The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is a

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

for

health professional A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (suc ...

s involved in the

health information management Health information management (HIM) is information management applied to health and health care. It is the practice of analyzing and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care. With the widespr ...

needed to deliver quality health care to the public. Traditionally focused mainly on

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

s and paper

medical record The terms medical record, health record and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisdic ...

s, the field presently covers all

health information technology Health information technology (HIT) is health technology, particularly information technology, applied to health and health care. It supports health information management across computerized systems and the health information exchange, secure ex ...

systems, including

electronic health record An electronic health record (EHR) is the systematized collection of patient and population electronically stored health information in a digital format. These records can be shared across different health care settings. Records are shared throu ...

clinical decision support system A clinical decision support system (CDSS) is a health information technology, provides clinicians, staff, patients, or other individuals with knowledge and person-specific information, to help health and health care. CDSS encompasses a variety of ...

s, and so on, for all segments of

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

. As of 2013, the association has more than 71,000 members in four membership classifications. Each member subsequently belongs to a relevant

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

chapter. The ''Journal of AHIMA'' has a circulation of 61,000 and publishes both

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

and non–peer-reviewed articles. The association's women-majority membership is a testament to women's strong participation in the profession. AHIMA describes its foundation as a sister organization to the Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) and states the foundation has a charitable and educational nature. The foundation formulates and issues opinions, supports education, conducts research and compiles its contributions into the AHIMA BoK (

body of knowledge A body of knowledge (BOK or BoK) is the complete set of concepts, terms and activities that make up a professional domain, as defined by the relevant learned society or professional association.Oliver, G.R. (2012). ''Foundations of the Assumed Bus ...

History

The organization traces its history back to 1928 when the

American College of Surgeons The American College of Surgeons is an educational association of surgeons created in 1913.American College of Surgeons Online "What is the American College of Surgeons?"/ref> See also *American College of Physicians The American College o ...

established the Association of Record Librarians of North America (ARLNA) to "elevate the standards of clinical records in hospitals and other medical institutions." The organization has had three name changes in its history, all were justified with an explanation that reflected the progression of contemporary medical record use, practices and perceptions. In 1938 the association became the American Association of Medical Record Librarians (AAMRL). In 1970, the association became the American Medical Record Association (AMRA) and in 1991, the title American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) was adopted. Incorporation occurred in 1943 and became effective the next year.

Credentials

The association offers seven credentials pertaining to four areas of practice: *

Health Information Management Health information management (HIM) is information management applied to health and health care. It is the practice of analyzing and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care. With the widespr ...

(RHIA, RHIT) * Coding (CCA, CCS, CCS-P) *

Data Analysis Data analysis is a process of inspecting, cleansing, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of discovering useful information, informing conclusions, and supporting decision-making. Data analysis has multiple facets and approaches, enco ...

(CHDA) *

Privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

(CHPS) Two credentials require formal education, the others are acquired by a combination of testing and

work experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...

. AHIMA requires members obtain regular continuing education to maintain their credentials.

References

AHIMA official website

AHIMA entry - TheFreeDictionary
{{authority control Medical associations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in Chicago Medical and health professional associations in Chicago Health informatics and eHealth associations