AHDI Members Cast Powerful Vote for Change

AHDI voting members approved bylaws that reflect an association reshaping plan developed and approved by the AHDI House of Delegates at its 2010 Annual Meeting. After nearly two years of assessment, strategic planning, town hall listening sessions, and negotiations, the membership approved essential bylaws that create a National Leadership Board, puts stringent voting requirements into the bylaws, and clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of the National Leadership Board and membership.

The membership vote required a minimum of 500 votes with a two-thirds majority to pass the bylaws changes. Voter turnout was 18.55% of the eligible voting membership. This is significant considering that AHDI historically receives only 6% to 9% of voters for national elections. With 66.67% affirmative votes needed to pass, the following was recorded:

• Bylaws Revision 1 - 89.25%
• Bylaws Revision 2 - 75.72%
• Bylaws Revision 3 - 90.47%

Last August, the House of Delegates created a Strategic Initiatives workgroup to identify and develop key organization—wide priorities that will assist local, state, and regional components in becoming more externally visible and better aligned across the association. Tool kits, now outlined in the Strategic Initiatives Blue Prints, will assist component leaders in becoming successful and generate more awareness of the contributions documentation professionals make to the healthcare delivery system, especially at a time when this sector is undergoing major transformation. In addition to the Strategic Initiatives workgroup, a Bylaws workgroup prepared the bylaws with legal counsel provided by Downey Brand LLP. In the coming months, the House of Delegates will refine the bylaws based on the membership vote and update the policies and procedures to ensure alignment with the new structure.

The House of Delegates will review the voting results and begin plans for the next phase of implementing the reshaping plan at its March 9 online meeting. There will be a series of leadership meetings to discuss the implementation roll out with local, state, regional, and online components. Information will be announced in the upcoming weeks. We encourage you to reach out to the House of Delegates and Board of Directors if you have questions regarding the vote.