A special year for health information management awareness in 2019 Milla Krivozhnya, Sadiya Askar, Terri Fiorenza, Kara Pollard, Melinda Scott
Health Information Management Awareness Week Milla Krivozhnya Health Information Management Awareness Week turned into the Health Information Management Awareness Month in 2019 as the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) celebrated the 70 year anniversary of the profession. For the whole month of May our members were busy organising branch events and celebrations, lobby displays, Health Information Services (HIS) department tours and social functions, and making headlines in their health organisations’ newsletters.
of health services to recognise the worth of HIMs was identified as a priority for HIMAA’s Strategic Plan. This innovative idea to promote the profession through the annual Health Information Management Awareness Week has taken our members to the next level. The enthusiasm of the profession to be involved in one way or another is indicative of the right approach we have chosen for our self-promotion. As part of the strategy, HIMAA developed a Positioning and Advocacy Tool Kit, which is a collection of hints on how you can communicate the strengths and value of the HIM profession within your organisation. HIMAA National Office also supports all participants by providing Health Information Management Awareness Week Posters, suggested events lists, and merchandise that can be used as gifts and prizes. During the Health Information Management Awareness Month in 2019 our members showed us how innovative they could be, from posters to cakes, professional development days, meetings, open days and much more. HIMAA has been completely overwhelmed by the efforts of our participating members from both the public and private sectors.
Health Information Management Awareness Week has been on HIMAA’s annual calendar since 2016 when, in my role as the Marketing and Events Manager, I proposed the initiative to the HIMAA Board. The idea was to honour and celebrate the health information management professionals and to raise awareness that Health Information Managers (HIMs) have the knowledge, skills and motivation to contribute to and improve the health care system in Australia, together with the health and wellness of the nation. Positioning and advocacy has been a very difficult thing for the profession for many years and the neglect 20 HIM-INTERCHANGE • Vol 10 No 1 2020 • ISSN 1838-8620 (PRINT) ISSN 1838-8639 (ONLINE)
Jenny Gilder and Phyllis Watson
