CHIA Health Information Advocacy

Improved health through trusted information is the vision adopted by CHIA to guide the work of the association of health information professionals in California. In furtherance of this vision and the association’s mission to develop health information professionals and advocate for practice excellence, CHIA has identified as a strategic goal, advocating for state policies governing information across the information lifecycle.

The CHIA Legislative and Advocacy Committee plays a key role in CHIA's advocacy initiatives. The committee is charged with monitoring and informing CHIA members of pertinent legislation and regulations in California. The committee actively tracks health information related bills proposed by the California legislature and assesses the potential impact of new legislation and regulations on the health information industry's practices. The committee consults with other professional healthcare associations on issues of mutual interest. The committee, in coordination with the Executive Office and the Board of Directors, provides input and other feedback to legislators and regulators regarding bills and regulations of high importance to the management of health information as they are proposed.

AHIMA Health Information Advocacy

CHIA's commitment to advocating for health information policies in California compliments advocacy initiatives on health information issues and legislation at the national level by AHIMA. CHIA recommends that members familiarize themselves with AHIMA advocacy priorities and to support them when appropriate.

AHIMA’s educational videos assists members in developing the skills needed to advocate for the health information profession. Led by members of AHIMA’s policy and government affairs team, these videos offer an opportunity to learn more about why advocacy matters, further understand the regulatory process, learn about conducting meetings with elected officials and leveraging social media for advocacy, and receive suggestions for becoming involved in advocacy at AHIMA.

View AHIMA’s educational videos

The AHIMA advocacy website identifies the association's current advocacy priorities, provides links to information on key issues such as patient identification and privacy and security, invites members to take action on selected bills currently before Congress supported by AHIMA, provides links to additional AHIMA and U.S. Government advocacy resources, and includes a Latest Advocacy News feature. Members can subscribe on the site to receive advocacy updates from AHIMA.

Visit AHIMA advocacy website

California Bill Watch List

Previous Legislative Session

Click here to view CHIA's Bill Watch List from 2023-2024.
Click here to view CHIA's Bill Watch List from 2021-2022.

California Legislative Information

The California Legislature maintains an easy to navigate website for identifying the current status and other information on all bills currently under consideration by the legislature.

Bill Information

Contacting Your State Representatives

CHIA members are encouraged to utilize the CHIA California Watch List to familiarize themselves with health information related bills under consideration by the legislature and to contact their Assembly Member and Senator when specific bills are worthy of support (or opposition). Corresponding with a legislator can be particularly impactful when real world examples are shared that illustrate the potential impact a specific piece of legislation could have if passed. In the internet age communicating with your representatives is a click away. Your California Assembly Member and/or Senator can be found at the websites below and you can send a message to them directly from the site.

Visit CA State Assembly
Visit CA State Senate

Resources

CA Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI formerly OSHPD)
CA Department of Health Care Services (DHCS)
CA Office of Health Information Integrity (CALOHI)
CA Privacy Protection Agency