The EHR continues to change both the HIM profession and the structure of the HIM department. Because of the EHR, many functions of the HIM department can be performed remotely. Some HIM staff, such as coding professionals and transcriptionists, are now working from home. Some healthcare organizations with multiple locations have centralized their HIM functions, enabling them to standardize the HIM functions and to share staff among the healthcare organizations. The HIM staff at the central location can perform most of the functions of the HIM department. There may be some staff at the individual healthcare organizations to attend committee meetings, take authorization for release of information from patients, and perform other functions that require staff on-site. Whether employees work from home or at a centralized location, the privacy and security of patient information must always be ensured at all the locations, and employee productivity must meet the standards established by the organization. In some cases, the staff must come into the office periodically for meetings or training. Some remote workers feel isolated as they do not have the camaraderie that the on-site workers have. Many remote workers perform their jobs diligently, but some are not able to be productive