Health Information Management

I received my baccalaureate degree in Medical Record Science from the College of St. Scholastica and a Masters in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. My Master's thesis was titled: A Case Study - Factors Affecting the Innovativeness of Hospital Medical Record Department Management Teams.

 Position at St. Scholastica/Experiences in Education

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Information Management at the College of St. Scholastica.  From 2002-2008 I also served as the Project Director for the ATHENS Project, a U.S. Department of Education, Title III grant funded project which was focused on implementing a state-of-the art Electronic Health Record (EHR) system into the educational infrastructure of the professional programs within The College's Schools of Nursing and Health Sciences. .

 I have been involved in formal HIM education since 1974 when I joined the staff in the HIM Department at the College, also serving as the Chairperson of the Department of Health Information Management 1984-1992. From 1992-1994 I was Director, HIM Education and Accreditation at the American Health Information Management Association in Chicago, IL.

 Just prior to returning for the College, from 1994-1997 I was the Director of Recruitment and Professional Development for Pyramid Health Solutions, an HIM consulting company based in Southern California. I continued my relationship with Quadramed's HIS Division (previously Pyramid Health Solutions) part-time until 1999 managing QMed's HIS Division activities in Minnesota. The other half of my time was given over to Coordinating the new Master of Arts in Health Information Management Program at the College. It began in Summer 1997 and became the first AHIMA Approved Graduate Program in 2000.

 In May, 2001 I was honored to received the College of St. Scholastica's Max Lavine Award for Teaching Excellence. I am very aware that my professional soul is fed best and at peace most when I am engaged in the work of higher education. The students I have been privileged to work with over the years continue to awe me with the excellent contributions they are making to the healthcare industry in which they work.

At the same time, my personal joy is in being a wife to Duane Maki (who so unexpectedly came into my life in the summer of 2001) and being a mother to Jill and Scott - now experiencing that "40 something" time of life! Scott and Jill make me proud each day for the fine people, parents and professionals they have become. I also thank them and their spouses every day for bringing 5 grandchildren into my life to love: Twins - Hannah and Noah; Baillie, Remington (Remy), and Inga. .
Professional Activities

Throughout my career I have been active in professional health information management organizations.

I am a past president of the Minnesota Medical Record (now: Minnesota Health Information Management) Association; and have served as a Director and the President of the American Medical Record (also now the American Health Information Management) Association. I served as the Chairperson of AHIMA's Joint Committee on Education three years; and, have also previously served as Chairperson of AHIMA's Assembly on Education, as well as a member and chair of AHIMA's Council on Education. I co-authored with Merida Johns, Ph.D., RHIA, a White Paper on the Health and Well-being of the Health Information Management Education. While serving as Chair of  AHIMA's Research Committee in 2006, the first HIM Researcher Institute was conceived and I served as the Project Manager when the Institute sessions were held on the St. Scholastica Campus in August 2007 and 2008.

 I served as a Working Group member for the Certification Commission on Health Information Technology (CCHIT) from 2006 - 2009, on the Effective Use Working Group of the Minnesota e-Health Initiative in 2008-2009 and on AHIMA's Computer Assisted Coding Steering Committee in 2008-2009. . 

 Over the years, I have greatly enjoyed facilitating strategic planning sessions for numerous component state associations, and most recently (2008 and 2009) for the Calgary, Alberta health information services in Canada. In 1987, as President of the American Medical Record Association I was invited to join a small delegation who participated in a 3-week professional lecture tour to China. It was an extraordinary experience culturally and professionally. In 1998 I was greatly honored to receive the AHIMA Distinguished Member Award at the Association's Annual Meeting and Convention in New Orleans. And in 2002 I was a co-recipient of AHIMA's Legacy Award along with my colleague and friend, Kathy LaTour. Kathy and I co-edit a textbook for baccalaureate level HIM programs. The text is entitled: Health Information Management: Concepts, Principles and Practices and it was first published by The American Health Information Management Association in 2002 with a 3^rd Edition scheduled for publication in 2010. .

II also co-authored with Bonnie Petterson, Ph.D., RHIA (with computer-based exercises developed by Janelle Wapola) a text entitled Using he Electronic Health Record in the Health Care Provider Practice which was published by Delmar Cengage in 2008. 

 I believe that "An Education" is that which, not only expands our knowledge, but calls upon us to be open to the underlying truth (or untruth) in all we encounter and to always seek the truth.