The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Health Records Officers Registration Board of Nigeria (HRORBN), Alhaji Babagana Mustapha, has reaffirmed the Board’s commitment to strengthening professional standards, enhancing career progression, and promoting stakeholder engagement within the Health Information Management (HIM) profession.

Speaking during an interactive session with members of the Association of Health Records and Information Management Professionals of Nigeria (AHRIMPN), Lagos State Chapter, at the HRORBN South-West Zonal Office, Lagos, the Registrar addressed key concerns affecting practitioners and the future of the profession.

The engagement provided a platform for open dialogue between the Board and HIM professionals on issues relating to cadre conversion, professional examinations, clinical coding, workforce development, and professional regulation.

In her welcome address, the Zonal Coordinator and Deputy Director of the South-West Zonal Office, Mrs. Champion Afolayan, described the meeting as a demonstration of the Board’s commitment to participatory regulation and continuous stakeholder consultation.

Addressing participants, Alhaji Babagana commended Lagos-based HIM professionals for their dedication and contributions to healthcare delivery. He emphasized that the profession is structured into four cadres—Assistant, Technician, Technologist, and Officer—with the Officer cadre remaining the highest professional and leadership level.

He clarified that the qualifying examination for Technologists seeking conversion to the Officer cadre is designed to assess competence and readiness for greater responsibilities rather than serve as a punitive measure.

The Registrar further announced that HIM Technologists who obtained Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management (B.Sc. HIM/BHIM) qualifications before October 2025 are exempted from the professional qualifying examination.

According to him, such practitioners are only required to submit evidence of their qualifications for processing and issuance of Officer licensure.

He explained that graduates who obtained their degrees after October 2025 would be required to undergo indexing and sit for the professional qualifying examination before being licensed as Officers.

On workforce development, Alhaji Babagana disclosed that the Board is reviewing the Professional Diploma Programme with a view to reducing its duration and making it more responsive to current workforce needs. He noted that the revised programme would create a structured pathway for the training, certification, and licensing of Health Information Management Assistants, thereby addressing the challenge of unqualified personnel in health facilities.

Responding to concerns raised by military personnel, the Registrar stated that the Board has maintained consistent engagement with military institutions through their headquarters in Abuja and assured participants that such collaboration would be further strengthened.

Speaking on clinical coding, he reiterated that Health Information Management practice remains globally standardized through the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) framework. He encouraged healthcare institutions to embrace the adoption of ICD-11, noting that the Board recently organized capacity-building programmes to support facilities at various stages of implementation.

The Registrar expressed appreciation to AHRIMPN Lagos State Chapter, heads of HIM departments, and military representatives for their active participation and constructive contributions during the session. He also thanked AHRIMPN Lagos State Chapter, the School of Health Information Management, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), and the HIM Department of LUTH for the awards and gifts presented to him in recognition of his leadership.

Alhaji Babagana reiterated HRORBN’s unwavering commitment to promoting professional excellence, unity, and the welfare of Health Information Management practitioners across the country.

The Registrar was accompanied on the two-day working visit by members of the Board’s top management, including Deputy Director Muhammed Shettima, Head of Human Resource Management, Deputy Director Muhammed Musa Ose, Head of Procurement and Head of Examination and Records, Deputy Director VincentUba Tobechukwu.