HIM - Courses

Health Information Management at Dakota State University is made up of two undergraduate degree programs: Health Information Administration and Health Information Technology. In addition, Dakota State also offers a Healthcare Coding Certificate program. The healthcare coding certificate students will complete 34-credits of coursework at the 100-200 level. Both HIT and HIA students complete a professional core of 100-200 level health information management courses in addition to sciences, business, and computer courses. The HIA students have additional coursework in the business, management, and general education areas as well as 300-400 level HIM courses. These three programs are designed in a progression format.

There is also a Healthcare Information Systems Specialization within the Master of Science in Information Systems (MSIS) degree at DSU. Two special courses provide instruction to MSIS students wishing to focus on the healthcare industry. These courses are:
---- INFS 742 Healthcare Information Infrastructure: Study of the healthcare information infrastructure in the healthcare delivery system in the United States. Examination of issues related to healthcare information systems, healthcare information policy development, uses and users of healthcare information, healthcare informational privacy, and clinical data standards. Electronic health record systems will be investigated.
---- INFS 744 Healthcare Information Analysis: Survey of clinical computing applications and their integration to
support health care delivery. The evaluation of such systems in regard to clinical decision making, clinical
quality assessment, and healthcare research support. Introduction to biostatistics and epidemiology principles.

The health information management courses are being offered via Internet to allow students to complete these courses through DSU's E-Education program.

Dakota State University is South Dakota's leader in applying computer and information systems technology to higher education, including the health information management programs. The use of this technology is incorporated throughout the curriculum. In addition, the health information management programs utilize field-specific software products such as those from Innovative Health Systems, Inc. (SoftMed) and Health Information Systems (3M Health Care).

An important aspect of the Health Information Management Programs is the supervised professional practice (SPP) component. These field experiences provide students the opportunity to participate in supervised clinical activities in hospitals and other health care settings designed to reinforce the classroom and laboratory learning experiences.

* Healthcare Coding Certificate (HCC)

The Health Care Coding Certificate program prepares students with entry-level skills needed to code, classify, and index diagnoses and procedures for the purpose of reimbursement, standardization, retrieval and statistical analysis. Principles in ICD-9-CM coding, CPT coding, and third-party reimbursement will be emphasized. The courses within the Health Care Coding Certificate program are also applicable to the A.S. in Health Information Technology and the B.S. in Health Information Administration and students may wish to progress into those programs.

An important part of the Coding Certificate Program is the supervised professional practice. This internship is completed at a healthcare facility to provide for hands-on reinforcement of the classroom instruction.

Graduates of the health care coding certificate may wish to write American Health Information Management Association's certification examination to become a Certified Coding Associate (CCA).

* A.S. in Health Information Technology (HIT)

Students in this program are prepared for a technical area of service in hospitals, clinics and related health facilities, and agencies related to health care. Graduates are qualified to serve as entry level health information technicians performing tasks involved in the collection, retrieval, manipulation, analysis, and dissemination of health information utilizing clinical, computer, and business skills. The health information technician performs technical duties vital to the operation of a health information management/medical record department in any health care facility, as well as to a wide array of product and service companies supporting healthcare.

Graduates of the HIT program are eligible to write American Health Information Management Association's certification examination to become a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).

* B.S. in Health Information Administration (HIA)

Students in this program are prepared with the technical skills, as well as the administrative knowledge and skills for a professional area of services in similar institutions as the technician. Graduates are qualified to serve as entry level health information administrators, who are responsible for the management of health information systems consistent with medical, administrative, ethical and legal requirements of the health care delivery system.

Graduates of the HIA program are eligible to write American Health Information Management Association's certification examination to become a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA).

* Healthcare Information Systems specialization in MSIS