The AHIMA Advocacy Agenda
Our mission of "empowering people to impact health®" is rooted in our founder's belief that great possibilities are achieved when we work together toward a common goal.
At AHIMA, our common goal is to transform health and healthcare by connecting people, systems, and ideas. This transformation starts with the most powerful currency for change in the healthcare ecosystem: health information.
The AHIMA 2023 advocacy agenda will leverage our knowledge and expertise of health data and information to influence the public policy environment for the benefit of individuals, communities, clinicians, and the healthcare workforce. Download our agenda to learn more. To read our policy statements, click each statement’s link within our agenda.
Latest News
Upcoming Events
December 1, 2023 | 12 p.m. CT | Webinar
Data for Better Health SDOH Data Break: Using Science, Data, Trust, and Kindness to Accelerate Health Equity
With cybersecurity threats on the rise, healthcare data security is a top priority. Join our Dec 1 webinar featuring AMN Healthcare's Information Security Director and explore hidden vendor cybersecurity risks, delve into the evolving healthcare landscape, witness case studies on trust, and learn about the impact on HIM & CDI professionals. Don't miss out on your chance to gain insights that could help safeguard your private healthcare data.
December 12, 2023 | 12 p.m. CT | Webinar
The State of the Health Information Workforce and Artificial Intelligence
Join AHIMA for an interactive webinar to discuss the results of a recent survey of health information (HI) professionals and companion white paper on the state of the HI workforce and the impact emerging technologies will have on the field. The survey was conducted in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago. We’ll explore topics including current challenges HI professionals face, how artificial intelligence and machine learning are impacting the profession, and policy recommendations developed in response to the survey results.
March 11-12, 2024| Hilton National Mall in Washington, DC
Advocacy Summit
Ready to make an impact on the future of healthcare? Secure your spot at the AHIMA Advocacy Summit 2024 on March 11-12, in Washington, DC. Here, you'll have an exciting opportunity to connect with fellow professionals and share your voice at our member-exclusive Capitol Hill Day. Register today.
Alert: New SDOH Webinar Now Available On-Demand
AHIMA® thought leaders and guest presenters recently convened for the third virtual coffee break, “Using SDOH Data to Improve Health and Healthcare Outcomes”. Aida Somun, Chief Operating Officer, PCCI and Garett Ng, Data Lead, Social Health Practice, Kaiser Permanente shared successful strategies and tactics they’ve implemented to collect SDOH data and discussed opportunities and challenges facing healthcare professionals as their organizations screen for and collect SDOH data.
Latest Advocacy News
June 8, 2023
AHIMA Comments on FY 2024 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Proposed Rule
AHIMA submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule. Comments focused on proposed updates to MS-DRGs and the Promoting Interoperability Program.
May 3, 2023
AHIMA Comments on ICD-10-CM Code Proposals
AHIMA submitted comments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics on ICD-10-CM code proposals discussed at the March ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting and being considered for implementation on October 1, 2024.
Policy Statements
Downloadable Policy Statements
- Individual Access: Enhance individuals’ electronic, timely, and seamless access to their health information.
- Consumer Engagement: Empower individuals to make better decisions about their own health by using trusted data from traditional and emerging data sources.
- Affordability: Ensure patients have access to timely and accurate information about the cost of healthcare services to make informed care decisions, including information about their expected out-of-pocket costs.
- Privacy: Address privacy and security gaps of HIPAA non-covered entities that collect, access, use, disclose, and maintain electronic health information.
- Cybersecurity and Information Security: Enhance and improve the sharing of cyber threats, risks, and cyber hygiene practices in real-time.
- Behavioral health: Encourage policies that further integrate and coordinate behavioral health information with physical health information.
- Healthcare Reform: Promote the continuity of accurate, timely, and trusted health information regardless of health insurance coverage.
- Data Quality: Advance the completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of health data by influencing the development and maintenance of national and international coding standards.
- Data Integrity: Influence and advance policies that promote the accuracy, consistency, and trustworthiness of health information regardless of its form, origin or application.
- Health Equity: Advocate for the collection, use, and sharing of accurate, unbiased, complete, and standardized health information as an integral part of efforts to reduce and eliminate health disparities and inequities.
- Value-Based Care: Promote new payment and delivery models that leverage accurate, timely, and complete health information—as well as technology—in new and innovative ways.
- Telehealth and Remote Patient Monitoring Technologies: Expand access to care through the use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring technologies, while ensuring the continuity of accurate, timely, and trusted health information and also protecting patient confidentiality, privacy and security.
- Patient Identification: Enhance accurate patient identification to improve patient safety, interoperability, and the appropriate use of workforce resources.
- Integrating Clinical and Administrative Data: Enhance and influence efforts to better integrate clinical and administrative data to improve the patient experience, reduce clinician burden, and potentially reduce costs.
- Interoperability: Champion modern data standards (including application programming interfaces) and related infrastructure to support technical, functional, and semantic interoperability across healthcare.
- Public Health: Advocate for the use of accurate and timely data for public health responses and initiatives while protecting the confidentiality, privacy, and security of an individual’s health information.
- Social Determinants of Health: Promote the collection, access, sharing, and use of social determinants of health (SDoH) to enrich clinical decision making and improve health outcomes, public health, and health inequities in ways that are culturally respectful.
Advocacy & Policy Council
The Advocacy and Policy Council advises our leadership and Board of Directors on critical areas for AHIMA’s strategic engagement in advocacy and public policy that align with our mission and vision.
