AHIMA Announces 2016 Board President/Chair, New Board Members

AHIMA members elected Melissa M. Martin, RHIA, CCS, CHTS-IM, as president/chair of the 2016 board of directors. Her one-year term began January 1.

In her role, Martin will work with the board and CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA, to provide strategic direction to AHIMA, the preeminent nonprofit association for HIM professionals who are responsible for protecting the accuracy of patient health information as well as safeguarding and preserving its privacy. The association represents more than 101,000 professionals.

Martin is associate vice president of privacy and HIM and chief privacy and HIM officer at West Virginia United Health System. Previously, Martin served as treasurer and finance committee chair for the AHIMA board and as a member of the Governance Committee of the AHIMA board of directors. Serving on AHIMA's Information Governance Task Force, Martin helped develop the Information Governance Principles for Healthcare. Martin is a past president and distinguished member of the West Virginia Health Information Management Association, having served as director and secretary, as well as chairperson for many committees.

Martin coauthored the Healthcare Financial Management journal article "Redeploying Your Workforce, the WVUH Success Story in Healthcare," and worked with the editors of the Service Documentation Monthly newsletter to publish the article "WVUH Remote Coding Program Increases Staff Performance and Satisfaction." A frequent speaker on HIM and HIT topics, Martin recently gave presentations on information governance, RAC, AHIMA volunteerism, leadership, and coding education programs to several professional organizations. She also copresented "Working Outside the Box: Home-Based Employees" at the Annual National Institute for the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

"Melissa's enthusiasm for the HIM profession and experience will serve AHIMA, its members, and the board well as we continue to work toward ensuring patients and health care professionals have access to secure, quality information when and where they need it," Thomas Gordon says.

"I'm honored to work with Lynne, the board, our members, and AHIMA staff as we continue to lead the profession and health care industry in important initiatives including advancing information governance and advocating for patients through the safety and accuracy of health information," Martin says. "With the influx of information due to advances like mobile health and the granularity and specificity of data as a result of ICD-10, there is the potential to tell a more complete patient story. Information governance is the framework that will make this possible and HIM professionals have the skills to make it happen."

In addition to Martin's appointment, members selected a president/chair-elect, speaker of the house, and three members of the board of directors (who each will serve a three-year term):

• President/Chair-elect: Ann Chenoweth, MBA, RHIA, FAHIMA, has more than 30 years of HIM professional experience across health systems and technology companies spanning hospitals, physicians, and payers.  Chenoweth joined 3M Health Information Systems in 2001 and has held numerous positions including Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt, product line marketing manager for the coding and reimbursement product suite, and business director for 3M's medical necessity and compliance division. Currently, she is the lead executive and HIM thought leader at 3M responsible for creating and building relationships with leading health care associations and industry executives. Chenoweth currently serves as chair of AHIMA's Grace Award Committee and is a member of the ICD-10 Coalition and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society ICD-10 Task Force. Previously, she served as director on AHIMA's Board of Directors where she was treasurer and chair of the finance committee, chair of the audit committee, and member of the executive and governance committees. Chenoweth is past president of the Illinois Health Information Management Association and the Utah chapter of HIMSS. She is a published author and frequent speaker at industry conferences on such topics as information governance, payment reform, and leadership.

• Speaker of the House: Elizabeth A. Delahoussaye, RHIA, CHPS, is the regional vice-president for IOD Incorporated, based near Knoxville, Tennessee. She served as a representative for the Tennessee Health Information Management Association (THIMA) on the AHIMA House of Delegates, as well as the president-elect and president for the THIMA from 2008 to 2010. Delahoussaye served on various committees at the national level with AHIMA including as cochair on the AHIMA Release of Information Toolkit in 2013 and is currently serving on the AHIMA Annual Program Committee. In 2013 she received the THIMA Distinguished Member Award for her many years of volunteering at the state and national level.

• Director: Danika E. Brinda, PhD, RHIA, CHPS, HCISPP, is an assistant professor in Health Informatics and Information Management at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. Brinda also is the owner of TriPoint Healthcare Solutions, which focuses on advising, educating, and operationalizing health care privacy and security requirements in organizations. She has been an active member of the Minnesota Health Information Management Association and AHIMA over the past several years. Brinda is a local and national speaker and author on many topics related to health care privacy and security and recently completed her PhD in IT with a focus in information assurance and security. She is the 2010 recipient of AHIMA's Rising Star Triumph Award.

• Director: Ellen Shakespeare Karl, MBA, RHIA, CHDA, FAHIMA, is the academic director for the HIM programs and distinguished lecturer at the City University of New York's School of Professional Studies. Prior to entering academia, Karl was the director or assistant director of HIM departments at hospitals in New York, New Jersey, and Florida, after starting in the profession working on the SENIC project with the Centers for Disease Control. Karl served on the executive board of the New Jersey Health Information Management Association as president, treasurer, and chairperson of the scholarship committee. She has served on AHIMA's Council for Excellence in Education for five years including the position of chair in 2013.

• Director: Tim Keough, MPA, RHIA, FAHIMA, is vice president at the New Jersey Hospital Association, Healthcare Business Solutions where he leads the health information services consulting division. Prior positions include divisional director of HIM for a 500+ bed acute care facility and corporate director of HIM for a multistate long-term care provider. Keough served as chair of AHIMA's Nominating Committee, cochair of the Environmental Scan Team, and as a member of the Program Committee. Within the New Jersey Health Information Management Association, Keough served two terms as president, chaired the membership and industry recognition task group, served as Communities of Practice facilitator, and received the 2002 Distinguished Member award.

The AHIMA board is responsible for setting long-term strategy and direction, governing the association's activities, and fulfilling the organization's fiduciary responsibility.

To further AHIMA's position as an industry leader, the 2016 board will provide strategic guidance on information governance, clinical documentation improvement, informatics, leadership, innovation, and advocating for the public good.

The AHIMA board is composed of 13 elected members—including the president/chair, president/chair-elect, past president/chair, speaker of the house, and nine directors at large; the CEO serves ex officio. In 2015, a board advisor was appointed and will continue to serve in 2016.

The newly elected members join the following current AHIMA board directors:

• Zinethia L. Clemmons, MBA, MHA, RHIA, PMP, senior health information privacy specialist, Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights

• Ginna Evans, MBA, RHIA, CPC, FAHIMA, business analyst, revenue cycle development, Emory Healthcare - The Emory Clinic

• Colleen A. Goethals, MS, RHIA, FAHIMA, independent consultant specializing in HIM operations, reimbursement, quality initiatives, and leadership development

• Barbara J. Manor, MA, RHIA, vice president of HIM, SCL Health

• Dwan Thomas-Flowers, MBA, RHIA, CCS, an independent contractor offering expertise in clinical documentation improvement and coding, management, HIM operations, quality management, and revenue cycle

• Susan E. White, PhD, RHIA, CHDA, administrator for analytics at the James Cancer Center at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and an associate professor of health information management at OSU

• Cassi Birnbaum, MS, RHIA, CPHQ, FAHIMA, director of HIM and revenue integrity at the University of California San Diego Health System. Birnbaum will serve as 2016 past president/chair.

• David S. Muntz, CHCIO, FCHIME, LCHIME, FHIMSS, principal at Muntz and Company LLC, serves without vote as advisor to the board.

• Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA, CEO of AHIMA, serves as an ex-officio member of the board without vote.

Source: AHIMA