AHIMA, HIMSS And IHE International White Paper Calls For Interoperability Collaboration, Standards To Support Information Governance

First paper to align Health Information Management and Health IT perspectives

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), HIMSS and Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) International published “Health IT Standards for Health Information Management Practices,” a first-of-its-kind white paper that serves as a guide for those health information management (HIM) and health information technology (HIT) professionals working to develop interoperability standards.

The white paper informs HIT standards developers about HIM practices. It also outlines how to align HIM practices with the capabilities of HIT products through standards application in technology.

In addition, the white paper unveils a roadmap for the development of standards to support information governance (IG) in healthcare, including national and international efforts to ensure semantic, technical and functional interoperability among health information systems. Developed by the subject matter experts from an AHIMA HIM Practice Task Force in collaboration with HIT vendors, the draft white paper received about 150 comments during a public comment period in June/July from the HIM community and HIT professionals whose input was incorporated into the final paper.

AHIMA, HIMSS and IHE International developed the white paper as part of AHIMA’s globally focused information governance (IG) initiative. For the first time HIT vendors and HIM professionals have worked together to ensure that interoperability will be addressed from an HIM perspective. Together, HIM and HIT professionals are promoting the use of standards to achieve functional interoperability (“rules of the road”) and effective use of health information systems, including electronic health records.

“To achieve interoperability, HIM and HIT professionals must each share their perspectives and determine how to bring the pieces together into a cohesive program that allows information to be used effectively throughout its lifecycle,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “This inaugural collaboration with IHE has produced a great resource for our industry, and we’re excited to continue our work together.”

“This collaborative effort with our three organizations - HIMSS, IHE International and AHIMA - allowed us to share valuable knowledge on standards development and health information exchange as we developed this white paper,” said Mari Greenberger, MPPA, director, informatics, HIMSS North America. “Building on our current efforts in defining and developing use cases for secure exchange of health data, HIMSS recognizes the importance of and need for this ongoing alignment to provide information that is useful and drive meaningful outcomes to the healthcare community.”

About AHIMA
The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) represents more than 101,000 health information 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 IHE International
Integrating the Healthcare Enterprise (IHE) International is a collaborative of health IT vendors and professional medical associations aimed to improve the quality, value, and safety of healthcare by enabling rapid, scalable, and secure access to health information at the point of care. IHE engages all levels of public and private sector participants to test, implement, and use standards-based solutions for all health information needs. IHE USA operates as a national deployment committee of IHE International in order to advance its mission to improve U.S. healthcare by promoting the adoption and use of IHE and other world-class standards, tools, and services for interoperability. For more information, visit www.ihe.net and www.iheusa.org.

About HIMSS
HIMSS North America, a business unit within HIMSS, positively transforms health and healthcare through the best use of information technology in the United States and Canada. As a cause-based non-profit, HIMSS North America provides thought leadership, community building, professional development, public policy, and events. HIMSS North America represents 61,000 individual members, 640 corporate members, and over 450 non-profit organizations. Thousands of volunteers work with HIMSS to improve the quality, cost-effectiveness, access, and value of healthcare through IT. Major initiatives within HIMSS North America include the HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition, National Health IT Week, HIMSS Innovation Center, HIMSS Interoperability Showcases, HIMSS Health IT Value Suite, and ConCert by HIMSS. For more information, visit www.himss.org.