Christine Williams, RHIA, has been in the HIM profession since 2005 and is currently the Document Integrity Manager for UW Health in Madison, WI. In this role, she serves as a multi-state leader for the Illinois and Wisconsin UW Health hospitals in the expertise of documentation completion, documentation solutions and oversight of compliance auditing the record of care. She has made an investment in the HIM profession through her volunteerism within Wisconsin Health Information Management Association (WHIMA) serving as President, Director, Delegate, Nominating Committee Member and Team Leader over her 12 year membership. She also stepped in as interim Executive Director for WHIMA during a time of retirement and transition for the organization.
Brenda K. Beckham, RHIA
Executive Director, HIM
Baptist Health Kentucky
Louisville, KY
Brenda K. Beckham, RHIA, is executive director of HIM at Baptist Health in Louisville, Kentucky. She began her career as a file clerk in the “medical records” department and has performed every job role within (HIM). The last ten years have consisted of standardizing the HIM and coding departments in a total of eight facilities and over 300 physician practices, which includes the implementation of a system wide EMR. With Beckham’s oversight, her team is currently creating an ambulatory CDI department. Beckham has served as president and treasurer of the KHIMA where she was presented with the Distinguished Member Award. She has presented locally and nationally on topics covering CDI, change management, HIM operations and IT collaboration.
Theresa (Terri) Eichelmann, MBA, RHIA
Director, Coding and HIM Technology
BJC Healthcare
St. Louis, MO
Terri Eichelmann, MBA, RHIA has over 30 years of experience as a leader in health information management. She is currently a Director at BJC HealthCare in Saint Louis, MO. Terri has responsibility for Coding and HIM Application Support. She has held HIM leadership roles in academic, community and rural hospitals. Eichelmann is adjunct faculty in the Health Information Management program at Saint Louis University. She sits on the Advisory Boards for the HIM program at Saint Louis University and HIT program at St. Charles Community College. She has serves as a volunteer on the AHIMA Triumph Awards Committee. She has served as collaborator on articles, served on the Southern Illinois HIM Association Planning Committee, and been a speaker at various events.
John P. Hoyt, FACHE, FHIMSS
Board Advisor
Executive Vice President Emeritus
HIMSS
Chicago, IL
John P. Hoyt was Executive Vice President Emeritus, HIMSS Analytics at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, the largest U.S. not-for-profit healthcare caused-based organization focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology. While a full time Executive Vice President, Mr. Hoyt was responsible for providing executive leadership and direction to HIMSS Analytics worldwide where he also provided direction for all Stage 6 and Stage 7 validations and derivative research. Now as consultant to HIMSS Analytics, Mr. Hoyt continues to conduct Stage 6 and Stage 7 validations, consulting engagements globally pertaining to HIMSS Analytics maturity models and is the principle architect and interpreter of the revised acute care EMRAM standards which were announced at HIMSS 2016 in Las Vegas for use in 2018.
Throughout his healthcare career, Hoyt has been instrumental in defining business and IT strategy as well as selecting, implementing and integrating mission-critical healthcare information systems across the enterprise. Before joining HIMSS, Hoyt served as a hospital Chief Operating Officer and twice as a Chief Information Officer with various healthcare organizations accumulating in over 22 years of hospital executive committee leadership experience. Mr. Hoyt served in consultancy practices, including: IBM Healthlink Services and First Data Health Systems Group.
Hoyt holds a BSBA in Economics from Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, and an MHA from St. Louis University in Missouri. He is a HIMSS Fellow and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE). He joins the Board in a volunteer, non-voting role as advisor.
Seth Jeremy Katz, MPH, RHIA, FAHIMA
Associate Chief Information Officer
Truman Medical Center
Kansas City, MO
Seth Jeremy Katz is the Associate Chief Information Officer at Truman Medical Centers. During more than twelve years at Truman, Seth has held a number of roles supporting the departments of Health Information Management, the Project Management Office, IT Training and Nursing Informatics. He also works on a variety of strategic projects such as referral management and patient engagement, with a current focus on building up Truman’s Innovation Center and their telehealth presence. Under his leadership, the Truman HIM department has been awarded both the 2013 Grace Award and a 2017 Innovation Award. Outside of Truman, Seth is a consulting faculty member for the HIM program at the University of Kansas Medical Center.
Godwin I. Okafor, MSHI, RHIA, FAC-P/PM
Program Manager
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
Washington, D.C.
Godwin I. Okafor is program manager at US. Dept. of Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC and an adjunct professor in Maryland. He has served in a variety of roles at the state and national levels. He has served on the AHIMA Annual Convention Program Committee, AHIMA HoD Task Force and the HIE Practice Council. Okafor has also served as the director of the MdHIMA and president-elect. He serves on an advisory committee for an academic program to ensure program curricula consistently and effectively meet industry needs. Okafor has extensive volunteer experience that demonstrates his commitment in the HIM profession. He is a model professional for representing AHIMA, which is evident by his dedication to service to his profession.
Kim D. Theodos, JD, MS, RHIA
Assistant Professor of Health Studies
University of Louisiana Monroe
Monroe, LA
Kim D. Theodos is an assistant professor of Health Studies at the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM). At ULM she teaches health informatics, healthcare leadership and healthcare administration. Previously, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in the HIIM program at Louisiana Tech University. She has served at the state and national level in various capacities including LHIMA (Louisiana) president, treasurer and secretary, annual convention chair and education strategy manager. Theodos was a member of the AHIMA Annual Convention Program Committee for four years, serving as chair in 2015. With numerous presentations at meetings, publications and service, Theodos has been a consistent contributor to AHIMA’s HIM Body of Knowledge.
Melinda A. Wilkins, PhD, RHIA, FAHIMA
Professor and Director of Health Information Management
Arkansas Tech University
Russellville, AR
Melinda A. Wilkins serves as professor/program director of the graduate program in health informatics and undergraduate program in HIM at Arkansas Tech University. She has additionally worked in an outpatient and inpatient setting as well as in consulting. Wilkins is a recent recipient of the AHIMA Leadership Triumph Award and has served in many volunteer roles at both the national and state level. Most recently she has served as the chair of the Board for CAHIIM as well as a consultant for Arkansas’s health information exchange efforts.
Jami Woebkenberg, MHIM, RHIA, CPHI, FAHIMA
Sr. Director, HIMS Operations
Banner Health
Sun City West, AZ
Jami Woebkenberg, MHIM, RHIA, CPHI, FAHIMA, is Sr. Director of HIM Operations at Banner Health in Phoenix, Arizona. She served on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Health Information Management Association in various volunteer capacities, including 2 terms as President and a term as Director. Jami recently co-chaired AHIMA’s EHR Documentation Integrity Practice Council and was a member of the LGBT Workgroup. She previously served as the co-lead for the Informatics Practice Council and was a member of the Information Governance Practice Council. She is a member of the Advisory Council for the HIM program at Phoenix College. Jami has contributed to articles, toolkits and Practice Briefs as well as service on workgroups through AHIMA.