Martin completes term as president, chair of national health information management organization
Melissa Martin, associate vice president of the WVU Heart and Vascular Institute,
completed her one-year term as the national president and chair of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) earlier this month at the association’s 88th annual convention in Baltimore.
AHIMA is the primary professional association of health information management (HIM) professionals worldwide, serving 52 affiliated state associations and more than 103,000 health information professionals. Martin previously served on the association’s board as its treasurer and finance committee chair, and also served on its governance and audit committees.
Martin, who most recently served as WVU Medicine’s Chief Privacy Officer before taking her new role in the Heart and Vascular Institute, spent her tenure advocating on behalf of the association’s membership by meeting with federal policy makers in the United States Congress and the Obama Administration to advance issues important to HIM professionals. She also worked to expand educational and training opportunities for HIM professionals everywhere, and led a board of 13.
“Having Melissa serve in such a position is a real honor for WVU Medicine, as doing so is a way to extend our brand across the entire country,” said Albert L. Wright Jr., president and chief executive officer of WVU Medicine. “The fact that Melissa could manage her new leadership role at the Heart and Vascular Institute while serving in a national office of such a large professional association speaks to her tremendous talents as both an HIM professional and hospital administrator. She is an example for all of us to follow.”
“I’m grateful for the experience and to have served in such a capacity. I hope I was able to make an impact and drive positive changes for the HIM profession,” said Martin. “I’m also grateful for the incredible support I received from everyone at WVU Medicine – I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Martin, who also celebrated her 25th anniversary with WVU Medicine West Virginia University Hospitals this year, will continue to serve on the AHIMA board as its past-president and chair.