AHIMA Partners With Information Governance Initiative

Collaboration to draw more attention to critical healthcare issue 

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is pleased to announce its partnership with the Information Governance Initiative (IGI) to raise awareness of need for information governance (IG) in the healthcare community. 

AHIMA is the first healthcare 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 healthcare. 

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 healthcare community. 

“As health information professionals, AHIMA and its members are keenly aware of the need for healthcare to govern its information,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, FACHE, CAE, FAHIMA. “Trust in health information and high quality patient care depend on it. We’re delighted to partner with the IGI and look forward to collaborating on initiatives that advance IG for all.” 

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," said 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 healthcare organizations establish or continue to work toward a governing framework. 

Activities include:

• The first benchmarking survey of IG practices in healthcare and publication of white paper on the results in conjunction with Cohasset Associates
• Establishment and convening of healthcare leaders and stakeholders to develop a framework for IG in healthcare
• Establishment of an expert advisory group to review and provide input into IG development efforts
• Development of resources and guidelines to aid in operationalizing IG in healthcare

About AHIMA
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) represents more than 71,000 educated health information management and health informatics professionals in the United States and around the world. AHIMA 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.

About IGI
The Information Governance Initiative (IGI) is a cross-disciplinary consortium and think tank dedicated to advancing the adoption of Information Governance practices and technologies through research, publishing, advocacy, and peer-to-peer networking. We invite practitioners and organizations who wish to participate in or support the IGI. For more information, visit www.IGInitiative.com.