Health Information Technology (HIT) is a degree program that will teach you specific skills to work in the health information management (HIM) profession. The HIM profession encompasses any function associated with patient medical information or charts (e.g., completion, reimbursement, state, city, government laws and regulations, charging for services rendered, lawsuits, access).
As a health information management professional, you may be responsible for assigning codes to patient admissions and entering those codes into a software program for reimbursement, involvement with information systems to protect the information, development of policies and procedures regarding patient information, and supervising activities focused on patient information.
The Program
The program sequence begins each fall semester and all HIT courses are offered during the day. All students must complete remedial courses prior to registering for HIT classes. You will be exposed to all aspects of the HIM profession via classroom discussion and hands on activities. There will be homework for most of HIT courses.
In the second semester, you will begin to read “real” hospital charts and assign diagnoses and procedures. During the junior and senior semesters, you will be coding inpatient and ambulatory charts using the latest ICD-CM and CPT Coding Books, and assigning diagnostic related groups (DRGs). The program has a computerized lab that has a coding software program similar to those used in health care facilities in New York City.
See the Health Information Technology program requirements.
Clinical Training
Students are required to complete two clinical experiences prior to graduation. The first clinical, completed in the summer during the day, exposes the student to the HIM profession. The second clinical, taken during the senior semester, each Wednesday and Thursday, focuses on management and coding responsibilities. Students will be assigned a site for each clinical and are not allowed to complete a clinical at a hospital they are employed at.
Learn more about doing your clinical training.
Classroom Activities
You will gain experience working on inpatient and ambulatory patient medical records. These are the same type of patient records that are used in health care facilities. Students will learn to abstract information from the patient record, and utilizing the latest ICD-CM coding guidelines, assign a code for each diagnosis and procedure. Students will then enter that information into a coding software program and generate a diagnostic related group (drg). Students will also complete a quality improvement project, learn computer skills (e.g., powerpoint, excel), and complete writing assignments.
