Degree Description:
Health information technology (HIT) professionals play an integral role in modern healthcare organizations. HIT professionals are highly trained in the latest information management technology applications. They understand the workflow process in healthcare provider organizations, from large hospital systems to smaller private practices, and are vital to the daily operations, management of health information and electronic health records (EHRs). They ensure a patient’s health information is complete, accurate, and protected.
HI professionals have an extraordinary impact. They are the link between clinicians, administrators, allied health departments, legal and regulatory agencies, financial services and information technology professionals.
These professionals affect the quality of patient information and patient care at every touch point in the healthcare delivery cycle. HIT professionals work on the classification of diseases and treatments to ensure they are standardized for clinical, financial, and legal uses in healthcare. HIT professionals care for patients by caring for their medical data and are responsible for the quality, integrity, security, and protection of patients’ health information.
Advantages
- Graduates are eligible to take the national certification examination to become a registered health information technician (RHIT). Since the program was created in 1968, Alfred State HIT graduates have traditionally achieved a passing rate above the national average.
- Teaching faculty in HIT curriculum have real-world Health Information Management (HIM) industry experience.
Program Student Learning Objectives
- Apply biomedical knowledge (including medical terminology, anatomy & physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology) to apply diagnosis/procedure codes (ICD-9-CM, ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, CPT, and HCPCS level II according to current nomenclature.
- Use established federal guidelines, accreditation standards, and APC and DRG calculator/grouper software to comply with health care documentation (review), reimbursement, and reporting requirements.
- Apply HIM knowledge as defined by organizational policy and external regulations (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, managed care) and standards to maintain the accuracy and completeness of the patient record.
- Apply HIM knowledge of policies and procedures for confidentiality and security measures regarding the access and disclosure of protected health information (PHI) to authorized users.
- Apply HIM knowledge in the collection, maintenance, and reporting of data for clinical indices/databases/registries to meet specific organizational and regulatory needs for the purposes of medical research and education.
- Organize and present data for quality management, utilization management, risk management, and other related studies.
- Apply HIM knowledge of legal, ethical, accreditation and certification standards as appropriate for the management of patient information.
- Apply basic methods when calculating descriptive, institutional, and health care vital statistics.
- Apply the use of common software applications (e.g., spreadsheets, databases, word processing, graphics, presentation, email, and so on) and HIM-related software applications (e.g., release of information, electronic health record, patient record abstracting, and so on).
- Apply HIM knowledge to promote ethical standards of practice to health information management and coding.
- Demonstrate effective written and oral communication as appropriate to health information management and coding practices. Communicate effectively with consumers, providers, and other health care professionals.
- Demonstrate critical thinking to problem solving and reasoning skills to health information management and coding practices.
Professional Practice Experiences
Students complete non-paid professional practice experiences (PPEs) in the Health Information Department of a health care facility (160 hours) in their study. PPE arrangements are made in consultation with each student to identify locations considered to be within a reasonable distance. Students are not a substitute for paid staff during PPEs, which means they are expected to receive appropriate supervision and mentoring during completion of all tasks. The professional practical experience (PPE) includes the completion of on-site hours in the Health Information Management (HIM) Department of a hospital (or other health care facility) with adequate facilities to provide varied work opportunities in HIM.
The Joint Commission Hospital Accreditation Standards Manual requires hospitals to implement “a process to ensure that a person’s qualifications are consistent with their job responsibilities.” This standard “applies to staff, students, and volunteers,” and it further states the hospital is responsible for verifying “the following according to law, regulation, or hospital policy: information on criminal background.” As such, Alfred State students who complete PPEs in the HIT program may be required to undergo a criminal background check prior to placement at the facility.
The PPE facility may require students to undergo a physical examination (on-site at the facility or by the student’s primary care provider) prior to beginning the professional practice experience. The physical examination may include drug screening, a TB test, and/or DTB, hepatitis B, and/or MMRV, influenza and/or COVID immunization or status. Students may be required to incur costs associated with the criminal background check and/or physical examination. Be advised that a prior felony conviction may impede a student’s ability to participate in a required professional practice experience. Students may be required to attend an on-site orientation at the professional practice facility, which could be several days in length beyond the 160 PPE hours. NOTE: Students must make appropriate arrangements with their current employer to complete the 160 hours at the PPE host site.
