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Taking the conference helm during Monday's general sessions, AHIMA president Wendy Mangin, MS, RHIA, steered attendees to the great accomplishments AHIMA achieved in 2008. "I knew when I stood before you 1 year ago that this year would be life-changing," she said.
Mangin commended the establishment of patient privacy policies, the success of AHIMA's PHR consumer awareness campaign and-"at long last"-the arrival of ICD-10. But the most significant accomplishment, Mangin said, was passing the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, which paves the way for patient protections as health care looks toward genetic profiling.
Recalling Pam Dixon's alarming address about medical identity theft at last year's convention, Mangin applauded AHIMA's proactive efforts to prevent patient privacy breaches. "We accepted her challenge and in doing so established a whole new paradigm for medical ID theft patient advocacy," Mangin said.
Despite AHIMA's "shining year," the association still has much to do, Mangin asserted. She encouraged members to get involved and keep the progress going. Though she was "handing over the reins of a horse that is running at a full gallop," Mangin said she had utter faith in the future of the association, as long as its members continue their involvement.
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