Press Releases

PHNS' Ikerd Becomes Member of AHIMA's ACE

DALLAS, TX - April 2, 2008 - PHNS Inc. (PHNS) announced that PHNS' Brenda Ikerd, Senior Vice President for HIM Services, has become a member of ACE, which is the Action Community for e-HIMŽ Excellence of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). AHIMA, through its electronic health information management (e-HIM) initiative, is committed to accelerating the migration to a fully electronic health information practice. AHIMA believes that effective health information management (HIM) can improve patient safety and the quality of care.

ACE members lead and influence e-HIM, making a difference in their organizations, communities, states and at the national level. ACE members:

  • Participate in regional health information exchange activities
  • Lead data quality improvement efforts in their organizations
  • Speak at state or national HIM conferences
  • Inform and influence health IT discussions in their organizations
  • Contribute to the design of next-generation HIM applications
  • Collaborate in advancing HIM practice in their communities
  • Mentor students and new professionals, launching them into great careers

The ACE Challenge identifies, prepares, engages, mentors and recognizes those working to transform HIM practice. ACE members join the challenge through recommendation or self-nomination. They match their skills and interests with volunteer and career-building opportunities. ACE preparation includes self-assessment and educational offerings. Members form the preferred pool of experts and network of peers transforming HIM through mentoring, writing, speaking, and testifying for AHIMA and its 52 Component State Associations. ACE members attain personal recognition and will be acknowledged by peers, employers and the healthcare industry.

Ms. Ikerd has been a HIM professional for over 25 years and has been a HIM director for PHNS for over seven years.

About PHNS: PHNS provides information technology (IT) services for hospitals, other healthcare providers and businesses. PHNS' IT services include application hosting, co-location and managed services; electronic off-site data back-up and data vaulting; business continuity solutions; disaster recovery services; and systems integration services. PHNS also provides comprehensive business process solutions for hospitals including health information management (including medical record management and storage, transcription, coding, release of information and electronic medical record services), advisory and receivables management services. PHNS creates business-healthy hospitals by improving operations, enhancing technology and increasing cash on hand, which allows hospitals to focus on their core competency--patient care. PHNS has approximately 900 customers, including approximately 400 hospital IT and business process customers and approximately 500 IT customers. PHNS is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. See www.phns.com for additional information about PHNS.