The 83rd American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Convention and Exhibit is scheduled for Oct. 1-6 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. With a focus on “Reaching New Heights in Health Information,” the event will attract professionals from across the full and varied spectrum of health informatics and information management for a six-day-long focus on HIM’s global transformation.
The show will offer plenty of opportunity for networking, and more than 200 exhibitors are expected to show off their wares. Experts will discuss the latest developments in HITECH, EHRs, ICD-10 – and everything in between, providing a comprehensive overview of current and emerging HIM issues and challenges.
Additionally, the convention will mark the debut of new AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, FACHE, who took over as chief executive of the 61,000-member organization on Sept. 29. She joins AHIMA after serving as associate vice president for hospital operations and director of the Children’s Hospital at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, IL. She also is a member of the Rush University faculty in the graduate program in health systems management.
Convention speakers include Apolo Anton Ohno, eight-time Olympic speed-skating medalist; Dr. Peter Tippett, VP of technology and innovation, CMO, Verizon Business; Gail Collins, first woman appointed editor of the New York Times’ editorial page, New York Times syndicated opinion columnist and blogger; Dr. T.B. Üstün, team coordinator of classification, terminologies and standards, Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, World Health Organization; Carolyn Clancy, M.D., director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; and Stephen M. R. Covey, bestselling author of “The Speed of Trust.”
AHIMA was founded in 1928 when the American College of Surgeons established the Association of Record Librarians of North America (ARLNA) to “elevate the standards of clinical records in hospitals and other medical institutions.”
As the industry changed, so did the organization’s name. In 1938 it became the American Association of Medical Record Librarians (AAMRL) and in 1970 the American Medical Record Association. Its current name, adopted in 1991, captures the expanded scope of clinical data beyond the single-hospital medical record to health information comprising the entire continuum of care.
AHIMA is committed to promoting and advocating for high-quality research, best practices and effective standards in health information and to actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is “quality healthcare through quality information.”
For more information, check out www.ahima.org.
Until next time, here’s wishing you good healthcare IT.
