If You Don’t Know, Now You Know… Membership Benefit 101: Education

In case you didn’t know, OHIMA implemented a new membership engagement strategy this year. What exactly IS membership engagement? It is "a collaborative investment between an organization and its members." The organization’s supporters contribute money, time, and passion, and the organization devotes energy to the member experience.  When I think about AHIMA and OHIMA, this definition holds true. Therefore, we wanted to showcase some of the benefits of being an AHIMA and OHIMA member. 

First up is access to education, which ends up more than covering the cost of the membership itself.

• Stay on top of news, developments, best practices, and updates in the field with the award-winning Journal of AHIMA - both digital and print. I don’t know about all of you, but I still enjoy getting the printed version in the mail. Having something right in front of me forces me to read and stay up-to-date on the profession and what other colleagues are doing.
  
  
• There are a variety of e-newsletters. One in particular is the AHIMA Smart Brief delivered daily showcases targeted news and information in sections that are leading in HIM. The first section is titled “Top Stories,” and then range from “technology and innovation” to “legislative and regulatory,” and ends with “news from AHIMA.” There is also a “featured content” section from SmartBrief.com that offers insights, analysis and best practices for the education professional.
    
  
• AHIMA’s HIM Body of Knowledge provides resources and tools to advance health information professional practice and standards for the delivery of quality healthcare. It enables HIM professionals to access quickly and easily information needed to be successful. Click on the large topic buttons and then further narrow your search by author, source, publication date or more specific topic. This is a vast improvement over pages of links that we have seen in the past.
  
  
• There are also a wealth of AHIMA discounted on-demand webinars in CDI, Coding, and Privacy and Security.  You can organize a group in order to make the cost minimal. In addition, OHIMA continually offers discounted webinars like tomorrow's Getting Clued In: 7th Character Coding for Injuries, Poisonings, and Fractures brought to you by Dianna Foley, OHIMA’s Coding Education Coordinator for only $25. This webinar counts for one AHIMA CEU and one AAPC CEU.

So if you didn’t know now you know…
 

About the Author 

Kristin Nelson, MS, RHIA is the currently President-Elect on the OHIMA FY 2020-21 Board of Directors, in charge of Membership Engagement strategy.  Kristin is a Clinical Instructor at The Ohio State University School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences HIMS Division.