Rita Finnegan, who was born on her family’s grain farm in Iowa during the Depression and rose to national prominence in the field of health information management, developing the baccalaureate program in medical records administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago along the way, died Tuesday, June 27, in her Lakeview condominium.
Ms. Finnegan, 67, died of a lung disease, said her youngest sister, Mary Ann Finnegan.
Ms. Finnegan started managing medical records in the early 1950s after taking a clerical job at the Greene County Hospital in her hometown of Jefferson, Iowa. After getting a certificate in medical record administration in 1956 from the College of St. Mary in Omaha, and working at a Des Moines hospital, Ms. Finnegan moved to Chicago in 1958. She was director of the medical records department at the University of Illinois Hospitals, and then developed the university’s baccalaureate program in medical record administration, which she directed from 1965 to 1982.
“She had very high expectations for all of her students,” said Margret Amatayakul, one of Finnegan’s former students. “We worked very hard to fulfill her expectations and to represent her well.”
Ms. Finnegan was a stickler for accuracy in coding records, stressing its importance not only to her students, but also to industry professionals and politicians, when she served as executive director of the American Health Information Management Association from 1982 to 1991. Ms. Finnegan established the association’s Washington, D.C., office and spoke out early on issues of patient privacy in medical records, said Claire Dixon-Lee, president of MC Strategies, a health-care consulting and training company for which Ms. Finnegan worked as a consultant after leaving the AHIMA.
Ms. Finnegan, who worked long hours, was known for treating her staff and students to cookies, particularly chocolate chip. She also was a traveler. She and her sister Mary Ann visited every continent, except for Antarctica.
Ms. Finnegan held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University.
In 1991, the University of Illinois Foundation created the Rita Finnegan Academic Achievement Award, presented to a graduating senior in health information management.
Ms. Finnegan also is survived by two other sisters, Joan Pierret and Jean DeBoest. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Blake-Lamb Funeral Home, 1035 N. Dearborn St. Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Friday at Old St. Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams St. Burial will be Saturday in Jefferson, Iowa.
