The American Health Information Management Association named Diann H. Smith as president and chair of its 2018 board of directors, effective Jan. 1.
Ms. Smith, who will serve a one-year term, is vice president of health information management services and clinical documentation improvement at Texas Health Resources in Arlington, which includes 29 hospital locations.
A fellow of AHIMA, Ms. Smith has served as chair of the AHIMA Professional Ethics Committee, a director on the AHIMA board as well as president of the Texas Health Information Management Association. She has won numerous local and national awards, including the AHIMA Triumph Leadership Award.
AHIMA's board also selected Valerie J. Watzlaf, PhD, an associate professor in the department of health information management at the University of Pittsburgh, as president and chair-elect and Catherine Porto, executive director of health information at the University of New Mexico Hospitals in Albuquerque, as speaker of the house.
AHIMA, a nonprofit association, represents more than 103,000 health information management professionals.