Laurie A. Rinehart-Thompson, JD, RHIA, CHP, FAHIMA, is the director of the Health Information Management and Systems program and a professor at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. She has a bachelor’s degree in health information management and a juris doctor from The Ohio State University. Her educational experiences span education, acute care, home health and behavioral health. She has served as an expert witness in civil litigation, testifying as to the privacy and confidentiality of health information.

She has chaired the AHIMA Professional Ethics Committee and served on numerous AHIMA committees, as well as the board of directors of the Ohio Health Information Management Association. She has spoken frequently at national and state meetings and is an accomplished editor and author for AHIMA Press, with publications including Introduction to Health Information Privacy and Security, Fundamentals of Law for Health Informatics and Information Management and numerous other publications in which she has served as a contributing author.

She is a recipient of the Ohio Health Information Management Association’s Distinguished Member Award and the AHIMA Legacy Award (both in 2010). She became a fellow of AHIMA in 2011.