Health Information Management Technology, Associate of Applied Science

The Health Information Management Technology (HIM) program prepares graduates who can identify and use a variety of health information resources and technologies to accomplish the objectives of diverse practice environments. In general, these individuals may perform tasks related to the use, analysis, validation, presentation, abstracting, coding, storage, security, retrieval, quality measurement and control of health care data. Their task responsibility may also include supervision of personnel. The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The goal of the Health Information Management Technology Program is to provide an educational experience within the framework of professional standards. Graduates of the program may be eligible to take the national certification examination to become a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). Upon passing the examination, an individual is permitted to use the credential RHIT behind his/her last name. Earning a credential validates your competence as an HIM professional to employers and the public.

Program contact: Learn more

Learn more about how certificate credits apply to the related degree.

Related Degrees and Certificates

• Cancer Registrar, Post-Degree Professional Certificate

• Medical Billing Specialist, Short-Term Certificate

• Health Unit Coordinator, Short-Term Certificate

Related Training and Credentials

• State-Tested Nursing Assistant Training
• State-Tested Nursing Assistant (Accelerated)
• Comprehensive Professional Medical Coding (Classroom)
• Comprehensive Professional Medical Coding (Online)
• Community Health Worker
• Comprehensive Patient Access Specialist

Program Admission Requirements

The Allied Health Careers Electronic Interest form (application) may be submitted at any time while the student is enrolled in a prerequisite course, however it is best to wait until the student is enrolled in the final admissions requirement course(s) before submitting the form.  Students can access the electronic interest/application form on the Health Careers web page. Should the student have additional questions regarding this eForm, they should contact the Health Careers Enrollment Center 216-987-4247.

Additional questions may be answered using the HIM FAQ document (Frequently Asked Questions) found at www.tri-c.edu/himt .

• High School Diploma/GED or previous college transcripts
• Complete ENG-1010 College Composition I or ENG-101H Honors College Composition I
• Student must be eligible for  MATH-1410 Elementary Probability and Statistics I
• Complete the following with a grade of "C" or higher:
  BIO-2331 Anatomy and Physiology I
  HTEC-1050 Introduction to Medical Terminology
  IT-1090 Computer Applications
   
• GPA required:  2.50 overall.
• Non-native English speaking applicants:  Admission into Cuyahoga Community College is premised on a complete and accurate initial application to the College, including, if applicable, proof of English Language Proficiency Requirements for admission as indicated on the English Language Proficiency Requirements for Admissions to the College, and available on the web at: http://www.tri-c.edu/get-started/international-students/english-language-proficiency-requirements-for-admission.html
  To be accepted into any selective admission programs, students must successfully complete English as a Second Language (ESL) course/s, as referenced above,  if deemed necessary by the College at the time of enrollment.  Admission is conditioned upon achieving the necessary grade point average (GPA), English language proficiency requirements and any specific pre-requisite courses, and by meeting program accreditation or licensing requirements as evidenced in the Program Handbook for the specific program.

Other Information

• 30 students accepted per year.
• Admission courses may be repeated multiple times to achieve a grade of "C" or higher.
• HIM courses may only be repeated once to obtain a grade of "C" or higher.
• Criminal background check required.
• Biology courses are acceptable for HIM program admittance for 10 years.
• HIM courses expire after one year of absence from the program and will need to be repeated if student requests re-admittance to the degree program.
• Students who withdraw from or leave the Health Information Management Technology Program for any amount of time will have to reapply for admission and will be required to repeat all HIM courses previously taken.
• Prior to clinical practice, student must submit evidence of good health.

Program Learning Outcomes

This program is designed to prepare students to demonstrate the following learning outcomes: 

1. Utilize oral and written skills to effectively communicate and interact with health care professionals, colleagues, administration and customers to enhance satisfaction.
2. Develop effective interpersonal skills to conduct yourself professionally among clients, colleagues, and other health care professionals.
3. Conduct yourself ethically and professionally according to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) code of ethics and standards of practice.
4. Use a variety of techniques to problem solve and arrive at best outcome.
5. Apply regulatory and accreditation standards to identify and support documentation compliance.
6. Apply hospital policies, federal regulations and/ or state statutes in the release and management of protected health information (PHI).
7. Identify areas of quality assurance/Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) that relate to risk management, utilization review and documentation compliance.
8. Apply skills to find, build, research, manage and report both electronic and paper data.
9. Employ auditing skills and methodologies to insure compliance, accuracy, completeness, regulations, policies and procedures, and protocols in the health care delivery system.
10. Utilize knowledge and skills of anatomy and physiology (A&P), medical terminology, pharmacology, pathophysiology, code sets, reimbursement methodologies and regulations to analyze clinical documentation to accurately and thoroughly assign respective code sets for entity’s database and third party reimbursement.
11. Apply skills to find, build, restart and manage the system.
12. Apply management skills for the daily operations of Health Information Management department related entity.

Suggested Semester Sequence

¹

HTEC-1060 Medical Terminology I, MA-1010 Introduction to Medical Terminology, or MA-1020 Medical Terminology I will be accepted in place of HTEC-1050 Introduction to Medical Terminology.

²

Math requirement: student must be eligible for MATH-1410 Elementary and Probability Statistics to be admitted to the program. 

³

MATH-1420 Elementary Probability and Statistics II, MATH-1490 Business Probability and Statistics I, or MATH-1500 Business Probability and Statistics II will be accepted in place of MATH-1410 to meet Mathematics requirement for this program.

MATH-1140, MATH-1141, MATH-1200, MATH-1270, and MATH-1280 can no longer count towards fulfilling the college-level mathematics requirement.  These courses were re-classified as developmental mathematics by the state of Ohio in 2016.  Tri-C established a 5-year transitioning window for students who had completed these courses prior to 2016 to apply them towards meeting graduation requirements, which expired in Summer 2021. It is highly recommended to see a counselor to determine the appropriate math required for your current major.