83rd AHIMA Convention

The 83rd AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) Convention & Exhibit will draw HIM professionals from all areas of health informatics and information management for a week-long focus on HIM’s global transformation. This one-stop meeting provides a comprehensive overview of current and emerging HIM issues and challenges.

2011 AHIMA Convention
Oct 1-6
Salt Lake City, Utah

As a key event in the evolution of health information management (HIM), the 2011 Convention & Exhibit is designed to help HIM professionals:

• Provide leadership during this time of unprecedented changes and opportunities
• Support HIM workforce development
• Utilize the newest HIM updates, resources, products, and services available

The AHIMA Convention provides you with everything you need to learn and grow, all in one place. Network with the best and brightest HIM professionals from around the globe; hear the latest on ARRA-HITECH, RAC, EHRs, ICD-10, and more from renowned speakers; earn loads of CEUs; and visit with numerous vendors in the exhibit hall. In this time of incredible transformation and change, you can't afford to miss this value-packed week.

More information here.

2009 was about H1N1, health care reform, and health IT

Wow, 2009 is nearly over! This was the year of swine flu (H1N1). We saw it, many of us experienced it, and now we're not sure what H1N1 will look like in 2010. Is it here to stay and cause problems every year? Or, will this virus somehow mutate and become a thing of the past?

2009 was also a year where we saw so much happen in health care reform. The HITECH provisions within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 drove significant changes in the health IT space and we will continue to see major changes in 2010. The buzz around EHR, EMR, PHR, and CPOE has never been stronger (the world of Health IT is all about strange acronyms). Meetings like HIMSS and AHIMA have never been more full of energy.

As we prepare for 2010, I'm sure many of us are wondering what type of impact H1N1 will make this winter. Will we see a second wave of swine flu?

Also, are you prepared for all the health IT changes that will be taking place in your hospital/office/practice in 2010?

It's been an amazing year and it's flown by so quickly. They say that time seems to go faster as you get older. Do you think that's true for you? It sure feels like it for me.

Growth in Health Information Technology and Nanotechnology

In my opinion, two of the largest areas of growth will be in health information technology (health IT or HIT) and nanotechnology (especially as this relates to drug development and biotechnology). So, if you’re a “techy” person, health IT may be the perfect fit. Join AHIMA and HIMSS, get familiar with CCHIT, and get a job at Walmart so that you can sell pre-loaded EHRs on Dell PCs. For those who are in the science field (biology, biochem, chemistry, organic chem, molecular bio, etc.), learn as much as you can about nanotechnology. I studied mechanical engineering at MIT before the days when nanotechnology was of much interest to anyone. If I were to go through college today, I think I’d major in something that would be strongly relevant to nanotechnology (mech E is relevant, but so are many other fields like materials science, bioengineering, biochemistry, chemical engineering, etc.).

Handbook of Medical Informatics

A frequent question that comes up is: "What is medical informatics?" There are all types of explanations to that question, so let me refer you to a book that can be found here: Handbook of Medical Informatics


There are many different types of opportunities in health or medical informatics. If you're serious about learning more, I encourage you to join the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) found here: http://www.amia.org/

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is also an excellent resource found here: http://www.ahima.org/