AHRQ Awards AHIMA Foundation $48,000 Grant to Head Summit on Quality Improvement for Rural Health Information Technology

CHICAGO, December 9, 2009—The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Foundation a $48,000 research development conference grant to lead a groundbreaking two-day summit, based on a new project, “Setting a Quality Improvement Health Services Research Agenda to Leverage Health Information Technology/Health Information Management Implementation in Rural America.” The Summit is scheduled for April 2010 in Washington, DC.

The AHIMA Foundation’s primary goal with this grant is to fill a void in health services research agenda setting with a focus on quality improvement. This Summit will convene public and private stakeholders, industry experts, and practitioners who will discuss quality-based incentive programs for health information technology (HIT) uptake in small physician offices and hospitals in rural communities.

 “Speakers will address a range of timely topics that can affect consumers, providers, insurers, and government on both the local and national level,” said Mary Madison, executive director of the AHIMA Foundation. “The conference will also serve as a catalyst for facilitating multi-stakeholder research collaborations across the healthcare industry.”

• Present and discuss the economic and strategic impact of HIT on pay-for-quality improvement efforts with a focus on rural areas, healthcare disparities, workforce shortages, safety, and quality—such as privacy, data accuracy and security.
• Discuss current challenges and controversies that include policy and practice in quality improvement, and the current state of the research.
• Create a quality improvement-based research agenda to address gaps in current research, policy and practice.

About AHIMA Foundation

Created in 1962, the AHIMA Foundation is the 501(c)(3) philanthropic and charitable arm of the American Health Information Management Association. The Foundation generates knowledge, research and education in the field of Health Information Management.  Its role is to envision the future direction and needs of the field—and to create original research, policies, strategies and information that keep managing health information on the forefront. Beginning in 2009, the Foundation has undergone a strategic shift to broaden its reach and impact, with the overall vision of “Better Health Information for All.” www.ahimafoundation.org

About AHRQ

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care for all Americans. Information from AHRQ's research helps people make more informed decisions and improve the quality of health care services. AHRQ was formerly known as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research.