Health Information Management, Bachelor of Science (529P, 529)
Department website: http://www.wku.edu/publichealth
Program Coordinator
Janice R. Hunt-Shepherd, jan.hunt-shepherd@wku.edu, (270) 745-3548
The Health Information Management bachelor degree program is accredited by Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM)*. Graduates of the program are eligible to take the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA)** certification examination for the designation of Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA).
The major in health information management is designed to prepare the graduate HIM professional with skills and competencies in health data management, data analytics and informatics, information governance, privacy and security, compliance, clinical documentation improvement, revenue cycle management, medical coding, health information technology management and administrative and clinical work flow. Students will focus on operations management essential to ensuring an accurate and complete medical record and cost effective information processing.
Enrollment in the program is limited. A students’ application to the baccalaureate degree program will be considered following successful completion of the introductory course, HIM 100: Health Data Content and Structure or following successful completion of an associate degree in HIM from a Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM*) accredited program or successful completion of the HIM 100 departmental examination.
Students are required to have professional liability insurance coverage prior to accessing health information and / or professional practice experience. In addition, students are required to submit a criminal background check, current immunization records and results of a current drug screen as part of the application process. Prior to participating in any professional practice experience (PPE) at selected health care institutions, there may be additional certifications, training seminars, or their requirements by the health care institution that a student must meet in order to be eligible for training at the chosen facility. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that all institutional requirements are met prior to participation in the PPE. Students may be responsible in part of in full for any costs incurred to meet such requirements. Policies, standards and requirements should be obtained directly from the program office or at http://www.wku.edu/healthinformationmanagement.
Program Requirements (79-82 hours)
A baccalaureate degree requires a minimum of 120 unduplicated semester hours. More information can be found at www.wku.edu/registrar/degree_certification.php.
Students who began WKU in the Fall 2014 and thereafter should review the Colonnade requirements located at: https://www.wku.edu/colonnade/colonnaderequirements.php.
This program requires a minimum of 120 hours and includes 79-82 hours for the HIM major; Colonnade courses must be completed in consultation with advisor HIM courses completed with a grade of “C” or higher for transfer students and graduates from CAHIIM Accredited programs will be accepted as substitutions for equivalent HIM courses. Transfer students and graduates from HIM programs in non-CAHIIM Accredited programs may provide evidence of mastery of course content through satisfactory completion of departmental examinations. Departmental examinations are available for the following courses: HIM 100, HIM 230, HIM 250, HIM 251, HIM 252, AH 290/HIM 290, HIM 291, and HIM 292.
Students not achieving a satisfactory score (70% or above) on the department examination(s) must complete the corresponding course(s). National specialty certifications and / or training may be considered as evidence of mastery of course content in specific courses.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| HIM 100 | Health Data Content and Structure | 4 |
| HIM 225 | Legal Issues in Health Information Management | 2 |
| HIM 230 | Computer Systems and Applications in Health Information Management | 3 |
| HIM 250 | International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Coding | 4 |
| HIM 251 | Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System / Current Procedural Terminology (HCPCS / CPT) Coding | 4 |
| HIM 252 | Healthcare Payment Systems | 3 |
| AH/HIM 290 | Medical Terminology | 2 |
| HIM 291 | Advanced Medical Terminolgy | 2 |
| HIM 292 | Pharmacology and Laboratory Diagnostics | 2 |
| HIM 330 | Electronic Health Record Systems | 3 |
| HIM 350 | Health Informatics Research | 3 |
| HIM 351 | International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) Coding | 1 |
| HIM 421 | Health Information Leadership and Management | 3 |
| HIM 422 | Clinical Evaluation and Outcomes | 3 |
| HIM 430 | Health Data Management and Analytics | 3 |
| HIM 450 | Application & Analysis of Him Theory | 3 |
| HIM 495 | Capstone Professional Practice Experience | 3-6 |
| HCA 340 | Health Care Organization and Management | 3 |
| PH 383 | Biostatistics in the Health Sciences | 3 |
| CSCI 145C | Introduction to Computing | 3 |
| or CIS 141 | Analytics and Technology | |
| CIS 243 | Principles of MIS | 3 |
| or CS 157 | Information Security I | |
| CIT 350 | Database Administration I | 3 |
| or BDAN 330 | Structured Data Analysis | |
| BIOL 131 | Human Anatomy and Physiology | 4 |
| Select 12 credit hours of the following: | 12 | |
| Systems Architecture I | ||
| Systems Development I | ||
| Systems Development II | ||
| Technology Management I | ||
| Business Data Analytics | ||
| DSS Analysis and Design | ||
| Data Mining | ||
| Data Visualization | ||
| Total Hours | 79-82 | |
BIOL 131 must be completed prior to full admission to the program. A student who makes below “C” in any Health Information Management core course is required to repeat the course.
*CAHIIM
233 North Michigan Avenue, 21st Floor
Chicago, IL 60601-5800
info@CAHIIM.org
https:// www.cahiim.org
**AHIMA
233 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2150
Chicago, IL 60601-5800
(312) 233-1100
https://www. ahima.org
Finish in Four Plan
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ENG 100 | 3 | COMM 145 | 3 |
| MATH 109 or MATH 116 | 3 | ENG 200 | 3 |
| HIM 100 | 4 | HIST 101 or HIST 102 | 3 |
| HIM 290 or AH 290 | 2 | HIM 291 | 2 |
| CIS 141 or CSCI 145C | 3 | HIM 292 | 2 |
| BIOL 131 | 4 | ||
| 15 | 17 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| HIM 225 | 2 | HIM 230 | 3 |
| HIM 251 | 4 | HIM 250 | 4 |
| CIS 243 or CS 157 | 3 | HIM 252 | 3 |
| Major/Minor/Elective or World Language (if needed) | 3 | HCA 340 | 3 |
| PH 383 | 3 | CIT 310 or BDAN 310 | 3 |
| 15 | 16 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| Colonnade - Social & Behavioral Sciences | 3 | HIM 421 | 3 |
| HIM 330 | 3 | HIM 422 | 3 |
| HIM 350 | 3 | CIT 332 or BDAN 430 | 3 |
| CIT 330 or BDAN 420 | 3 | Colonnade - Natural & Physical Science | 3 |
| CIT 350 or BDAN 330 | 3 | ENG 300 | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| HIM 351 | 1 | HIM 495 | 3-6 |
| HIM 430 | 3 | Connections - Local to Global | 3 |
| HIM 450 | 3 | Connections - Systems | 3 |
| CIT 492 or BDAN 410 | 3 | Minor/General Elective | 2 |
| Colonnade - Arts & Humanities | 3 | ||
| Connections - Social & Cultural | 3 | ||
| 16 | 11-14 | ||
| Total Hours 120-123 | |||