Overview
About the Program
Two-year (5 semesters) full-time degree schedule; mixture of core health information technology courses, medical, communications, and information technology; required professional practice experience provides professional development in the modern workplace; program can be completed on a part-time basis. This degree program is online.
Quality information is essential to all aspects of today's healthcare system. Health Information Management (HIM) is the body of knowledge and practice that ensures the availability of health information to facilitate real-time healthcare delivery and critical health-related decision making for multiple purposes across diverse organizations, settings, and disciplines. HIM professionals play a critical role in maintaining, collecting and analyzing the data that doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers rely on to deliver quality healthcare. They are experts in managing patient health information and medical records, administering computer information systems and coding the diagnosis and procedures for healthcare services provided to patients and more. Health information management (HIM) professionals work in 40 different settings under 125 different job titles. They often serve in bridge roles, connecting clinical, operational, and administrative functions.
Learning Outcomes
- Review health records and verify completeness, accuracy, and appropriateness of data and data sources according to requirements and standards.
- Code, classify, and index diagnoses and procedures for the purpose of reimbursement, standardization, retrieval and statistical analysis.
- Actively apply the reimbursement policies and procedures in the use of clinical data, issues and systems and perform data quality reviews to validate code assignments as well as the completion of the UB-04 and CMS-1500.
- Collect, compute, analyze, interpret, and present statistical data related to healthcare services, including quality management, utilization management, risk management, medical research, disease registries, clinical indices.
- Apply legal principles, policies, regulations and standards for the control, use, and dissemination of healthcare information.
- Use software applications and technology in the completion of Health Information Management processes.
- Apply principles of supervision and leadership and the tools used to effectively manage human, financial, and physical resources.
- Recognize and problem solve situations within the healthcare environment.
- Participate in the planning, design, selection, implementation, integration, testing, evaluation, and support for EHRs.
- Use appropriate electronic or imaging technology for data/record storage.
- Query and generate reports to facilitate information retrieval using appropriate software.
Application Requirements – Limited Enrollment
- MTC Application for Admission and nonrefundable application fee.
- Final high school transcript (or GED results) and college transcripts (if applicable).
- A minimum 2.5 accumulative grade point average (GPA) in high school or college-level courses (whichever is most recent).
- Completed Health Information Technology application (link to apply provided by first-year advising).
If required, College Foundation courses are available to help you meet any specialized program admission requirements. A complete listing of all requirements and policies/procedures for the program is available in the Health Information Technology Handbook.
Certification
Marion Technical College’s (MTC) Health Information Technology program is designed to prepare students for this ever-changing and constantly growing field. Within the program, students will cover a wide range of topics including health information management, medical terminology, the electronic health record, computer applications, coding, healthcare statistics, healthcare reimbursement, continuous quality improvement, resource management, and legal issues. Students actively work with health information and receive hands-on experience with the newest technological innovations available.
Accreditation
The Health Information Technology associate degree program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for the Health informatics and Information management Education (CAHIIM). Graduates of the MTC program qualify for accreditation in the health information management field by passing the national certification examination requirements of the American Health Information management Association (AHIMA). Upon successful completion of the AHIMA external certification examination, the graduate is awarded the credential of a registered health information technician (RHIT). AHIMA, 223 N. Michigan Ave, 21st floor, Chicago, IL 60602-5800, 312-233-1100.
Career Opportunities
- Medical Records and Health Information Technicians
- Billing, Cost, and Rate Clerks
- Medical Secretaries
- Data Entry Keyers
- Insurance Claims Clerks
- Insurance Policy Processing Clerks
Curriculum
The following is a typical course sequence for completing this program. The actual time needed to complete the program will vary according to each student’s individual needs.
First Semester
Second Semester
| ALH1120 | Human Diseases | 3 |
| HIT1301 | Clinical Classifications ICD10-CM/PCS | 4 |
| HIT1302 | Current Procedural Terminology | 3 |
| HIT1400 | Healthcare Reimbursement | 2 |
Third Semester
| HIT1500 | Advanced Clinical Classification System | 3 |
| HIT1900 | HIT Professional Practice I | 1 |
| HIT2500 | Health Infor Mgt & Data Governance | 3 |
| MTH1240 | Statistics | 3 |
Fourth Semester
Fifth Semester
Total Credit Hours: 62