AHIMA Launches Program to Expand International Presence

AHIMA announced at the International Federation of Health Information Management Associations International Congress that it will establish the AHIMA World Congress (AWC), which will enable greater access to HIM resources and services to AHIMA members outside the United States.

"The AWC will better enable workforce development in HIM and health informatics to contribute to AHIMA's vision of quality health care through trusted information," says AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. "Through the AWC, AHIMA will be able to reach and support our members and other HIM professionals for engagement and networking and to provide more ready access to services where HIM associations do not exist today."

AHIMA EVP/Chief of Innovation and Global Services Deborah Green, MBA, RHIA, says that in establishing the AWC, AHIMA is responding to demand from HIM professionals around the world. "In our work over the past three years outside the United States, we have seen growing interest in not only membership and services, but in affiliation with AHIMA as well," Green says. "We are getting requests for training and services in clinical documentation improvement (CDI), data analytics, and information governance."

AHIMA currently has more than 2,000 members, certified professionals, and clients outside the United States in 66 countries. The AWC will engage with individual members, governments, health care authorities, health care providers, and professional associations/societies, says Alexandre Bouché, global managing director of AWC. "This participation will be enabled through the establishment of chapters where AHIMA members and HIM professionals reside or work. AWC will also engage with international, regional, and local business partners to accelerate the availability of AHIMA's services."

Through the AWC, AHIMA will offer numerous products, services, resources, and best practices for HIM.

"As a leading provider of HIM knowledge and 'gold standard' training, we look forward to increasing recognition of the HIM profession and to expanding and advancing the health information workforce," Bouché says. "Our goal is to contribute to trusted health data and information to support the health of populations wherever the information is created, used and managed."

To learn more about AHIMA's international efforts, visit www.ahima.org/international-resources.

Source: AHIMA