CHICAGO – September 7, 2021 – The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) announced today that it has awarded the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (NIH CC) its 2021 Grace Award. The award, which is named for AHIMA’s founder, Grace Whiting Myers, honors organizations that demonstrate excellence in health information management. AHIMA will present NIH CC with this honor at the AHIMA21 Virtual Conference on September 22.

More than 90 years ago, AHIMA’s founder, Grace Whiting Myers, acted on a sincere conviction to improve the quality of the nation’s health records by founding the association. AHIMA continues the annual recognition of the Grace Award to honor healthcare delivery organizations for their innovative and novel approaches to using health information to deliver high-quality care to patients.

“The National Institutes of Health Clinical Center is a deserving recipient of the 2021 Grace Award,” said AHIMA CEO Wylecia Wiggs Harris, PhD, CAE. “Their health information team has fostered a culture of innovation, especially around the pivotal issues of social determinants of health data and health disparities. It’s been an honor to learn more about NIH CC.”

The Grace Award Committee noted a number of impressive accomplishments from NIH CC, including its innovative strides in recent years to use social determinants of health data (SDOH); its health information team ensures SDOH codes are captured to serve data requests. Because of their efforts, NIH CC saw a significant increase in SDOH codes being captured in 2021 compared to the previous five-year average.

“The Clinical Center leadership is immensely proud of the recognition by AHIMA in this year’s Grace Award,” said James K. Gilman, MD, CEO of NIH CC. “The Clinical Center’s Health Information Management Department is a highly motivated, high performing group that are extremely well-led. Collectively they have transformed the way health information is managed on behalf of the patients who participate in clinical research protocols here at the NIH Clinical Center.”

Grace Award Committee Chair Diana Flood, MS, RHIA, CMHP, said the focus on SDOH is especially important for a government entity like the NIH that serves all Americans. Flood also said the health information team is involved in a new project that is establishing measurement protocols to help inform effective interventions that can reduce health disparities.

“It’s an honor to award the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center with the 2021 Grace Award for their visionary advances in both health information management and public health initiatives,” Flood said. “Their innovation and passion for services that bundle high quality data and superior care for every life they serve, while simultaneously developing and nurturing leaders within the organization, sets the stage for a bright future each person who walks through their doors.”

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About AHIMA
AHIMA is a global nonprofit association of health information (HI) professionals. AHIMA represents professionals who work with health data for more than one billion patient visits each year. AHIMA’s mission of empowering people to impact health drives our members and credentialed HI professionals to ensure that health information is accurate, complete, and available to patients and providers. Our leaders work at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and business, and are found in data integrity and information privacy job functions worldwide.