INNOVATION
Advancing our mission to empower people to impact health
From patient care portals that allow real-time diagnosis, to wearable technology that permits consumers to track their fitness level, to groundbreaking research that informs lifesaving treatments—accurate, complete, protected, accessible health information is at the heart of our most effective health innovations.
Health information professionals ensure the person in front of the data remains connected to their information at every touchpoint. This perspective empowers our partners in innovation to develop solutions that not only move technology and business forward, but also enrich the lives of people everywhere.
Triumph Awards
Since their inception in 1994, the AHIMA Triumph Awards have honored and recognized the excellence, dedication, and service of those professionals or groups whose steadfast efforts have enriched the health information profession. Each year, AHIMA members nominate those that have demonstrated extraordinary leadership, volunteerism, and talent. We congratulate the 2020 Triumph Award Winners below.
Patrice L. Spath, MA, RHIT
Distinguished Member Award
Spath is a partner, author, and educator at Brown-Spath and Associates. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Alabama in Birmingham and a part-time faculty member at Pacific University in Oregon. Throughout her notable career of more than 40 years, Spath has continuously advanced health information to the next level. She is well known for her leadership and expertise in healthcare quality and safety improvement and has advocated for the importance of incorporating quality management within the practice of health information (HI).
Educator Award
Harris is a full professor and the program director for the health information management program at East Carolina University (ECU) in Greenville, North Carolina. Harris’s teaching of both undergraduate students in ECU’s HIM program and graduate students in ECU’s health informatics program emphasizes hands-on experience. To help students establish their career paths early, she spearheaded a program in which seniors take the RHIA credentialing exam before graduation. With the support of the program advisor board and generous donors, Harris established financial support for students taking early exams through the Myra Brown Memorial Fund.
Susie T. Harris, PhD, MBA, RHIA, CCS, FAHIMA
Innovation Award
The Innovation Award honors those individuals, groups, or organizations focused on moving HI into the future of healthcare. AHIMA presents this award to the Ohio Health Information Management Association (OHIMA). OHIMA is being honored for its accomplishment of stepping into the future and transitioning the country’s largest state association HI conference into to a virtual format inside of a single week at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. OHIMA’s innovative use of a learning management system served as a blueprint and opened the door to revolutionizing the way we deliver services and connect with members.
Leadership Award
Lewis is the executive director of the California Health Information Association (CHIA). This year, when the COVID-19 pandemic prompted stay-at-home orders across the country and most state associations were forced to cancel their annual meetings, Lewis showed the ability to think “outside the box.” Her innovation helped CHIA pivot from an in-person conference to a successful virtual annual meeting within 30 days, offering new approaches to the annual meeting, from technology, financial, and participation standpoints.
Sharon I. Lewis, MBA, RHIA, CHPS, CPHQ, CAE, FAHIMA
Germaine N. Miguez-Corujo, MS, RHIA
Student Award
AHIMA is proud to present the 2020 AHIMA Student Triumph Award to Germaine N. Miguez-Corujo, MS, RHIA, a graduate student at the University of Puerto Rico. Miguez-Corujo serves as a student representative on the Advisory Committee for the HIM graduate program in the School of Health Professions at the University of Puerto Rico. She is also a member of the board of directors for the Puerto Rico Health Information Management Association (PRHIMA). She served as moderator of the 2019 Annual PRHIMA Convention.
Literacy Legacy Award
The California Health Information Association Journal Editorial Advisory Board (EAB) received the 2020 Literacy Legacy Award. Current and past members of CHIA’s EAB have contributed significantly to the knowledge base of the health information field through their leadership in publishing the CHIA Journal. The EAB’s commitment to publishing thought-provoking and informative articles, at the forefront of the HI profession, have provided members with the framework for further development of concepts previously advanced by others.
Grace W. Myers Award
Every year, the Grace Award presented by AHIMA recognizes an outstanding organization’s journey toward innovative HIM practices that deliver better patient outcomes. Browse the past recipients below and learn about the innovation they’re leading. Learn more about the Grace Award here.
2020 Grace Award
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PA Lower Length of Stay and Readmission Rates through Data Analysis As one of the top children’s hospitals in the country, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) welcomes patients from all over the world, often for medically complex care. The work of the health information team allows for precise digital assessments that [...]
2019 Grace Award
Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) - Eastern Wisconsin Division Data Analyses Makes the Difference Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) - Eastern Wisconsin Division turns diagnoses and patient population data into critical care. Through regular, rigorous analysis by the HIM team, HSHS - Eastern Wisconsin Division made the decision to open a wound clinic, increase the [...]
2018 Grace Award
Yale New Haven Health, New Haven, Connecticut Sharing Data Encourages Decisions that Benefit Patients Monthly meetings with the CFOs and CMOs across the network foster a culture of accountability and collaboration with finance and physicians. Yale New Haven HIM teams listen to ideas, concerns and feedback from these colleagues, generating actionable plans that streamline denial [...]
2017 Grace Award
SCL Health, delivering health care throughout Colorado, Kansas and Montana Achieve Data Visualization through Staff Training SCL Health is a faith-based, nonprofit healthcare organization offering comprehensive, coordinated care through multiple care settings, including hospitals, physician clinics, home healthcare, hospice, mental healthcare, and safety-net services in Colorado, Kansas, and Montana. The AHIMA award committee selected SCL [...]
2016 Grace Award
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus Ohio Data Modeling Identifies ‘Predictors’ for Better Health The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) received the 2016 Grace Award based on their excellence and advancements in five categories aligned with the 2014-2017 AHIMA Strategic Plan, including Innovation, Leadership, Public Good, Information Governance, and Informatics. “We [...]
2015 Grace Award
Allina Health of Minneapolis, Minnesota HIM without Walls Allina exemplifies “HIM Without Walls” with health information professionals involved at a variety of program levels; chairing and participating on several enterprise-wide committees; serving as subject matter experts for electronic medical record (EMR) user groups; and providing education and training. Through its HIM consolidation efforts, Allina has [...]
2014 Grace Award
Children’s Medical Center of Dallas, Texas Leveraging the EHR The AHIMA Grace Award Committee recognized Children’s Medical Center of Dallas for successfully integrating health information management (HIM) expertise enterprise-wide to improve patient care and population health, and lower costs. At Children’s, HIM credentialed professionals work in multiple departments, including in compliance, finance and information services, [...]
2013 Grace Award
Truman Medical Centers, Kansas City, Missouri Putting Health Information at the Center of the Health Ecosystem When Truman Medical Centers (TMC) implemented Cerner’s Lighthouse Solutions, the organization was able to not only track patient care, but TMC also improved patient care by mitigating problematic issues caused by the hospital stay itself. One impressive result was [...]
2012 Grace Award
University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, Madison, Wisconsin Early Adopters of the EHR Reap Rewards University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics (UWHC) first began their electronic health record (EHR) journey in the 1990s by interfacing labs, radiology, and transcribed documents. In 2008 they took the next step in utilizing health information, adopting the motto “great [...]
🎉 Happy #HIPWeek22! Join us in celebrating by saying thank you to health information professionals who ensure health information is human information. #3Mer https://bit.ly/3FtYCz8
“Acknowledging individuals or teams who have responded with grace and achieved triumphs amidst the tumultuous changes and unprecedented challenges facing health information professionals during the pandemic.” #HIPweek22
