will likely continue to make headlines in 2018, there are a number of policies related to data security to watch for this year, AHIMA said. These include the issuing of "minimum necessary" requirements, guidance around mental health information and data sharing as required by proposed rules of both the 21st Century Cures Act and the penalty sharing provision of the HITECH Act, experts said.

Clinical Documentation

Clinical documentation improvement specialists will also continue to be deeply involved with claims denials in 2018, helping to identify denials for coding and documentation that should be appealed as well as continue to expand to new and specialty areas of healthcare such as long-term care, home health, psychiatric units and rehab facilities that call for high-quality documentation, AHIMA predicted.

Information Governance

In the area of information governance, experts said enterprise-wide retention policies and data quality will continue to cause cybersecurity challenges for providers in 2018, demonstrating the strong need for IG programs to address them.

Government & Policy

Federal rules and regulations will also be worth paying close attention to this year. In addition to the 2018 budget, which will affect funding of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and HHS' Office for Civil Rights, the forthcoming definition of "information blocking" defined by the 21st Century Cures Act will be a major story to look for because of its impact on a large portion of EHR users, AHIMA said.

Four big issues impacting inpatient and outpatient coding in 2018 will be reimbursement, telemedicine, copy/paste and coding auditing, the experts added. Also, starting in January, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 will require physicians to start reporting patient relationship modifiers.

Workforce

Finally, with regard to education and workforce issues, "upskilling" existing practitioners for more advanced roles in data analytics and informatics, preparing academic faculty to teach higher-level content in data analytics and revising curriculums to ensure students are prepared to meet workplace needs are all education and workplace trends to pay attention to in 2018, according to AHIMA.

Twitter: @SiwickiHealthIT
Email the writer: bill.siwicki@himssmedia.com