Perform honorably health information management

Perform honorably health information
management association responsibilities,
either appointed or elected, and preserve the
confidentiality of any privileged information
made known in any official capacity.
Importance of Adherence to the Ethical
Standards
AHIMA Code of Ethics’ Seven Purposes
Consequence of failure of compliance Violation of principles in this code does not

automatically imply legal liability or violation
of the law. Such determination can only be
made in the context of legal and judicial
proceedings.
As can be observed in Table 1, the general
structure and main ethical foundations of the
AAPC and AHIMA are the essentially the
same. The itemization of values (i.e. integrity,
respect, commitment, competence, fairness,
and responsibility), the importance of
adherence to these ethical standards, and the
consequence of non-compliance are all
discussed in their code of ethics.
AHIMA Coding Ethics: Coding professionals should: The AHIMA Code of Ethics serves six
purposes:
 Promotes high standards of HIM practice.
 Summarizes broad ethical principles that reflect the profession's core values.
 Establishes a set of ethical principles to be used to guide decision-making and actions.
 Establish a framework for professional behavior and responsibilities when professional
obligation conflict or ethical uncertainties arise.
 Provides ethical principles by which the general public can hold the HIM professional
accountable
 Monitor practitioners new to the field to HIM’s mission, values, and ethical principle
Professionals who are members of the two organizations are both expected to exhibit the values
listed in the code of ethics, which are apparently the same set. They are expected to uphold
integrity, be respectful and respectable, committed, competent, fair, and responsible in the
conduct of their professions. By doing so, they adhere to their organizations’ code of ethics and
they can function ethically in their profession. Failure to do so, as their codes imply, would lead
to liabilities in context of legal and judicial proceedings. Put simply, the codes of ethics of the
two organizations both make their members responsible to live up to their ethical standards and
hold them accountable in adherence or non-compliance to it.
The Differences
At the first glance, it is apparent that the AAPC Code of Ethics is shorter than the AHIMA Code
of Ethics. However, if the discussion of each of the values identified in the AAPC are considered
part of the ethical principles, the length would not exactly be a difference between the two
organizations’ codes of ethics. What mainly differentiates the two is the evolution of their codes
of ethics. Given that AHIMA was founded in 1928 and AAPC in 1988, the former has a lot more
experience in the field compared to the former. As early as 1957, AHIMA has issued its code of