Health Information Management - A.A.S.

For more information on this program, contact the Health Sciences division at 615-230-3330.

The Health Information Management program is a two year associate of applied science degree designed to prepare individuals to manage and code the medical information obtained in the medical records, organize the coded information for reimbursement purposes, abstract other data to meet administrative and governmental requirements, manage medical and legal inquiries for medical information calculate healthier statistics, perform data analytics, manage medical and legal inquires for medical information,  calculate health care statistics, perform data analytics, manage the HIM department operational and human resource functions. Graduates of this program will be prepared for a variety of positions in the health information services market. The program is designed to offer a wide variety of learning experiences including classroom and online instruction, use of computers and software designed for Health Information Management, and directed clinical practice in various medical settings. The Health Information Management program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).

In order to be eligible for admission into the HIM program, students must successfully complete all of the general education courses as outlined below, as well as the following core course requirements, HIMT 1301, AHC 115 and INFS 1010 with a grade of “C” or higher. Students pursuing this degree are not eligible to take the Computer Competency Exam (CCE) to fulfill the INFS 1010 requirement.  A cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better is required along with a screening interview.  Students interested in screening for official acceptance into the HIM program must contact the HIM Program Director and request an HIM application packet in January. Interviews are conducted in March.  After formal acceptance into the program, three consecutive semesters of study are required for graduation. The VSCC HIM Program includes the Data Management (DM) specialty track competencies and the Revenue Management (RM) specialty track competencies. For more information refer to the Health Sciences Associate of Applied Science Degrees section in the catalog.  For more information on how to apply to this program, contact the HIM Program Director.

All students graduating with a degree from VSCC are required to take the Educational Testing Service Proficiency Profile (ETSP) to meet graduation requirements. More information can be found at https://www.volstate.edu/testing.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, the graduate will have developed the skills, knowledge and abilities to accomplish the following:

1. Describe health care organizations from the perspective of key stakeholders. 

2. Apply policies, regulations, and standards to the management of information. 

3. Identify policies and strategies to achieve data integrity. 

4. Determine compliance of health record content within the health organization. 

5. Explain the use of classification systems, clinical vocabularies, and nomenclatures.

6. Describe components of data dictionaries and data sets. 

7. Evaluate data dictionaries and data sets for compliance with governance standards. 

8. Apply privacy strategies to health information.

9. Apply security strategies to health information.

10. Identify compliance requirements throughout the health information life cycle.

11. Apply health informatics concepts to the management of health information. 

12. Utilize technologies for health information management.

13. Calculate statistics for health care operations. 

14. Report health care data through graphical representations.

15. Describe research methodologies used in health care. 

16. Describe the concepts of managing data. 

17. Summarize standards for the exchange of health information. 

18. Manage data within a database system.

19. Identify standards for exchange of health information. 

20. Recognize assignment of diagnostic and procedural codes and groupings in accordance with official guidelines. 

21. Describe components of revenue cycle management and clinical documentation improvement. 

22. Summarize regulatory requirements and reimbursement methodologies. 

23. Determine diagnosis and procedure codes according to official guidelines.

24. Evaluate revenue cycle processes. 

25. Evaluate compliance with regulatory requirements and reimbursement methodologies.

26. Apply legal processes impacting health information. 

27. Demonstrate compliance with external forces.

28. Identify the components of risk management related to health information management. 

29. Identify the impact of policy on health care. 

30. Demonstrate fundamental leadership skills.

31. Identify the impact of organizational change. 

32. Identify human resource strategies for organizational best practices.

33. Utilize data-driven performance improvement techniques for decision making. 

34. Utilize financial management processes. 

35. Examine behaviors that embrace cultural diversity. 

36. Assess ethical standards of practice. 

37. Describe consumer engagement activities.

38. Identify processes of workforce training for health care organizations.