Time Is Now For Information Governance In Healthcare

Latest Developments, Best Practices Presented at AHIMA Convention

At its essence, information governance (IG) is an accountability framework that gives people the ability to trust information. IG is particularly important in the healthcare industry – where trustworthy information is essential for patient care and safety. 

Throughout 2014, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) has initiated a conversation to make IG a strategic priority for the healthcare industry. Highlights include conducting the firstsurvey on the state of IG in healthcare in conjunction with Cohasset Associates and a resulting white paper, convening healthcare leaders and stakeholders to develop a healthcare IG framework, establishing an expert advisory group to review and provide input and developing resources and guidelines to aid in operationalizing IG. 

IG will be an important topic at AHIMA’s 86th annual Convention and Exhibit in San Diego on Sept. 27-Oct. 2. 

“Information must be recognized and treated as the asset that it is. When information has integrity it can be transformed into reliable health intelligence. This is critical to coordinating care, improving outcomes and reducing costs,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA, who noted that IG will enhance the effectiveness of national healthcare initiatives such as electronic health records and meaningful use. “We look forward to continuing the conversation with a wide variety of thought leaders at this year’s convention.” 

A panel discussion, “Information Governance for Healthcare,” will feature expert perspectives on the topic and its application in healthcare. Barclay T. Blair, founder and executive director of the Information Governance Initiative (IGI), will moderate the panel; he will also present on the state of IG across industries. In July, AHIMA became the first healthcare organization to partner with IGI, a cross-disciplinary consortium and think tank led by Blair to advance the adoption of IG practices and technologies 

Other panelists include Pamela Lane, MS, RHIA, CPHIMS, deputy secretary for Health Information Exchange and the director for the Office of Health Information Integrity for the California Health and Human Services Agency; Ronald J. Hedges, JD, principal of Ronald J. Hedges LLC; and Peter Kurilecz, CRM, CA, IGP, president-elect of ARMA International.

On Sep. 30, Convention attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the Federal Health Information Model (FHIM) and the Standards & Interoperability (S&I) Framework, and how the two work together to enhance interoperability for secure, effective health information exchange in the public and private sectors. Steven Wagner, Federal Health Information Model, Project Manager for the Federal Health Architecture, and Evelyn Gallego-Haag, MBA, CPHIMS, Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health IT, S&I Framework Initiative Coordinator, Office of Science and Technology, will present, “FHIM + S&I Framework: Advancing Interoperability for Enhanced Health Information Exchange.” The presentation will be moderated by Doug Fridsma, MD, PhD, FACP, FACMI, chief science officer and director of the Office of Science and Technology in ONC for Health IT. 

Also on Sept. 30, Suzanne Paone, MBA, DHA,  Professor at Kaplan University, an adjunct associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh, and founding Practice Director of eSafe Health, and Dilhari DeAlmeida, PhD, RHIA, assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh, will present “Information Governance, Best Practices and Lessons Learned.” 

They will stress how effective information governance is a collaborative effort between many healthcare stakeholders and practitioners; how the consistent use of data standards is a requirement to effectively use healthcare data at a strategy level; and how legacy systems in the industry present complexities that drive cost and require manual intervention as a precursor to automated data warehousing efforts. 

Paone noted the irony that credit card companies have more basic analytics on their customers than doctors have on care delivered because of interoperability challenges. 

“Information governance in healthcare is more important than ever,” she said. 

AHIMA’s Diana Warner, MS, RHIA, CHPS, FAHIMA, manager of HIM Practice Excellence, will present “Moving HIM Professional Practice Standards Forward in Health IT on Sept. 29; her co-presenters are AHIMA’s Lou Ann Wiedemann, RHIA, CHDA, CDIP, FAHIMA, MS, CPEHR, director of HIM Practice Excellence, and AHIMA’s Barbara A. Glondys, RHIA, a practice manager. They will discuss how AHIMA will lead the HIM and health informatics community to increase use of principles and standards to support information governance.

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.