Release of Information Specialist HIM Full Time

Cost Center

Health Information Management

Scheduled Weekly Hours

40

Work Shift

First Shift (United States of America)

Shift & Status

Who Are We?

We at Pine Rest believe in the power of healing and that everyone in our community has the right to expert care for mental health and substance use disorders. We are much more than just the third largest non-profit behavioral health system in the country, our 220-acre main campus, and our network of clinical sites across Michigan. We are a tight-knit community of healers who witness the impact of our life-changing work each day.

Each day, we are closing the gaps in access to care. We are innovating through leading-edge research, testing, programs, and treatment modalities that others replicate across the country. Our services include a state-of-the-art psychiatric urgent care center and a soon-to-be-built pediatric behavioral health center, outpatient, inpatient, partial hospitalization (day programs), assessment and testing, residential, addiction treatment and specialty services such as crisis response, employee assistance programs, forensic psychiatry and psychology, and neuromodulation. On-the-job educational programs for nurses, psychologists, advanced practice providers, psychiatrists, and chaplains are equipping the next generation of care providers.

We are passionate about serving and are honored to be a part of this incredible work.

Position Summary:

The Release of Information Specialist, under the direct supervision of the HIM Manager, is responsible for ensuring the timely and accurate disclosure of all Pine Rest requested protected health information. The Release of Information Specialist must ensure disclosed information is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA),the Michigan Mental Health Code, the 21st Century Cures Act and other state and federal regulations. The Release of Information Specialist must demonstrate thorough knowledge of appropriate disclosure standards, excellent customer service and have enthusiasm about the program and the Pine Rest organization.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Manages all disclosures of protected health information for both HRS and ORS through use of Epic WQs and dedicated medical record legacy systems.
• Ensure that every release of information is in compliance with the request, authorization, company policy and federal and state regulatory requirements for a mental health setting.
• Ensures timely and accurate release of requests for all clinical areas to ensure Mental Health Code compliance, patient safety and rights.
• Reviews all received record requests for validity and completeness. Follows up with requestor on invalid or incomplete authorizations to resolve the request.
• Delivers protected health information for subpoenas, court orders, patient, and other requests with strict deadlines, maintaining expert attention to detail in an extremely fast-paced environment.
• Processes paper and electronic medical records and performs quality checks to ensure that the correct records have been retrieved.
• Appropriately calculating, processing and collecting  payment for record releases, in accordance with state law.
• Demonstrates thorough understanding of legal paperwork such as, guardianship, durable power of attorney, subpoena, divorce decree, physical and legal custody declarations, workman’s compensation, and personal representative in regard to appropriate disclosures of protected health information.
• Provide patient assistance in completing authorizations forms guiding them on the process of ROI and completed their requests with high patient satisfaction.
• Coordinates record storage with offsite records management contractor.
• Notifies auditor, manager or the ERM Integrity and Privacy Officer if violations of identity theft, privacy breaches, record security or legal concerns are suspected.
• Complies in all material respects with the Corporate Compliance Policy and all federal, state and local laws and regulations applicable to position. 
• Must be able to work and communicate effectively with providers, employees of both HRS and ORS departments, patients and outside customers as needed. 
• Appropriately interact with the hospital administrators, directors, and department leads. 
• Will be required to work in a highly confidential area without disclosure of confidential information.
• Adapts to changes in the workload to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations.
• Assists in training new employees, as needed.
• Suggests areas of improvement and cost reduction.
• Attends all required staff meetings and Pine Rest required training.
• Shares information with co-workers.
• Responsible to role model the mission and values of the organization, presenting a professional image that is projected in appearance, attitudes and behaviors, time management and communication skills.  Provides spiritual, emotional, social, mental and physical support to patients.
• Responsible to uphold the healing ministry of Christ through relationships that honor integrity, stewardship, empowerment, the promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and professional excellence.
• Must maintain annual training and demonstrate competency in the required programmatic training.
• Performs other duties or functions as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

•  None

Required/Desired Qualifications:

Education, Training, and Experience:

• Required associate’s degree in health information or administration. Bachelors preferred.
• Required certification of RHIT, RHIA or Release of Information Microcredential (achieve within 6 months of hiring)
• Preferred 1-3 years Health Information Management experience
• Previous knowledge of HIPAA, Michigan Mental Health Code and 21st Century Cures Act.
• Additional training may be required through formal education or through seminars.

Specific skills, knowledge, and abilities:

• Ability to provide care/service within the scope of: Holding a conviction to express Christ’s love and compassion to recipients of services, coworkers, and surrounding communities through integrity, stewardship, empowerment, the promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion, and professional excellence.
• Ability to provide culturally inclusive care with a wide range of individuals in a diverse community setting.
• Must have basic computer operating skills
• Must have strong typing skills
• Ability to learn hospital computer systems and software products
• Strong attention to detail
• High level of organizational skills and ability to multitask
• Has the manual dexterity and functionality to use hands and fingers for data entry
• Have excellent customer service skills