Health Information Management

Students interested in one of Volunteer State Community College's Health Sciences programs must follow the A.S. in Health Sciences curriculum. You must contact an advisor in your preferred area of emphasis to identify appropriate general education and elective courses for admission into your selected program. For more information about specific program deadlines and requirements, please refer to the program's information packet.

Health Information Management (HIM) professionals are trained in information management technology applications and understand workflows in healthcare organizations. They are vital to the daily operations management of health information and electronic health records. HIM professionals ensure a patient’s health information and record are complete, accurate, and protected. HIM professionals work in a variety of settings and job titles. They may be employed in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, office- based physician practices, home health agencies, mental health facilities, managed care companies, and public health agencies. They may also be employed in any organization that uses patient data or health information, such as pharmaceutical companies, law and insurance firms, and health product vendors. Health Information Management Professionals:

• Ensure the quality of medical records by verifying their completeness, accuracy, and proper entry into computer systems.
• Use computer applications to assemble and analyze patient data to improve patient care or control costs.
• Often specialize in coding diagnoses and procedures in patient records for reimbursement and research. An additional role for RHITs is cancer registrars - compiling and maintaining data on cancer patients.
• Other duties may include maintaining and using a variety of health information indexes; special registries and storage retrieval systems; inputting and retrieving electronic health data; controlling the use and release of health information and compiling various administrative and health statistics.

To fulfill these responsibilities, health information management professionals must develop a broad range of clinical and technological skills.

The Health Information Management program at Volunteer State Community College is a two-year Associate of Applied Science degree. The HIM degree is offered as a hybrid program; all HIM courses are online except the Professional Practice Experience course, in which the student is assigned to a site to blend classroom learning with real-world HIM practice. Students may take general education courses on campus or online.

The Health Information Management program at Volunteer State Community College uses the 2018 American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Curriculum Competencies, including the Data Management (DM) track competencies and Revenue Management (RM) track competencies. The AHIMA VLab is the virtual practice environment for health information education and is used within the VSCC HIM curriculum.

HIM graduates are eligible to sit for the AHIMA RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician) certification examination. The RHIT credential is recognized nationwide as proof of proficiency in Health Information Management. VSCC HIM students sit for the RHIT certification exam during their last semester, before graduation.

All students graduating with a degree from VSCC must take the Educational Testing Service Proficiency Profile (ETSP). More information is available on the Testing Center's web page.

If you are interested in the HIM program, please email Valerie D. Bowling, HIM Program Director, and request additional information on the HIM Program.

Accreditation

The Health Information Management accreditor of Volunteer State Community College at the Gallatin campus is the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The College’s accreditation for the Associate of Applied Science degree in Health Information Management has been reaffirmed through 2029-2030.

All inquiries about the program’s accreditation status should be directed by mail to CAHIIM, 200 East Randolph Street, Suite 5100, Chicago, IL, 60601; by phone at (312) 235-3255; or by emailing the CAHIM office.

HIM Program Outcomes

HIM Program Graduate Survey Outcome

HIM Employment Rates

HIM Program Employer Satisfaction Survey Outcomes

RHIT Certification Exam Outcomes

Program Completion Rates (Four-Year History)

*Attrition 2024-2025

• Academic: 1 FT student failed their fall 2024 HIMT courses; 1 PT student failed their fall 2024 HIMT courses.
• Non-Academic: 1 FT student, fall 2024 HIMT courses.

Enrollment Requirements

Admission into the HIM Program is limited to 25 students. Minimum criteria to be considered for OFFICIAL acceptance into the HIM program are:

• You must successfully complete any developmental/remedial courses to be considered for admission into the Program.
• Successful completion of the following courses (grade of C or better). Please note that when you screen in the spring, you may not have completed all the required courses, so if you are accepted, it is contingent on you making a “C” or better by the end of the spring semester in all the required courses:
  • HIMT 1301 - Introduction to Health Information Management
  • INFS 1010 - Microcomputer Literacy & Applications
  • BIOL 2010 - Human Anatomy and Physiology I
  • BIOL 2020 - Human Anatomy and Physiology II
  • AHC 115 - Medical Terminology
  • ENGL 1010 – English Composition
• If you are planning to attend school full-time, you will also complete the following courses by the end of the spring semester you are screening for acceptance into the HIM Program:
  • MATH 1530 - Introductory Statistics
  • PSYC 1030 – Introduction to Psychology
  • PHIL 1040 – Introduction to Ethics
• If you are planning to attend school part-time, you will complete the following courses during your first three semesters after being accepted into the HIM Program:
  • MATH 1530 - Introductory Statistics (summer semester)
  • PSYC 1030 – Introduction to Psychology (fall semester)
  • PHIL 1040 – Introduction to Ethics (spring semester)
• Cumulative GPA of 2.5 or better.
• Completion of an application packet for the Health Information Management Program and an interview for screening purposes.

Please contact Valerie D. Bowling, HIM Program Director, in January to request an HIM Program Application Packet. You will receive an official Application Packet for the Health Information Management Program to complete during the spring semester. This includes a background check. The HIM Application Packet must be completed and turned in to the Program Director in the early spring semester to be considered for the HIM program beginning in the summer.