This online degree completion program provides students who have earned an Associates degree in health information technology the option to complete their Bachelor’s degree and advance their competence in the field of health information administration. Completing this degree prepares students to pass the Registered Health Information Administrator exam with the American Health Information Management Association, once this degree program is fully accredited by CAHIIM. The baccalaureate degree Health Information Management (HIM) program is in candidacy status, pending accreditation review by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). Students will need to purchase access to the virtual lab for use in the Advanced Practicum course.

Students completing this program will:

• Be an expert in managing patient health information and health records, administering computer information systems, collecting and analyzing patient data, and using classification systems and medical terminologies.
• Possess comprehensive knowledge of medical, administrative, ethical and legal requirements and standards related to health care delivery and the privacy of protected patient information.
• Manage people and operational units, participate in administrative committees, as well as to prepare and manage budgets.
• Interact with all levels of an organization - clinical, financial, administrative, and information systems - that employ patient data in decision-making and every day operations.

This is a degree completion program. Students coming into the program must have already completed an Associate degree in Health Administration Technology or similar program. The major consists of a total of 128 semester-hour credits. In most cases most, or all, of the credits from the previously completed Associates degree program can be transferred into this program, but a minimum of 33 of the 128 credits must be completed at SJC.

Courses (or their equivalents) that must be completed prior to enrolling in this program include:

• Medical Terminology
• Clinical Classification Systems (ICD)
• Clinical Classification Systems (CPT)

*Students must also complete Anatomy & Physiology as one of the required science courses. This course is not currently offered online, but may also be transferred from another college. This will also meet one of the science requirements in general education.