AHIMA’s Principles of Information Governance

Organizations across regulated industries are managing massive volumes of information that must be accessible while being secure and compliant.  While requirements vary by industry good information governance practices are universal and we can learn a lot by examining the principles proposed by reputable bodies. This blog delves into the importance of how adopting a set of principles even help organizations without retention requirements to achieve long-term success and sustainability. 

AHIMA's Principles of Information Governance 

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) emphasizes the ethical, effective use of health information to provide the highest quality of care by enabling decisions to be made using compliant data repositories.  

AHIMA has established eight basic principles to guide an organization's governance of informational assets. These principles encompass accountability, transparency, integrity, protection, compliance, availability, retention, and disposition. 

Accountability Principle in Organizational Records Management 

The principle of accountability is a crucial aspect of AHIMA information governance principles. Accountable information governance means that designated individuals within an organization ensure adherence to information governance policies. It involves clearly defining roles and responsibilities. Mechanisms like audits, performance metrics, and documentation can ensure transparency while tracking adherence. Together these can foster a culture of compliance within an organization.

Transparency Through Clear Documentation Processes 

Transparency is another vital principle because it emphasizes the importance of clear documentation processes. All actions related to data management should be traceable and verifiable with a proper audit trail. This helps foster trust among stakeholders while also aiding in regulatory compliance efforts. 

By ensuring that records are not only easy to access, but are also clearly defensible, organizations can reduce the instances of potential compliance violations. Proper transparency allows for organizations to perform early data assessment for legal inquiries quickly while safeguarding their reputation. 

Integrity as a Reflection of Actions or Decisions Taken 

The principle of integrity ensures that all decisions taken or actions performed reflect honesty and ethical conduct concerning information handling. Data must always remain accurate, complete, and reliable throughout its lifecycle, from creation until disposal. Maintaining information is often not a cheap undertaking. Just the opposite: it usually costs organizations considerable amounts of money, but an organization's policies around integrity may set it apart from competitors. 

Within information governance, the principle of integrity means that information is handled in an honest, ethical, and reliable manner. Integrity also showcases an organization’s commitment to ethical standards.  

Protection Against Loss, Alteration, Destruction, or Unauthorized Use/Access 

Data protection is another key component emphasized by AHIMA. It includes measures like encryption, backup strategies, firewalls, etc., which together safeguard sensitive informational assets against potential threats such as loss, alteration, destruction, unauthorized use/access, etc.  

Data protection is a cornerstone of an effective information governance strategy because by integrating protections, you not only ensure regulatory compliance, but also minimize risk. 

Compliance with Laws/Regulations Concerning Record Keeping Practices 

This refers to adhering to laws and regulations around generally accepted record keeping principles. It also means staying updated on any changes to these requirements over time. For instance, HIPAA and GDPR have specific rules about how health and personal data are managed, stored, shared, and deleted. Failing to comply with information governance and regulatory compliance regulations can lead to hefty fines and legal repercussions while making the custodian filtering process more difficult.

Compliance refers to adhering to laws and regulations around record keeping. These requirements are in line with generally accepted record-keeping principles. These change over time, so IT and Legal staff must regularly evaluate procedures to ensure they are sufficient. 

Data Availability 

Data Availability ensures that data records are readily accessible by the correct users when needed. However, it is important that data is retained securely and privately, not accessible to unauthorized users. 

It is important to have robust security and privacy measures in place to secure data even when not in use.  Data repositories are tempting targets for a cyber attacker or bad actor.

Data Retention 

Your organization's policies around data retention are also important. Legal, IT, and Management need to decide how long data should be kept. This is often a balance between regulatory requirements, geographic laws, and stakeholder preference.  

Organizations seeking to implement a data retention policy or get the benefits of data retention must establish clear guidelines to leverage their technology and align with their regulatory requirements. 

Data Disposition at End of Life 

AHIMA’s final principle of information governance covers what should happen to data when it has reached the end of its retention period, or data disposition. For data to be deleted in a compliant manner it must be completely destroyed with no residual traces of the information remaining. 

An effective information governance strategy includes planning for data disposition. Decision makers should make sure to pick a tool that has a strong emphasis on both data retention and expiration, like Expireon.  

Key Takeaway:   

AHIMA's Principles of Information Governance cover eight fundamental principles, including accountability, transparency, integrity, protection, compliance, availability, retention, and disposition.  

These principles ensure that designated individuals are held responsible for the ethical management of data while adhering to laws and regulations concerning record-keeping practices.  

 All of the steps in this set of principles can really help organizations build a robust information governance framework that protects an organization in the near term and, if harnessed correctly, can contribute to long-term success and sustainability. 

Transforming 'Information' into Valuable 'Knowledge' 

By following the principles of information governance, an organization can transform its data into information and further refine it into commercially valuable knowledge. 

Effective information governance involves more than simply collecting and storing information. Organizing and analyzing data to gain insights is a strategic approach necessary to achieve this goal. Data needs to be used to make informed business decisions. 

An eCommerce business can utilize customer data to gain understanding of user habits. Understanding the thought processes of customers is incredibly useful for formulating marketing plans and product expansion projects. Data is only as valuable as it is accurate, this is why adherence to AHIMA’s principles of information management is important even for businesses not in the healthcare sector. 

By implementing AHIMA’s principles, organizations can not only avoid legal repercussions but also create a culture where everyone understands the importance of and adheres to proper record-keeping practices. This leads to enhanced operational efficiency, reduced costs, and improved service delivery. 

Taking Information Governance Beyond Compliance 

Unfortunately, many organizations focus solely on meeting minimum regulatory requirements rather than seeing the bigger picture. To truly leverage the power of their informational assets, companies must shift their perspective from simply legal preservation and view information governance as an integral part of their overall strategy.  Organizational policies need to be defined, practiced, and adhered to, 

This mindset requires buy-in from top leadership, clear communication across all levels, and regular training sessions. By embedding AHIMA’s principles deep within an organization’s DNA, businesses can ensure they are spending their time and money capturing information that will not just be used to follow a ruleset, but that can help them plan for an uncertain future with valid information from the past. 

Conclusion 

AHIMA’s principles of Information Governance help organizations manage their informational assets securely, sufficiently, and ethically by providing a robust framework complete with the eight principles explored above: accountability, transparency, integrity, protection, compliance, availability, retention, and disposition. Together these principles provide the basis of a data governance strategy that goes beyond ensuring regulatory compliance and provides additional value to an organization. Adherence to these principles allows organizations to turn their raw data into powerful knowledge that enables informed decision-making. Proactive organizations are always seeking to uncover new growth opportunities and mitigate risk. This is the rare opportunity to do this using an existing asset that you create in-house.