by Jill Z. Choi, MBA, RHIA, CHPC
On October 8, 2023, the House of Delegates will vote on several changes to AHIMA’s bylaws. The purpose of this blog post is to review the proposed amendments and solicit any feedback in advance of the upcoming House of Delegates vote.
In 2022, a Governance Agility Task Force was created to look at AHIMA’s bylaws to ensure optimal agility and governance going forward. The largest category of amendments was administrative in nature and five amendments to the bylaws were proposed.
1. Article IV. Members > 4.2 Rights of Members
In this amendment, they are proposing that two sentences be removed since they are more procedural in nature and procedures should not be in the bylaws. The sentences state that members outside of the US can select a component state association and if they don’t select one, they will be entitled to digital membership privileges.
A Global member will default to an international status, but that member can change this at the time of purchase (as a new member) or at renewal for an existing member. For instance, if I move to Italy, I can still select Ohio as my State Association if I so choose, and Ohio will get the rebate for my membership.
2. Article V. Board of Directors > 5.5 Election and Term of Office
In this amendment, we are allowing two consecutive 3-year terms for the AHIMA Board to build continuity on the Board. This is considered a governance best practice. This change will be effective for those Board members starting their terms January 1, 2025, and after. Voting members would be aware that they are voting these Directors in for a 3-year term, and a possible second 3-year term, for a total of 6 years; however, each Director’s performance will be evaluated prior to appointing them to the second term.
3. Article V. Board of Directors > 5.1 Powers and Duties
If 5.5 above is approved, then the language in 5.1 requires editing to reflect the change.
4. Article VIII. Committees > Combine 8.3 Finance Committee and 8.6 Audit Committee
In this amendment, they are proposing that Finance and Audit Committees be combined under one umbrella and that section 8.6 be deleted (since it’s rolled up under Finance and Audit). There was additional language added that while serving on the Finance and Audit Committee, a member of the Committee shall not: (a) accept any consulting fee, advisory fee, or other compensation or benefits from AHIMA; or (b) have participated in any other transactions with AHIMA in which he or she has a financial interest within the previous year. There were some concerns about audit and finance committees being lumped together but AHIMA’s Legal representative said that it’s not uncommon for non-profits to have audit and finance committees combined to be more efficient. He also stated that they also employ an external auditor who will ensure that everything is being run appropriately.
5. Article VI. Officers > 6.7 Duties of Treasurer
If the Finance and Audit Committees are combined as described above, this would just add the language to combine them.
Should you have any questions about these bylaw changes, please direct them to me at jill.choi@nationwidechildrens.org and I can take them to the upcoming House of Delegates call on September 13th.
The above amendments will be voted on during the House of Delegates meeting on October 8th during the AHIMA Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.
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About the Author
Jill Choi, MBA, RHIA, CHPC is currently the Past-President, Delegate Coordinator and Director of Awards & Scholarships for the OHIMA FY 2023-2024 Board of Directors. Jill is the Director of Health Information Management, CDI, and Utilization Review at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus.
