2025 PHIMA Annual Conference
Ignite Our Evolution
Overview
Katie Fox Brown, Senior Intelligence Analyst, NCFTA
From ransomware encrypting patient records to phishing scams targeting hospital staff—and even ransom notes sent directly to patients—cybercriminals are finding new ways to weaponize data. In this keynote, we’ll break down the latest cyber threats facing healthcare, exploring how malware spreads, how AI is shaping modern attacks, and what the future of healthcare security might look like. Expect real-world cases, technical breakdowns, and actionable strategies to stay ahead of emerging threats.
1.0 – Information Protection: Access, Disclosure, Archival, Privacy and Security
Sharon Easterling, MHA, RHIA, CCS, CDIP, CRC, FAHIMA, Upskillz, LLC
No info available…
1.5 – Organizational Management and Leadership
Aerian Tatum, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA, CPHIMS, Coppin State University
Regenerative artificial intelligence is a prevailing theme in today’s landscape. Much attention has been directed towards elucidating the disadvantages of AI in health information management. This session endeavors to illuminate AI’s multifaceted advantages and benefits for health information professionals operating within this dynamic field. It will explore the analytic power of AI in health information management, define tools like ChatGPT, and demonstrate their capability to streamline documentation processes, enhance workflow efficiency, support decision-making, and ensure quality and compliance in health data management. Additionally, this session will highlight the use of various AI tools to simplify and improve everyday tasks, from data analysis to project management, showcasing their potential to transform routine operations within the profession.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the role of AI.
- Discover AI tools and their applications.
- Develop practical strategies for AI integration.
1.0 – Evolving Topics
Elizabeth Delahoussaye, RHIA, CHPS, Sharecare
- We’ll cover what a Fraudulent medical request is, who would be sending it, and why.
- We’ll discuss how to recognize it and steps you can take to prevent it.
- A general overview of the current state of cybersecurity for healthcare
- The top 6 things you can do to safeguard patient data, and what to ask your cybersecurity teams.
- You’ll get a list of known fraudulent ROI requestors to help your organization start your own list.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe a fraudulent medical record request and how to recognize it.
- Identify the most relevant steps your organization can take to safeguard your patient’s medical data.
- List the most important 3 steps your organization can take to upgrade cybersecurity and protect our patients.
1.0 – Information Protection: Access, Disclosure, Archival, Privacy and Security
David Senter, CIPP/US, CHPC, Smith Law
2024 proved to be an active and diverse year of HIPAA Privacy and Security enforcement by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), and 2025 is shaping up to be the same. From right-of-access cases to OCR’s new Risk Analysis Initiative, OCR investigated and resolved a host of varied alleged violations of HIPAA. Data privacy attorney, David Senter, will discuss these investigations, settlement agreements, and penalties, and look ahead to what we can anticipate coming next out of OCR. The presentation will assist providers and business associates by providing practical steps to take in order to identify and mitigate potential data privacy and security risks.
1.0 – Health Law and Compliance
Amanda Coligan, MS, MBA, RHIA, CPC, Community College of Allegheny County
A basic introduction into exactly how artificial intelligence works for predictive modeling and NLP: Tokenization, lemmas, padding
Learning Objective: For HI professionals to be able to accurately determine and assist in developing AI for HIM/HIT.
1.0 – Evolving Topics
Barbara Carr, RHIA, Verisma
Discover denial origins, current trends, common denials & rejections, reasons/coding for denials & rejections, successes & challenges, and best practices in the fight to reduce denials. Health information (HI) leaders will also learn prevention techniques, how to prepare documents and mitigate denials, and actionable considerations for their health facility. Attendees will also be able to share their experiences with peers.
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to implement a strong audit management process.
- Discover tools/systems necessary for successful audit management.
- Understand how to use the data from your audit management system to identify areas needing further education and training.
1.0 – Revenue Cycle Management
Brian Donahue, Datavant
Discussing what’s real, what’s not, and the future of autonomous coding.
Learning Objectives:
- What is autonomous coding?
- How is it actually done?
- What types of technologies are there?
- What does this mean for the coder and HIM professional?
- How do you operationalize it?
1.0 – Revenue Cycle Management
Leming Zhou, PhD, DSc, University of Pittsburgh
In this talk, I will first briefly introduce machine learning, then I will explain a few projects that we used machine learning to generate results.
