The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) honored members at its annual AHIMA Triumph Awards ceremony. The awards recognize the excellence, dedication, and service of health information management (HIM) professionals whose work has enriched the field.
The awards were presented during AHIMA’s 88th Annual Convention and Exhibit in Baltimore.
“We are pleased to recognize and thank these outstanding individuals,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “In their workplaces, as volunteers, and in their communities, they are working to advance the profession and improve healthcare.”
Distinguished Member Award
Vera Rulon, MS, RHIT, FAHIMA, is the 2016 recipient of AHIMA’s highest honor, the Distinguished Member Award. Most recently, Rulon worked as the director of external medical communications at the biopharmaceutical firm Pfizer in New York. She is a strong advocate of patient and caregiver empowerment by increasing access to healthcare information through digital technologies and is passionate about making sure the patient voice is heard across all industry venues. She was named one of PharmaVOICE’s 100 change agents in 2015 and has received AHIMA’s Visionary Triumph Award.
Advocacy and Public Policy Award
Erika L. Hardy, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, is honored with the Advocacy and Public Policy Award. Hardy is system coding manager for the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System in Baton Rouge, LA. Hardy is a member of the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment, which advises the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services concerning the clinical integrity of the Ambulatory Payment Classification Groups and their relative payment weights. She also has served on the American Hospital Association’s Coding Clinic for ICD-9-CM/ICD-10-CM editorial advisory board.
Educator Award
Julie A. Shay, RHIA, is the recipient of the Educator Award. She is the director of the health information technology program at Santa Fe College in Gainesville, FL. For more than 11 years Shay has led the development of numerous certificate programs in HIM-related topics, and she has received a workforce training grant from the Office of the National Coordinator’s HITECH Workforce Program to create a workforce ready to support electronic health records implementation and maintenance. She is a member of AHIMA’s Council for Excellence in Education.
Leadership Award
Karen Gallagher Grant, RHIA, CHP, is honored with the Leadership Award. Grant is the chief operating officer of Medical Record Associates, LLC, in Quincy, MA. She is known as a leader who knows how to strategically use available technologies to design cutting-edge systems for remote coding, online documents, and order entry. She has shared her knowledge by writing and speaking in numerous venues. Grant is president of the Massachusetts Health Information Management Association.
Literary Legacy Award
Sajeesh Kumar, PhD, received the Literary Legacy Award. Kumar is the executive director of the Institute for Health Outcomes and Policy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. A well-known speaker and writer, his research focuses on telemedicine delivery, rural and remote health, and mhealth. He innovated the idea of the embedded librarian and computerized games in the online teaching of health informatics research.
Mentor Award
Mary S. Zier, MBA, RHIT, CRCR, is the recipient of the Mentor Award. Zier is the corporate director of health information management at Nemours Health System in Wilmington, DE. Zier is a well-respected leader and mentor at Nemours, overseeing departments in Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida. She was named Nemours’ “Manager of the Year” in 2010 and has been active in the Delaware Health Information Management Association.
Rising Star Award
Manjusri Nguyen, RHIA, is recognized with AHIMA’s Rising Star Award. Nguyen is a clinical informatics application engineer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, OH. He is an adjunct instructor in the Ohio State University Health Information Management and Systems program, focusing on computer applications and database design. He is active in the Ohio Health Information Management Association and was director of the state’s first Advocacy & Hill Day in 2015.
Student Award
Belinda O. Brown, LPN, receives this year’s Student Award. Brown, a licensed practical nurse, is a graduate of the health informatics and information management program at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, FL. Her skills include case management, project management, and training, and she was named the program’s outstanding undergraduate student in 2016. She is active with the Florida Health Information Management Association.
Curran E. Eigelberger also received the Student Award. Eigelberger is currently a student at the University of Missouri-Columbia, pursuing a master’s degree in health administration. He received a bachelor’s degree from St. Louis University and also played Division 2 hockey there. He was a vice president of the HIM student association at St. Louis University and served as a member of AHIMA’s Student Advisory Committee. He resides in Ballwin, MO.
