CHICAGO – January 4, 2017 – The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) is pleased today to introduce an enhanced membership model that features new and expanded benefits and flexibility for its members, healthcare professionals and those who hold AHIMA credentials.

The membership enhancements are a result of extensive qualitative and quantitative analysis and member and stakeholder feedback, insights and perspectives. The most frequent request was that AHIMA offer complimentary continuing education units (CEUs) as a benefit, and the enhanced membership model offers access to free and discounted products worth CEUs. A priority for the model was to support the needs of AHIMA’s active members by adding additional value and support for their professional development and growth.

“Instead of a one-size fits all approach to membership, AHIMA will now offer more benefits and options. This empowers individuals to select the AHIMA content, services and products they most value,” said AHIMA CEO Lynne Thomas Gordon, MBA, RHIA, CAE, FACHE, FAHIMA. “As AHIMA expands its membership, this will allow us to advocate on an even greater scale for our members and for best practices at a time when HIM professionals are increasingly becoming leaders in dynamic areas such as information governance, clinical documentation improvement, informatics, and data analytics.”

The enhanced membership model features two new categories for membership – Active Premier and New to AHIMA. Some benefits for premier members include access to a variety of products worth eight continuing education units (CEU), up to a 25 percent discount on AHIMA products and special recognition and access at AHIMA events. New to AHIMA members receive a reduced membership price and access to four CEUs and a 20 percent AHIMA product discount. New to AHIMA members can remain in this category for two years.

The full list of member categories is: Student, New Graduate, New to AHIMA, Emeritus, Active, Active Premier and Global.

The enhanced membership model does not affect membership renewal dates. No action is needed until an individual’s membership renewal is approaching. At this time, members can choose the membership category that best meets their needs.

More information about AHIMA’s membership model can be found at AHIMA.org/newmodel.