Virginia Health Information Management Association
Search: Search: Search:
An Affiliate of the American Health Information Management Association

The Community of Practice (CoP) is a wonderful resource available to all AHIMA members. It is an "online member interaction tool designed with member's needs in mind: up-to-date industry news, links to helpful resources, and, most importantly, solutions and ideas from peers. It's much more than discussion boards, because there are many tools integrated into this site to help members connect with members."*

The CoP is not a replacement for the AHIMA site. It is more focused on the member's needs. The main site is still intended to be a resource for those who are not members of AHIMA.

An important thing to keep in mind is that the CoP is no additional cost for the AHIMA members. It is included in your membership dues. So, therefore, the cost is the same whether you decide to join one community or 20!

The CoP, in general, is a great resource. The main AHIMA community tells the members what is going on in the national level. The Virginia CoP provides its members with the latest news dealing with the HIM professionals in Virginia.

You are probably asking yourself now, why haven't I joined the Communities of Practice? Well, let us tell you just how easy it is to join!

The link for the CoP is http://cop.ahima.org/Community/Topics/tabid/66/community/117/Default.aspx.

Instructions for Joining COP:

» Log into the AHIMA website

» Select the Communities of Practice link

» In the My Communities dropdown box, select Virginia

» If you are not a member of the Virginia CoP, select Search for Communities on the top toolbar and select Virginia. Once you are in the Virginia CoP, click on the Join button

Every time you log into the CoP you will have your main personal page. This is where you will be able to view the communities that you have joined. You can also see when the community was last updated. There are several areas included in each community. They are FAQs, News, Links, Body of Knowledge, Resources, and Discussions.

As a member you are able to submit information to the communities that will then have to be approved by the facilitator of the community. This is what allows you, as members, to access the most up-to-date information.

Some of the information included on the Virginia CoP is Board information and links to the VHIMA website. Also, you can post a discussion thread and obtain feedback from your fellow CoP members.

We hope that you will all check out the AHIMA & VHIMA CoPs soon and begin to use your AHIMA benefits to their fullest!

*Direct quote from the AHIMA website.