CHIME and AMDIS Sign Management Services Agreement, Appoint New Executive Vice President of Medical Informatics and Patient Safety

The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME), a professional organization for CIOs and senior IT executives, announced it has a new agreement to provide management services to the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems (AMDIS), a professional association for physicians dedicated to and responsible for HIT.

Under the terms of the management services agreement, CHIME will provide operational, administrative, and staff support to AMDIS in the areas of educational programming, event management, public policy, marketing/communications, and industry relations. The new agreement will also provide the CMIO and senior informatics executive members of AMDIS access to CHIME affiliate-level membership and professional development opportunities.

As part of the agreement, CHIME has appointed William F. Bria, MD, as its new executive vice president of medical informatics and patient safety, who will serve as the liaison between both organizations and assist in providing strategic direction to AMDIS. Bria will retain his role as chair of the AMDIS board of advisors.

The agreement, approved by both boards, follows the formation of a strategic alliance announced in July 2014, intended to enhance collaboration between the two industry associations and provide cross-lateral support to their respective members in the progression of HIT adoption and implementation.

"We have tremendous admiration for AMDIS and its members, and view this as a way to bring the industry's physician IT leaders the added support to thrive in this momentous era of transformation," says Russell P. Branzell, FCHIME, CHCIO, CEO and president of CHIME. "Physician leadership is a critical success factor for health information technology initiatives, and both boards are dedicated to providing the resources to help them facilitate collaboration between IT and the medical community and achieve the clinical objectives of their organizations."

"CHIME plays a significant role in the advancement of digitized health care and has been extremely successful in generating quality education programs, communicating with lawmakers, and working with industry vendors and service providers," says AMDIS CEO Richard L. Rydell, FACHE, LFHIMSS. "By fusing the exceptional leadership teams already in place, and utilizing CHIME's professional and operational support, AMDIS will be better positioned to further its role in the industry and help physician IT professionals meet the challenges ahead. We remain committed to our members and want them to have confidence that we have the vision, scale, and resources to best serve them."

CHIME and AMDIS will remain separate nonprofit organizations, while continuing to work collaboratively. AMDIS will continue to serve as the primary physician informatics advisor to and for CHIME, while CHIME will continue to serve as the primary HIT advisor to and for AMDIS.

Source: The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives