AHIMA names Alan Dowling next CEO

Alan Dowling will succeed Linda Kloss next month as CEO of the American Health Information Management Association, the Chicago-based group announced.

Dowling, now an adjunct professor of information systems at Case Western Reserve University, will take over Jan. 13. Kloss, who has headed AHIMA since 1995, announced in July she intended to retire by March next year.

Dowling has a doctorate in management information systems and healthcare management from MIT; a master's degree in engineering management and health systems engineering from Northeastern University; a master's degree in computer science from the University of Dayton; and an bachelor's degree in physics from the College of the Holy Cross, according to a biography posted on the Web site of Noblis, formerly Mitretek.

Dowling was executive director of Mitretek Healthcare from 2004 through 2008. Previously, Dowling was a partner in the health consulting practice at Ernst & Young from 1986 to 2000.

AHIMA board President Vera Rulon said Dowling “has a deep understanding of the complexity of issues facing our association, our members and our industry, as a whole. His experience in the areas of health information and informatics, as well as healthcare delivery systems, gives him keen insights into what will be vital to the next decade of health information management and technology,” according to a written statement.

Dowling said in the statement, “I cannot imagine a more electrifying place to be right now than in the midst of the nation's actions to harness and manage health information and transform healthcare effectiveness.”