Continuing Professional Education

Growing as a CHIM Professional in a Rapidly Evolving Field

Noel Marwan Halabi

The field of Health Information Management is a rapidly evolving stream, affected by

many factors such as advances in health care technology and updates in government
legislations. It is highly important for Canadian Health Information Management (CHIM)
Professionals to be up-to-date with changes in their field, and to have the initiative to pursue
education regarding these changes.
The CPE system is a strategy used by the Canadian College of Health Information
Management (CCHIM) to give health information professionals incentive to remain updated by
participating in sanctioned education events. CPE credits can be earned by attending scheduled
conferences, reading online education modules, and also by giving presentations to other
professionals. Credits are assigned depending on the nature and length of the educational
opportunity. Credits are entered into an online system, and in order to maintain CHIMA
membership, professionals must accrue 36 CPE credits over a period of 3 years. For example,
there is currently an online module that is a 40-minute recorded lecture about Unlocking the
Impact of Coding on Health System Funding. There reward for successfully completing the
module is 1.5 CPE credits.
As mentioned earlier, the field of HIM is rapidly improving and significant changes in
legislation can greatly impact the practices of HIM professionals. For example, the Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) started to become heavily enforced starting
on April 14th, 2003. All entities covered by HIPAA were subjected to enforcement activities to
ensure that privacy practices were followed, and if not followed, their practices were improved.
Such enforcement activities included investigation of complaints, and performing educational
conferences to promote proper privacy practices. A HIM professional who is a member of a
HIPAA covered entity would want to ensure that they are educated regarding the criteria of the
HIPAA legislation. This is one of the many reasons why education does not end after postsecondary education for HIM professionals.

Personally, I look forward to my continued professional education post- graduation.

Social CPE opportunities, such as the annual CHIMA conference, are a fantastic opportunity to
meet other professionals and to learn from each other. This also gives HIM professionals the
opportunity to explore Canada, as conferences are held in major Canadian cities such as
Vancouver, Toronto, and Halifax. This is very exciting for young future professional such as
myself who values both education and travel. Earlier this month, the BCHIMPS Annual Fall
Education Symposium was held in Vancouver. It consisted of a panel of highly educated and
experienced medical professionals, each with their own material to present. Daniel Fontaine, the
CEO of BC Care Providers Association was amongst the panel that lead the discussions at the
conference. His hour long speech discussed the major advances in healthcare in the last three
decades. The credibility of speakers at these conferences makes it appealing to attend them,
because the presenters are highly educated and experienced individuals who have much to
share from their experiences during their careers in the medical field.
My plan to continue my professional education is to obtain CPE credits through a mix of
both online modules, and by attending conferences. Online modules are a convenient way to
obtain credits without disturbing daily workflow, and content is constantly updated on the CHIMA
website. Conferences are most beneficial, because HIM professionals get to create connections
and network themselves with other professionals. Young professionals such as myself can learn
valuable lessons from the experiences shared from highly experienced presenters at these
conferences. By creating a credit system, CHIMA is essentially improving the overall knowledge
and skills of the Canadian HIM professional workforce. A workforce that I am eager to join.