The AHIMA Foundation honored two women pursuing careers in health information management with its Veterans Scholarship on Sept. 28. The AHIMA Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
The scholarship program seeks to support those with ties to the military as they pursue education and careers in health informatics and health information management.
This year’s two recipients, Ashley Hendry, RHIA, and Melissa Fowler, RHIT, CCA, were rewarded for their dedication to the HIM community.
Hendry, of Scottsdale, Ariz., is a HIM manager at Banner Health. She also has served AzHIMA, the Arizona state component society of AHIMA, working on advocacy and the ICD-10 grassroots efforts, and is serving as the 2015-2017 advocacy director for AzHIMA. She is currently pursuing a MBA and MS in leadership at Grand Canyon University to complement her HIM degrees from the University of Kansas. Prior to her career in HIM, she served in the U.S. Air Force, working in Security Forces, where she was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
“I would first like to express my gratitude to all those that make the Veteran Scholarship possible and the support you are providing for veterans. I am truly honored to be a recipient of the AHIMA Foundation Veteran Academic Scholarship,” said Hendry. “I feel that my graduate studies will help me to develop into a well-rounded leader in the Health Information Management profession, which will be essential as we navigate through changes within the healthcare industry.”
Melissa Fowler, of Gurnee, Ill., has been a military wife for 17 years and a member of AHIMA for nine years. She is a certified coder and is working to earn her bachelor’s degree at Kaplan University.
“I would like to thank everyone who had a part in selecting me for this award; it will help me finish my bachelor’s degree in health information management. I am very appreciative,” she said.
Both Hendry and Fowler were on site at AHIMA’s Annual Convention & Exhibit in New Orleans to accept the recognition.
“The opportunity to provide scholarships to military veterans and their spouses is at the core of the Foundation’s mission, to improve lives through research, education and life-long learning,” said AHIMA Foundation Executive Director, Bill Rudman, PhD, RHIA. “Welcoming veterans into the HIM community when they have given so much for our country, only helps to advance the profession.”
To be eligible, individuals must be accepted into an accredited Health Informatics and Information Management (HIIM) program in the United States, enrolled as a full-time student in one of the following degree-granting programs at the time of award, have at least six (6) credit hours remaining after September 2015 and have completed the online application and all of its components.
Source: AHIMA
