AHIMA defines information governance (IG) as “an organization wide framework for managing information throughout its lifecycle and for supporting the organization’s strategy, operations, regulatory, legal, risk, and environmental requirements.”

Like other critical organizational assets—people, capital, inventory, etc.—information is a strategic asset that requires high level oversight in order to be able to effectively use it for organizational decision-making, performance improvement, cost management, and risk mitigation. IG ensures that information is trustworthy and actionable through alignment with organizational strategy and engagement of senior leaders and important stakeholders across the enterprise. In an increasingly connected world, this extends outside the proverbial four walls of an organization to make sure that information is available in the right place and the right time to support health and healthcare.

AHIMA is committed to advancing IG in the healthcare industry to ensure the quality and integrity of all types of information necessary to safe, high quality, cost effective care and the improvement of the health of individuals and populations. Both IG and information management are necessary to meet the existing and new requirements of an increasingly complex healthcare ecosystem.

Organizations across healthcare are utilizing AHIMA’s five (5) level Information Governance Adoption Model™ (IGAM™) for healthcare to assess and improve their IG posture and processes. IGAM™ is built using leading practices in IG and the AHIMA-developed organizational IG competencies, and incorporates more than 85 maturity markers or indicators of maturity in IG practices. These markers enable identification of maturity level, based on a five-level model across all 10 competencies.

There are many reasons IG is necessary across the healthcare industry. For instance:

• Adopting an IG program shows a healthcare organization’s commitment to managing its information as a valued strategic asset. IG serves the dual purpose of optimizing the ability to extract clinical and business value from healthcare information while simultaneously meeting compliance needs and mitigating risk. Healthcare organizations that have IG programs will have a competitive edge over others. IG contributes to safety and quality of care, population health, operational efficiency and effectiveness, and cost reduction initiatives.


• The proliferation of health information technology such as electronic health records, clinical information systems, mobile health, and cloud computing are new sources of an abundance of data and information that have outstripped the capabilities of traditional information management alone to effectively manage and derive value from it. The broader focus that IG brings can help to better manage information according to its value.


• Accurate, timely information is essential for safe, high quality healthcare. The complexity of technology and the associated process and workflow changes associated with it can result in unintended consequences. While IG recognizes the importance of technology, it realigns the focus from being solely on technology to the people and policies generate and manage data and information for safe, high quality care.


• Changes in healthcare delivery and payment systems require new types and sources of information, both internal and external. Ensuring the integrity and trustworthiness of information regardless of its source is critical for the sustainability and profitability of healthcare organizations. IG provides an approach for ensuring information can be trusted for all its many uses.


• Patient engagement—increasingly HCOs are providing greater access for patients seeking their own information to better manage their health and healthcare costs. IG addresses the need for transparency, accuracy, and integrity of information shared with patients. This is absolutely essential for patients to have confidence in their providers and fully participate as members of their healthcare team. 


• Healthcare is a highly regulated industry that must collect and effectively manage information that demonstrates compliance with myriad laws and standards.


• Privacy/security—health information is the most sensitive of all types of individually identifiable information. Its protection from breach, loss, or corruption through governance is critical in order to maintain individual and public trust.

The following materials and resources from AHIMA are tools that provide guidance for developing an IG framework that healthcare organizations can utilize as they either start or refine their own IG programs.

• NEW 2018 Information Governance Adoption Model™ (IGAM) Assessing the Data Governance Competency as a Subset of Information Governance White Paper
• The Pulse on IG in Healthcare White Paper
• AHIMA’s Information Governance Adoption Model (IGAM™)
• IG Road Map Infographic
• The Link between Data Governance and Information Governance
• Professional Readiness and Opportunity
• IG for Healthcare Benchmarking White Paper
• IG Infographic – What is IG?

DOWNLOAD RESOURCES HERE

IGAdvisors® leads the healthcare industry in expert IG strategy and implementation. With IGAdvisors’® consulting services, organizations can understand and improve the trustworthiness of its information while developing a successful framework for enterprise-wide IG.

IGHEALTHRATE^TM ASSESSMENT

IGHealthRate™ is the healthcare industry standard tool for assessing information governance maturity aligned with AHIMA’s Information Governance Adoption Model (IGAM™).

IGHealthRate™ creates a pathway of progressive performance criteria to guide an organization toward achievement of IGAM™ Level 5 maturity. This strategic tool allows an organization to assess and evaluate how information is utilized, maintained, and protected.

IGHealthRate^TM is offered free to qualified organizations! See if you qualify by filling out a short form.

IG ANALYSIS AND STRATEGY

Utilizing IGHealthRate™, IGAdvisors® will provide an assessment and analysis of your organization’s current IG practices, followed by a detailed strategy addressing areas of focus.

IG PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION

Project management services are performed by experienced IG consultants in support of an organization’s road map towards enterprise-wide IG implementation. Services include an assessment of IG readiness with IGHealthRate™, gap analysis, and coaching, followed by the coordination and implementation of an organization-specific project plan, including competencies, target maturity scores, responsible departments/individuals, timelines, and priorities.

CUSTOMIZED ON-SITE/VIRTUAL TRAINING

Customized training based on AHIMA’s Information Governance Principles for Healthcare (IGPHC™), which includes awareness and education for all levels of the organization from governing bodies to business partners.

IGAM™ LEVEL 4 AND 5 VALIDATION

The IGAdvisors® expert consulting team will conduct a comprehensive validation of your IG program to confirm that the 10 IG Healthcare competencies have reached the highest level of maturity, based on AHIMA’s Information Governance Adoption Model (IGAM™) and IG Principles. Organizations that have successfully implemented an enterprise-wide IG strategy, are committed to ensuring a high degree of data integrity while utilizing trusted information in decision making and patient outcomes.

For more information, visit IGAdvisors.com or email us at IGAdvisors@ahima.org.