by Beth McLeod, MS IHCM, B.S HIM, RHIA, CCS
Academic Department Chair Health Information Management
American National University promotes faculty development in a variety of ways. Under our Global Teach™ concept, we are committed to maintaining outstanding faculty drawn from your community, nationally, and globally. To meet this goal, we strive to ensure our faculty have a combination of technical expertise, practical experience in the field, and outstanding teaching qualities. I recently attended a conference that complemented all of these qualities.
Each year, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) hosts the Faculty Development Institute/Assembly on Education (FDI/AOE). This year, from July 29th-July 31st, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the conference and network with other educators across the United States.
The FDI/AOE is “the premier conference for health information and informatics educators and the primary forum for leadership in health information management (HIIM) education” (AOE, 2019). This year’s conference included many decorated and celebrated HIM professionals, such as Nanette B. Sayles* and Patricia Schnering** (pictured with me, above). Many companies and organizations also attended the event including Cengage, CAHIIM, AHIMA Press, AHIMA Vlab, McGraw-Hill Education, and more.
According to AHIMA, the annual FDI/AOE conference includes the following highlights:
- Sessions on Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) accreditation preparation
- Strategies to effectively teach online courses and emerging health information topics
- Research presentations to enhance your approach to teaching and improve student outcomes
- Workforce engagement strategies to align your curriculum with the needs of the healthcare industry
- Exhibits from organizations who specialize in educational content and technology*
I hope to utilize the information that I have learned from this year’s conference and apply it to our Medical Billing and Coding Diploma and our Associate of Science in Health Information Management programs at American National University!
* Dr.Sayles's credentials include EdD, RHIA, CCS, CDIP, CHPI, CHDA, CHPS, CPHIMS, FAHIMA; she is the author of Health Information Management Technology and Introduction to Computer Systems for Health Information Technology, among many other books.
** Patricia Schnering's credentials include RHIA, CCS; she is the author of The Professional Review Guides for the RHIA, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, and CCA certifications, and others.
