Health Information Management - Coding and Reimbursement (HIMT))

The Health Information Management - Coding and Reimbursement program prepares students for a professional career in the fast-changing field of health informatics and information management. Students will learn how to maintain and communicate sensitive medical and patient information in accordance with established medical, administrative, ethical, legal, accreditation, and regulatory requirements of the health care delivery system. In all types of health care facilities, health information management professionals possess the technical knowledge and skills necessary to process, maintain, compile, and report health information data for reimbursement, facility planning, marketing, risk management, utilization management, quality assessment, and research.

As the health information management professional is often responsible for functional supervision of the various components of the health information system, this program is grounded in the importance of applied knowledge. Through internships at local health care agencies under the direction of program faculty, students will gain hands-on, clinical experience essential to developing the skills necessary to succeed in this expanding career. According to the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, health information specialists constitute one of the fastest growing occupations throughout the state. Health information management professionals are employed in a variety of settings including hospitals, physician’s offices, urgent care centers, long-term care centers, medical billing service providers, and insurance companies.

The Health Information Management - Coding and Reimbursement program is accredited through the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). Students who graduate from an accredited associate degree program are eligible to sit for the Registered Health Information Technician certification. With additional work experience, students who complete this program may also be eligible for other certifications including the Certified Coding Associate, Certified Coding Specialist, and Certified Coding Specialist-Physician-based.

Students in this program will be able to:

1. Evaluate and apply regulatory and accreditation standards to audit and support documentation accuracy, completeness, and adherence to policies, procedures, and protocols to ensure health care delivery system compliance.
2. Evaluate and support privacy, confidentiality, and security of health information as well as promote legal and ethical standards of practice for health information professionals.
3. Apply ethical practices in accordance with the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) Code of Ethics and evaluate scenarios to ensure compliance with professional standards.
4. Apply reimbursement guidelines and coding principles to code, classify, and index diagnoses and procedures for the purposes of reimbursement, standardization, data retrieval, and statistical analysis; perform data quality reviews and complete claim forms such as the UB-04 and CMS-1500.
5. Interpret and present statistical healthcare data such as quality indicators, utilization trends, risk events, and registry information to support compliance monitoring, performance improvement initiatives, and evidence-based decision-making in health information management.