Canadian to become president of IFHIMA

LONDON, Ont. – The Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA) is pleased to announce that Marci MacDonald (pictured), CHIM, was elected incoming president of the International Federation of Health Information Management Associations (IFHIMA) at the 18th IFHIMA Congress held in Tokyo, Japan, October 12-14, 2016.

Marci MacDonald is currently the director of clinical information services and privacy officer at Halton Healthcare Services in Oakville, Ont. She said, “it is an honour to represent our profession internationally, and to be involved in such important and foundational work, which provides support to research, statistics and the health of all global citizens.”

IFHIMA is a non-profit organization affiliated with the World Health Organization (WHO) as a non-governmental organization (NGO).

IFHIMA supports national associations and health record/health information management professionals to implement and improve health records, data collection and associated reporting systems globally. IFHIMA was established in 1968 as a forum to bring together national organizations committed to improvement in the development and use of health records in their countries.

The founding organizations, Canada being one of them, recognized the need for an international organization to serve as a forum for the exchange of information relating to health records, health information management and information technology.

Currently IFHIMA is made up of eight elected officers, including the president, the president-elect and six regional IFHIMA directors representing the six IFHIMA regions: Africa, the Americas, The Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South East Asia and the Western Pacific.

Marci has been the CHIMA representative on IFHIMA for the past nine years, and has represented Canada and the HIM profession admirably, said Gail Crook, CEO and Registrar of CHIMA.

About CHIMA
The Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA) is the national organization that represents leadership and excellence in health information management. CHIMA supports continuing education and professional practice of HIM® professionals; develops strategic partnerships to advance the development and integration of electronic HIM; and advocates for and strengthens the HIM role in healthcare settings across the continuum of care. Health Information Management (HIM) professionals mitigate risk; assist the Ministries of Health in providing timely quality data; provide the healthcare industry with business intelligence to effectively manage costs; and ensure patient safety. Canadian certified professionals are educated in an accredited environment, and have the required analytic skills and apply strict standards in managing the public’s health record so that they can make informed life-decisions.