1.0 – Informatics, Analytics and Data Use
Stacie L. Buck, RHIA, CCS-P, CPCO, CCC, CIRCC, RCC, RCCIR, Maverick Medical AI
In today’s rapidly advancing digital world, autonomous coding solutions are changing the landscape of the healthcare revenue cycle. It isn’t a matter of if autonomous coding will gain widespread adoption, but rather a matter of when, particularly if your organization performs a large volume of procedures.
During this session Stacie will provide an overview of key AI terminology, highlight the differences between CAC and autonomous coding, share the pros and cons of autonomous coding, discuss best practices for implementation and more!
1.0 – Revenue Cycle Management
Lou Testa, BBA, Health Information Alliance
Learning Objective:
Management Skills and Data Analytics
This session will provide key insight on issues surrounding health information management, including core measures of sepsis, cardiac, trauma and oncology.
1.0 – Informatics, Analytics and Data Use
Sharon Easterling, MHA, RHIA, CCS, CDIP, CRC, FAHIMA, Upskillz, LLC
No info available…
0.5 – Data Structure, Content and Information Governance
Patience Ebuwei, DBA, MHP, RHIA, Coppin State University
No info available…
1.0 – Evolving Topics
Alison Gibson, MHL, RHIA, AHFI, CPC, CDEO, CPMA, CRC, CEMC, Medical Imaging of the Lehigh Valley
Overview of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS), explaining how Medicare calculates physician payments. It covers key components—physician work, practice expense, and liability insurance—plus geographic adjustments, the RUC process, and the Medicare conversion factor.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the purpose and structure of the RBRVS system.Identify the three main RVU components: physician work, practice expense, and liability insurance.Explain the role of the RUC in updating CPT code values.Describe how geographic adjustments (GPCI) impact reimbursement.Interpret the Medicare Conversion Factor and its role in payment calculations.
0.5 – Data Structure, Content and Information Governance; Evolving Topics
Elizabeth Delahoussaye, RHIA, CHPS, Sharecare
Today, we will cover the following:
Brief Overview of OCR’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
Discussion on Reproductive Health Privacy: Key Concepts and Definitions
The Intersection of NPRM and State Legislative Updates
Real-World: How Does This Affect You?
Strategies for Compliance with NPRM and State Laws
Open Discussion and Q&A Session Closing Remarks and Next Steps
1.0 – Information Protection: Access, Disclosure, Archival, Privacy and Security
Samy Allam, MD, MHA, FACHE, ACDIS Approved CDI Leader, Hospital Physician Executive, DextroMedical
The patient-centered care model emphasizes patient autonomy in recovery, acknowledging each individual’s unique journey. Despite challenges in the healthcare system, this model has gained traction nationwide. Advances in healthcare technology have highlighted obstacles to independent decision-making. This presentation addresses these issues by emphasizing the need for consistent improvement in Health Information Exchange, which is crucial for empowering patients. We aim to proactively identify information gaps and propose new insights for better data precision and synchronization protocols. Our presented analysis of nationwide hospital length of stay (LOS) data demonstrates data-driven interventions tailored to patients’ needs, aiming to improve the hospital experience and reduce care fragmentation.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the Patient-Centered Care Model:Define and explain the principles of patient-centered care, focusing on patient autonomy and acknowledging diverse recovery journeys.
- Recognize Current Challenges in Healthcare Systems:Identify the obstacles within the healthcare system that hinder patient autonomy and independent decision-making, including those brought to light by advancements in healthcare technology.
- Explore the Role of Health Information Exchange (HIE):Highlight the importance of consistent improvements in Health Information Exchange (HIE) systems to empower patients and ensure synchronized, precise healthcare data.
- Analyze Nationwide Hospital Data on Length of Stay (LOS):Examine how data-driven approaches to hospital length of stay (LOS) provide tailored interventions to improve the patient experience and reduce care fragmentation.
- Propose Strategies for Enhanced Care Coordination utilizing Technology:Develop actionable insights to proactively address information gaps in healthcare data and implement advanced synchronization protocols to support patient-centered strategies.
