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.