ACMCS Members To Join AHIMA

Synergies Between Medical Coders Association and Premier Organization for HIM Professionals Provide Collaboration Opportunity

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) welcomes the more than 500 members of the American College of Medical Coding Specialists (ACMCS), who have voted to join forces with AHIMA.

The organizations have a natural synergy as a result of their mutual commitment to advocating for and advancing practices and standards within the medical coding and health information management profession. AHIMA recognizes the quality of ACMCS members and the opportunities the collaboration will create for both. In joining AHIMA, ACMCS members will have access to myriad resources to help advance their careers, from products and services to educational tools and opportunities. 

“We embrace our newest members, and we are confident they will find a good home at AHIMA,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “We are appreciative of ACMCS members’ expertise and are certain their specific skills in the physician’s office and outpatient arena will complement the knowledge and abilities of our members.”

AHIMA is leading a work group that will include ACMCS members and other industry association representatives to evaluate collaboration strategies addressing the needs of the physician market. In joining AHIMA, ACMCS members will have the opportunity to engage in leadership roles concerning medical coding matters, as well as potentially serve on key AHIMA committees.

ACMCS certification issues will be handled by the Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM), commissioned by AHIMA to assure the competency of professionals practicing HIM. CCHIIM will perform its necessary due diligence to best determine how to proceed with ACMCS certification exams and the recertification of ACMCS certified professionals. CCHIIM will issue an initial communiqué within the next 60 days.

“I am thrilled that ACMCS and AHIMA have joined forces to meet the coding and compliance challenges facing outpatient, professional and physician coding experts,” said Gretchen L. Segado, MS, PCS, former chair of ACMCS Board of Governors. “Joining AHIMA will provide ACMCS members access to a wealth of resources that ACMCS is unable to provide on its own, as well as a more influential voice in the future of the profession.”

Among the products and services ACMCS members will have access to a monthly subscription to the Journal of AHIMA and weekly e-alerts updating members on industry news.  ACMCS members also will benefit from AHIMA’s newly released Health Information Management (HIM) Career Map©. As the first of its kind in the healthcare profession, the Career Map is an interactive and visual representation of the HIM job titles and roles that compose the scope of the field. The Career Map helps coders and other HIM specialists chart their career course as the field continues to grow and evolve. 

AHIMA membership for the former ACMCS members will begin in December 2012.  For more information, visit www.ahima.org/ACMCS.

About AHIMA
Representing more than 64,000 specially educated Health Information Management professionals in the United States and around the world, the American Health Information Management Association is committed to promoting and advocating for high quality research, best practices and effective standards in health information and to actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is quality healthcare through quality information. For more information, visit www.ahima.org.