1.0 – Data Structure, Content and Information Governance
Michele Maier, MHMS, RHIA, Community College of Allegheny County and Christine Ritz, RHIA, CCS, CRC, UPMC Health Plan
Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) Risk Adjustment Modeling from HCC Coder and Provider Coder Perspective HCCs and their effects on coding have been an increasingly hot topic in the industry over the past several years. This session will review the CMS-HCC Model compared to ACA-HCC Model, review coding from the HCC coder perspective compared to the provider (facility/professional coder) perspective along with the impact of the updates in the CMS-HCC Version 28 model.
Learning Objectives:
Attendees will learn:
- CMS-HCC Model compared to ACA-HCC Model a.This will help everyone to better understand the differences between CMS & ACA HCC Models.
- Review of Coding from HCC vs provider a.This will help everyone to better understanding how and why the coding process is different from a HCC coder vs provider (professional/facility) coder.
- Review of revised/discontinued HCC Clinical Conditions between V24 & V28 for CMS-HCCa.This will help everyone to understand the impact of transition from V24 to V28 from a HCC coding vs provider coding perspective.
1.0 – Revenue Cycle Management
Kacie Geretz, RHIA, CPMA, CCA, CPC, Nym Health
The presentation highlights current challenges in traditional coding (staffing shortages, inconsistency, backlogs), explains how autonomous coding technologies work, and provides case studies from healthcare systems like Inova and Genesis Healthcare that demonstrate measurable benefits including cost reduction, increased revenue, improved accuracy, and enhanced workflow efficiency. It concludes with practical guidance for healthcare organizations considering autonomous coding implementation, including cross-functional team building and a readiness checklist covering organizational, IT, and coding alignment consideration.
1.0 – Revenue Cycle Management
Alison Gibson, MHL, RHIA, AHFI, CPC, CDEO, CPMA, CRC, CEMC, Medical Imaging of the Lehigh Valley
Agenda:
- Traditional Coding Roles
- Value-Based Care
- Revenue Integrity, Chargemaster and Related Roles
- Compliance, Auditing, Fraud Detection
- Data Analytics, AI
- NLP, EHR
- Practice Management, Network, Payer Contracting
- Leadership, Consulting, Entrepreneurship
- Need for Coders
- Transferable Skills
- Search Tips
Learning Objectives:
As the healthcare industry evolves, so do the opportunities for coders. This session will look beyond traditional coding roles, and the wide range of career paths available in health information management that allow coder to expand their skillsets and take on leadership, data analytics, consulting and other roles.
1.0 – Evolving Topics
Stephen Young, RHIA, MBA, MSIS, AmeriHealth Caritas
No info available…
0.5 – Revenue Cycle Management
Course Info
Published Date
July 2025
Total CEs
19.0
Domain(s)
Data Structure, Content and Information Governance
Evolving Topics
Health Law and Compliance
Informatics, Analytics and Data Use
Information Protection: Access, Disclosure, Archival, Privacy and Security
Organizational Management and Leadership
Revenue Cycle Management
Pricing
Full Conference:
PHIMA Member
$250
Non-Member
$300
Individual Sessions:
PHIMA Member
$40
Non-Member
$50
Student
$30
PHIMA Member – an AHIMA dues-paying member who has selected Pennsylvania as their Component Association (CA)
Non-Member – includes AHIMA dues-paying members from other AHIMA Component Associations (CA) as well as AHIMA Credentialed Non-Members
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Additional Information
AHIMA
This educational offering has been approved for continuing education credit for use in fulfilling the continued education requirements of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
AAPC
CEUs are accepted from programs sponsored by AHIMA national offices and the state or regional AHIMA branches. One hour of instruction is worth one CEU. A certificate of attendance or completion is necessary to show participation.
ACDIS
AHIMA CEUs that are CDI-related are accepted.
How Do I Receive the CE?
You must click on the button labeled “Mark Complete” at the bottom of each course page before the CE will appear on the My Certificates page.
- For on-demand events, access instructions for the course will be emailed to you within 2 business days following receipt of payment.
- You will have 60 days to access the course. If your course has expired, and you need an extension, please contact us.
- You must click on the button labeled “Mark Complete” at the bottom of each course page before the CE will appear on the My Certificates page.
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Course Content
Course Includes
- 24 Lessons
- Course Certificate
