Rebecca Reynolds, EdD, RHIA, CHPS, chair and professor of the Department of Health Informatics and Information Management and privacy coordinator in the College of Health Professions at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), has been elected to serve on the Commission on Certification for Health Informatics and Information Management (CCHIIM), beginning in 2018. The commission is a part of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Dr. Reynolds will serve for three years.
The commission is dedicated to assuring the competency of professionals practicing health informatics and information management (HIIM). CCHIIM serves the public by establishing, implementing, and enforcing standards and procedures for certification and recertification of HIIM professionals. The commission also provides strategic oversight of all AHIMA certification programs. This standing commission of AHIMA is empowered with the sole and independent authority in all matters pertaining to both the initial certification, ongoing recertification and certification maintenance of HIIM professionals.
Commissioners represent a broad spectrum of health informatics and information management professionals, and must be AHIMA-certified and meet certification, work experience, and leadership requirements in order to serve on the commission.
Dr. Reynolds has worked in the Memphis Medical District for the past 24 years, working previously at UT-Bowld Hospital and UT Medical Group. She has been with UTHSC since 2002 and is a Fellow of AHIMA.
Dr. Reynolds has taught HIIM students in health care policy, health information technology and systems as well as legal issues while providing HIPAA training and interprofessional seminars for the medical, pharmacy, nursing and health professions students on the UTHSC campus and the campus of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She has taught HIPAA seminars throughout the state and has spoken at the Tennessee Bar Association’s Health Law Forum, the Tennessee Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and the National Conference for Nurse Practitioners. She is co-editor and chapter author of the AHIMA publication Fundamentals of Law for Health Informatics and Information Management. During her tenure as chair, the UTHSC HIIM program has moved from a campus presence to an online offering. In 2016, a doctoral concentration in health informatics and information management was approved as part of the Health Policy and Outcomes Research program in the College of Graduate Health Sciences at UTHSC.
Dr. Reynolds is active in AHIMA, serving as a former Tennessee delegate to the AHIMA House of Delegates, as a member of the AHIMA Nominating Committee and on the AHIMA Foundation Committee on Excellence in Education Committee. She is also past president of the Tennessee Health Information Management Association (THIMA). Reynolds received the Outstanding New Professional Award from THIMA in 1995 and the THIMA Distinguished Member Award in 2004. In 2010, she was a co-recipient of the AHIMA Triumph Legacy Award.