Marshall S. Yablon, co-founder and chairman of Diversified Health Resources, Inc., was elected new Chairman of the Board of Council for Jewish Elderly (CJE) at the agency’s 33rd Annual Meeting.

Yablon has more than 25 years of experience in hospital administration, strategic planning and marketing, mergers and acquisitions, and financial planning for health care institutions. He has served as a preceptor of University of Chicago and Northwestern University masters degree programs in Hospital Administration. He is a member of several health care organizations, including the American Hospital Association and the Illinois Hospital Association.

Yablon is a founder and past president of the Florence G. Heller Jewish Community Center, a former president of the Bernard Horwich Jewish Community Center and former vice president of the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago. He is a member of Anshe Emet Synagogue.

He has served on the CJE Board since 2001 and begins a two-year term as Chairman. Yablon has been active on several committees – as chair of the Capital Improvements/Real Estate Committee, as a member of the Executive, Governmental Affairs, Resource Management/Finance and Nominating committees and, most recently, the Strategic Planning Committee and several task teams.

Yablon received his B.A. from New York University and an M.B.A. in health care from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Nora Hansen, M.D., a national leader in the field of breast cancer research and treatment, has been appointed the new director of the Lynn Sage Comprehensive Breast Center of Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Dr. Hansen, who will also be an associate professor of surgery at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, will have a crucial role in the development and growth of the center, increasing the clinical research program, and transitioning the center into Northwestern Memorial’s new Prentice Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Hansen's primary clinical focus is the management of both benign and malignant breast disease. She will be active in direct patient care, research and administration, with the goal of making the patient experience at the Lynn Sage Center as smooth as possible. She spent the last eight years at the John Wayne Cancer Institute in California, where she was associate director of the Joyce Eisenberg Keefer Breast Center.

Dr. Hansen received her medical degree from New York Medical College in Valhalla, New York, and went on to the University of Chicago, where she completed a general surgical residency program and a fellowship in surgical oncology. After completion of her training, Dr. Hansen spent a year on staff at Northwestern in the Department of Surgery before moving on to the John Wayne Cancer Institute.

The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) recently announced its support for a bill introduced by Congresswoman Nancy Johnson (R-CT) that provides for the coordination and support, data standards, and privacy measures necessary for the adoption of a standard electronic health record (EHR) and a nationwide health information network (NHIN).

"We are very pleased to see this pointed and practical legislation introduced by Chairman Johnson," stated Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, AHIMA CEO. "AHIMA has been working for years to see many of the items included in this bill through to adoption and we intend to advocate with our members and industry partners to ensure that Congress understands, supports and passes this legislation."

Among the items addressed in HR 4157, The Health Information Technology Promotion Act of 2005 (HITPA), is an upgrade to our nation's 30-year old diagnostic and procedure classification system. The bill calls for the adoption and implementation of ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS as replacements for the obsolete ICD-9-CM in the US by October 1, 2009. If passed, the HITPA will enable the use of diagnostic and procedure codes that accurately reflect 21st century medicine for clinical, public health, quality, and reimbursement decisions.