BCAQHC - BC Association for Quality in Health Care The purpose of the British Columbia Association for Quality in Health Care is to promote quality improvement in health care through leadership, education and collaboration.

CHA - Canadian Health Care Associaton The Canadian Health Care Association(CHA) is the federation of provincial and territorial hospital and health organizations across Canada. CHA's mission is to improve the delivery of health services in Canada through policy development, advocacy and leadership. CHA's distance learning programs, conferences and publishing services contribute to this national leadership.

CHIMA - Canadian Health Information Management Associaton The Canadian Health Information Management Association and the Canadian College of Health Record Administrators operate jointly, under the acronym CHIMA, to provide a forum for health record professionals to share their expertise and to deal with the educational standards and professional certification of the health record professional.

CIHI - Canadian Institute for Health Information CIHI is a federally chartered but independent, not-for-profit organization. It brings programs, functions and activities from The Hospital Medical Records Institute (HMRI), The MIS Group, Health Canada (Health Information Division) and Statistics Canada (Health Statistics Division) together under one roof.

CMA - Canadian Medical Association The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is the national voice of Canadian physicians. Founded in 1867, CMA's mission is to provide leadership for physicians and to promote the highest standard of health and health care for Canadians.

Douglas College Health Information Services Program The Health Information Services Program is the sole program in British Columbia preparing individuals to manage health information in a variety of settings in the health care industry.

HIMAA - Health Information Management Association of Alberta AHRA maintains and elevates the standards of health records in all health-related facilities as well as the educational standards of health record professionals. AHRA also promotes the use of the health record in evaluating and improving the quality of patient care.

Joint commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Since 1951, the Joint Commission has developed state-of-the-art, professionally based standards and evaluated the compliance of health care organizations against these benchmarks.

NLHRA - Newfoundland and Labrador Health Record Association The NLHRA is a non-profit professional organization comprised of health information professionals who are trained in the collection and management of health information.

NSHRA - Nova Scotia Health Record Association The NSHRA is a non-profit professional organization comprised of health information professionals who are trained in the collection and management of health information.

OHIMA - Ontario Health Information Management Association The OHIMA is a non-profit professional organization comprised of health information professionals who are trained in the collection and management of health information.

SHIMA - Saskatchewan Health Information Managememt Association The SHIMA is a non-profit professional organization comprised of health information professionals who are trained in the collection and management of health information.

WHO - World Health Organization A specialized agency of the United Nations with 191 Member States, WHO promotes technical cooperation for health among nations, carries out programmes to control and eradicate disease and strives to improve the quality of human life.