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Health Information Management Concentration

Health Information Management Concentration Program at Fisher College

The Health Information Management (HIM) program prepares students to work with various healthcare providers, healthcare system administrators, payers, regulatory agencies, electronic health systems, and patients.

Students learn strategic planning, organizational management, healthcare statistics, research methods, health information systems, health data structure, content and standards, health information communication technology, classification systems and reimbursement methodology, quality management and performance improvement in healthcare and participate in a senior professional practice experience.

The Fisher College HIM program will apply for accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Health Information Management Education (CAHIIM).  Graduates that meet the requirements of the program, once it is accredited, will be eligible to take the national qualifying examination for certification as a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) through the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).


In the first and second years of the program, the curriculum follows the Health Information Technology program.
Health Information Management Concentration Program Requirements
Third YearCredit hours
AC121 Financial Accounting
3
EC101 Macroeconomics 3
EC102 Microeconomics 3
HM310 Healthcare Law and Government Relations 3
HM320 Health Data Structure, Content, and Standards
3
HM325 Health Information Communication Technology
3
HM330 Health Information Systems
3
HM350 Clinical Classification and Reimbursement Methodologies
3
MG202 Human Resource Management
3

Humanities Elective 6

Total Credits 30
Fourth YearCredit hours
AC122 Managerial Accounting
3
CS400 Project Management 3
HM425 Quality Management and Performance Improvement in Healthcare
3
HM430 Strategic Planning and Organizational Management in Healthcare
3
HM435 Senior Professional Practice Experience*
3
HM440 Healthcare Statistics and Research Methods 3
MG303 Managerial Communications
3
MG322 Leadership Development
3
PS315 Social Psychology 3

Global Awareness Elective
3

Total Credits 30
*Health Information Focus
Minimum credits required for graduation--122.

Graduate Competencies
Potential Careers and Earnings

According to the U.S. Dept. of Labor statistics for 2010-2011, HIM related job prospects are "good and expected to grow faster than the average."

Graduates of the HIM program may be able to work in a variety of different areas, including but not limited to:

  • HITECH/ARRA/MARs
  • Clinical Data Management
  • Electronic Health Records
  • Patient Health Records
  • Voice Recognition
  • Data Mining
  • ICD-9-CM
  • CPT/ICD-10-CM
  • Relational Databases
  • Data Integrity
  • HIPAA
  • Privacy
  • Information Security
  • Bar Coding
  • Computerized Physician Order Entry
  • Voice Recognition
  • Computer Assisted Coding
  • Health Information Exchange
  • Release of Information
  • Medical Encoders
  • Quality Management
  • Patient Safety
  • Patient Safety
  • NHIN
  • Data Standards
  • Data Analysis
  • Digital Imaging
  • PACS
  • Data Modeling
  • Natural Language Processing
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Decision Support
  • Registration
  • Scheduling
  • Interoperability
  • Risk Management
Supervised Professional Practice Experience (Internship)

Students are placed physically or virtually in a diverse variety of HIM settings at healthcare sites under the supervision of a credentialed HIM professional and a Fisher HIM faculty member. The student learns firsthand about the healthcare organization and the HIM professional's role in that organization. This course provides valuable job experience, networking opportunities and guides students to succeed in their future careers.

Valerie McCleary

Valerie McCleary, MS, RHIA

Valerie McCleary is the Director of Health Information Management Programs at Fisher College. She has spent over 20 years in the HIM field. Prior to working at Fisher College she was Director of HIM Programs at St. Petersburg College, previously taught there as an adjunct, and was on the initial curriculum development committee. She has worked at a County Health Department as the HIM Manager, Consultant and Privacy Officer. Her hospital experiences include those at for profit and non-profit hospitals, directing, supervising and coding. Her home health experiences involved setting up an HIM department with transcription and services and serving as the Supervisor of Medical Records. Her Tumor Registry experience involved documenting and coding cancer cases and performing follow up.

Valerie received the FHIMA Mentor award in 2010 and the Inspire award by the Largo Chamber of Commerce in 2009. She was the recipient of two Prudential Financial Davis awards. She was a panelist speaker at The First Clinical and Preventive Practice Management Summit at Jacksonville, FL in 2007. Valerie has been a long term member of the American HIM Association, the Florida HIM Association, the Gulf Coast HIM Association, the Health Information Systems Society and the American Medical Informatics Association. She served on the St. Petersburg College Advisory Board including several years as the chair. She chaired the Florida Department of Health's HIM Special Interest Group. She served as a Florida HIM Association Bridge the Gap mentor.

"Throughout my career I have taught and mentored many people in HIM practices and policies. Teaching and directing has always come naturally to me. I am very excited to continue my educational experiences in HIM at Fisher College and share my knowledge with those seeking a career in HIM. Healthcare is changing rapidly due to technological advances. There are many more HIM career paths today to explore than ever!"

Hertencia Bowe
Assistant Professor, Health Information Management

International HIM Organizations


AHIMA- American Health Information Management Association
HIMSS- Health Information Management Systems Society

52 State HIM Associations (includes Puerto Rico and District of Columbia)

MaHIMA – Massachusetts Health Information Management Association
NYHIMA- New York HIM Association
FHIMA- Florida HIM Association
MHIMA- Michigan HIM Association

Regional HIM Associations

GCHIMA- Gulf Coast HIM Association (Florida)

HIM conferences

International- HIMSS
National - AHIMA
State- New England HIMA Annual Conference
Regional – GCHIMA Annual Symposium, GCHIMA meetings with educational speakers.

The Health Information field has many publications that provide news and information:

For the Record


AHIMA (see website for button on publications) http://ahima.org/

JAHIMA- Journal of the American HIM Association

Perspectives in HIM

Student Connection (e-newsletter)

AHIMA Advantage (and e-alerts)

AHIMA Resources

ICD-TEN

Foundation Matters (Scholarships)

CodeWrite

Certification Connection (obtaining credentials)

HIMSS (see website listing the publications) http://www.himss.org/ASP/PublicationsHome.asp

JHIM- Journal of Healthcare Information Management

HIMSS Insider (monthly newsletter)

HIMSS Weekly Insider

HIMSS News

HIMSS Conference Proceedings

Clinical Informatics Insights

Health IT Policy Update

HIELights

Government Health IT News

Health IT News

On Line Communities

AHIMA Communities of Practice: Nine communities for students.