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Maria Caban Alizondo, PhD, RHIT, FAHIMA

Maria Caban Alizondo, PhD, RHIT, FAHIMA

 

Biography

Maria Caban Alizondo, is the Director of HIM for UCLA Health System in Los Angeles, CA. She has been president of the CHIA, CA Delegate to AHIMA, Chair of the CHIA Governance Committee and Technology Taskforce, and AHIMA Board Director. She participated in authoring the AHIMA CDI Toolkit, AHIMA Future of the House Taskforce and the AHIMA Envisioning Collaborative and is a proud AHIMA Mentor. Maria is enthusiastic about strategic change, leadership, and developing new professionals. She writes and presents frequently on topics that influence the profession, including strategic change management, servant and transformational leadership, health equity, SDOH, applied informatics and governance, and operational technology integrations.

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Position Statement Question

AHIMA’s mission is empowering people to impact health®. What distinctive expertise and experience do you have to contribute to AHIMA’s mission?

Centering AHIMA’s mission in my professional practice provides me with opportunities to flex my skill sets in a number of areas. I lean on three expertise areas: learning, leadership, and advocacy. These areas demonstrate my distinctive experience and how I empower people to impact health wherever they are. As a lifelong learner: I value discovery, learning and sharing information. I center the critical and valuable work of our profession in my interactions in my organization, association work, and mentoring. I see opportunities to represent our discipline in a variety of settings and have worked with organizations to provide a view into what we do by collaborating on new strategies, speaking at events and amplifying our work. As a transformative leader: A growth mindset was instilled in me early in my career. When I am leading a group, or collaborating with colleagues on strategy I think about leading boldly with intent. I want to know... How does our work impact others? Have we included the voices needed to ensure our approach respects the inherent dignity of those we serve? Choosing to serve first and then lead encourages thought diversity, helps create a trusting culture, and highlights the value of leadership in others. As an advocate: I engage in social justice work by advocating for our patients and our members. Health equity is not just an innovative approach, it is a thoughtful way to understand and apply systems and policies that center all patients, especially those at the margins of healthcare. Equity work includes our association members working in diverse settings. Equity work shines a light on our emerging professionals and their access to resources the HI professionals of the future. I highlight this work by centering people in policy, and strategies and amplifying the need for health information professionals to drive technical and social innovations.

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