AHIMA Partners With Information Governance Initiative

AHIMA is pleased to announce its partnership with the Information Governance Initiative (IGI) to raise awareness of need for information governance (IG) in the health care community.

AHIMA is the first health care organization to partner with the IGI—a cross-disciplinary consortium and think tank dedicated to advancing the adoption of IG practices and technologies—and will work with IGI leaders to advocate for IG as a vital component to quality health care.

In addition to collaborating on events promoting IG principles, IGI founder and chair Bennett B. Borden will join an AHIMA advisory group on IG issues. The advisory group will provide guidance on IG principles and encourage their acceptance across the health care community.

“As health information professionals, AHIMA and its members are keenly aware of the need for health care to govern its information,” says AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, FACHE, CAE, FAHIMA. “Trust in health information and high quality patient care depend on it.”

Founded by leaders in the field of IG, the IGI brings information stakeholders together to address issues surrounding Big Data and publishes research, benchmarking surveys, and guidance for IG practitioners.

"The IGI and AHIMA have a common goal of educating information management professionals around the importance of establishing an information governance program," says Barclay T. Blair, founder and executive director of the IGI. "It was only natural for us to partner together to help practitioners understand IG, assess their needs, and establish value-generating IG programs at their organizations."

In addition to its partnership with the IGI, AHIMA is taking several steps to help health care organizations establish or continue to work toward a governing framework. Activities include the following:

• the first benchmarking survey of IG practices in health care and publication of a white paper on the results in conjunction with Cohasset Associates;

• establishment and  convening of health care leaders and stakeholders to develop a framework for IG in health care;

• establishment of an expert advisory group to review and provide input into IG development efforts; and

• development of resources and guidelines to aid in operationalizing IG in health care.

Source: AHIMA