OHIMA 2020 Annual Meeting & Trade Show - Coronavirus Update
Updated on 3/10 at 8:00 PM

**The in-person portion of the OHIMA 2020 Annual Meeting & Trade Show has been cancelled.** We are offering educational sessions virtually.

The OHIMA20 Virtual Conference will consist of recorded presentations that you can watch at your convenience within the next few months.  Access instructions will be sent to registered attendees by Monday, March 23rd. (If you registered for the in-person Annual Meeting, then you are automatically registered for the Virtual Conference.)

Spread the word. Over the last 2 weeks - OHIMA leadership has discussed the coronavirus situation at-length and repeatedly.  The situation changes hour by hour which has made it impossible to accurately assess risk.  Over the last 24 hours, several things have happened which has brought us to the difficult decision to cancel the in-person portion of our conference: 

  • There are currently confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our state
  • A state of emergency has been declared by Governor DeWine
  • More and more employers are prohibiting travel
  • Several colleges have suspended in-person classes through the end of the month.

Because of our conference size, there are only two venues in Columbus large enough to host an OHIMA Annual Meeting & Trade Show (Hilton Easton and Convention Center); both venues book events 3-5 years in advance.  This fact, coupled with limited exhibitor and speaker availability, it is impossible to simply postpone or reschedule the OHIMA 2020 Annual Meeting & Trade Show. Since we are unable to postpone or reschedule – we are offering the educational content of the OHIMA Annual Meeting in a virtual format!  Within the next few weeks (please be patient with us– we only have 1 full-time employee at OHIMA) – you will receive access to the educational content of the 2020 Annual Meeting.  This will include recordings of the General Session content – as well as most of the breakout sessions – to watch at your convenience in the safety, coronavirus-free environment of your work or home.  This online access will have **more** than the 15 educational AHIMA & AAPC CEUs that your registration fee covered.  

We hope that you will understand our predicament and reasoning behind making our conference virtual in lieu of registration refunds.  Because we must cancel so close to the meeting date, we must still pay for all the expenses surrounding the conference – and if we were to refund all the attendee registrations, in addition to exhibitor booth fees, and pay for those expenses – our small association may no longer exist due to the financial impact.  

**If you have a hotel room booked with the Hilton, please make sure you cancel your reservation.**

The health of our attendees, exhibitors, speakers and staff is a top priority.  We apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause.  Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this very unique situation.  

**Exhibitors and Sponsors – please watch for a separate communication from us in the coming several weeks.**