Originally Published MX September/October 2004
SPECIAL REPORT: IT IN HEALTHCARE
American Health Information Management Association|
Return
to Article: |
When it comes to storing and retrieving medical information, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) can consider most other entities as the new guys on the block.
Back in 1928, before taking its current name, AHIMA was founded as an association of medical librarians with the goal of improving the professional handling of medical records. Today, the link to the medical record remains central to the organization and its 46,000 members. AHIMA still regards its mission as managing the information necessary to provide quality healthcare. As part of that mission, the organization pursues advocacy, education, training, and competency certification for those in the field—who are today termed health information managers.
) |
| (click to enlarge) |
With the increasing dependence of medical recordkeeping on IT-based systems, there is inevitably a growing overlap between the expertise of AHIMA and that of healthcare IT specialists. Nevertheless, most of the certifications offered by AHIMA relate to professional expertise in the informational side of medical recordkeeping; that is, not so much the processing of data as the understanding of patient information itself. AHIMA offers certifications in procedural coding and in healthcare privacy and security. It also certifies health information administrators who are trained in collection and interpretation of patient data.
The association's Web site is located at www.ahima.org.
Copyright ©2004 MX
