Health Information Technology prepares you for a career working in health care settings where health information is used. Health Information Technicians perform computer and manual technical and organizational activities with medical records/health information: collecting, analyzing, integrating, protecting, securing and managing health care information. Specific duties include:

• Assuring patient privacy, confidentiality, and security of health information

• Assigning a numeric code to each diagnosis and procedure using coding classification schemes.

• Tabulating and analyzing medical data for administrative, regulatory, and legislative requirements.

• Assembling health data and presenting them during legal proceedings and/or medical review groups.

• Assisting in special studies and medical research.

• Performing clinical quality assessment and improvement activities.

• Participating in design and transition to the electronic health record.

• Supervising health information management and related staff.

• Supporting patient safety and quality improvement efforts and requirements in all healthcare settings.

Career Information

U.S. Bureau of Labor predicts a 46% shortage of credentialed Health Information Management professionals by the year 2010 (>90,000 jobs). Due in part to limited educational opportunities, there are not enough health information technologists to fill available positions in this rapidly growing field. Increasing legislation and computerization of health information will result in even more career opportunities for trained health information technicians.

Salary Ranges

$25,000 to $125,000

Online Learning

Courses in the Health Information Technology Program are offered totally online. All course content and exams are delivered online. Students interested in pursuing a degree must be highly motivated, independent learners, possessing excellent organizational and time management skills. Students must have email and Internet access.  No on-campus attendance is required.

Since this an entirely online program, students must be familiar with how to use the internet, email, uploading and downloading files, and the use of various common word processing programs.

Accreditation/Certification

The HIT Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM), in cooperation with the Council on Accreditation of the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). As a graduate, students are eligible to apply for writing the national examination for certification as a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).

Advise and Counseling

For advise and counseling please contact: Dr Gwyer Schuyler at schuyler@sbcc.edu.

Admission to the Program

Please go to our website for the instructions on applying to our program: http://www.sbcc.edu/hit/website/Admissions.html

Prerequisites

For a specific list of CIM Program class pre-requisites, co-requisites and course advisories, please go to:

http://www.sbcc.edu/hit/website/prereqs.html

Financial Aid

SBCC's financial information is available online at: http://www.sbcc.edu/financialaid or call the office at: (805) 965-0581 x 2417. Advance planning is required to complete the necessary paperwork in short timeframes!

For information on Board of Governors Fee Waivers, scholarships, etc., please go to:

http://www.sbcc.edu/financialresources/

Orientation Session

Once you have registered and have received confirmation from Admissions, please send an email to onlineHITCIM@sbcc.edu and provide the HIT/CIM Department with your email address.  Logon and orientation information will then be emailed  to you. During the first week of class, you will complete online orientation exercises designed to familiarize you with the course and the online classroom. If you have any problems or difficulties with one or more of these steps, contact the HIT/CIM Department at onlineHITCIM@sbcc.edu.

Textbooks

Textbooks are available for online order at http://www.sbccbooks.com once you have registered and the online bookstore has opened for the semester.

Credit/Graduation

When you enter the HIT Program you have the option of graduating with an Associate Degree of Science from either Antelope Valley, Oxnard, Santa Barbara City, or Ventura College, assuming you meet the general education requirements of the institution. In order to meet degree requirements, you are encouraged to select the college from which you wish to graduate as soon as you begin the program. Math proficiency levels of the college of your choice must be achieved to earn your degree.

Candidates for an associate degree must complete at least 20% of the HIT/CIM program requirements at SBCC.

Recommended Program of Study

The following is the HIT part of the HIT/Associate Degree Program and our recommended sequence of classes:

COMP 101 — Microsoft Office 4 credits
HIT 135 - Medical Terminology 3 credits

Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) 3 or 4 (need one college level science course with lab for Associate’s Degree)*

HIT 101 — Intro to Health Info Mgmt. 3 credits

HIT 102 — Legal Aspects of Healthcare 3 credits

HIT 204 — Basic Pathophysiology 3 credits

HIT 201 — Pharmacology for Allied Health 2 credits

HIT 200 — ICD-9-CM Coding 3 credits

HIT 210 — CPT Coding 3 credits

HIT 255 — Medical Billing and Reimbursement 4 credits

HIT 220 — Health Care HIM Statistics 2 credits

HIT 240 —Quality Healthcare Management 3 credits

HIT 230 — Alternative Delivery Systems 2 credits

HIT 265 — HIM Computer Applications 2 credits

MGMT 101 — Intro to Management 3credits

HIT 275 — HIT Practicum 3 credits (last class in HIT Program, 160 hr onsite in an HIM Department near you). All HIT classes should be completed before the practicum is begun.

*If you have already completed a college level science course with lab, you will not need to take a lab with your A&P. You can take SBCC’s online BMS 146 (A&P without a lab). If you have not yet completed a college level science with a lab, you can:
1) take A&P with a lab in your local accreditted college or
2) take SBCC’s BMS 146 (A&P without a lab) plus SBCC’s online ecology class with a lab (BIO 122 + BIO 123).

General Education Requirements for the Associate Degree

General Education requirements are outlined on the following website

http://www.sbcc.edu/apply/files/aa as/gereq.pdf

With the exception of English and Math requirements, all other General Education courses can be completed fully online through SBCC. English and Math should be completed at a local community college.

To confirm whether courses from another college are acceptable to meet SBCC's requirements, please email Dr. Schuyler - schuyler@sbcc.edu to request a transcript evaluation, (include your student ID K#), and then submit transcripts to:

Dr. Gwyer Schuyler
Santa Barbara City College,
721 Cliff Drive,
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
Fax: 805-560-0591

Recommended Course Loads

Students who are newcomers to online learning or have a low comfort level with computers may want to limit their first semester to 3 units.  Students who work full-time and have family and personal commitments are advised to limit enrollment to 6 units per semester. Students who work 20 hours per week and have family and personal commitments are advised to limit enrollment to 9 units per semester. It is recommended that students limit their enrollment in SBCC's short 6 week summer session to one HIT/CIM class.

Grade Requirements

Students must complete all department requirements with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0. CR/NC grading is not permitted in a student’s major area of study.

Additional Information

For additional information, please contact:

Health Information Technology
Santa Barbara City College
721 Cliff Drive
Santa Barbara, CA 93109-2394
(805) 965-0581 x 2851
HITCIM@sbcc.edu

Dr. Gwyer Schuyler
Santa Barbara City College,
721 Cliff Drive,
Santa Barbara, CA 93109
Fax: 805-560-0591
schuyler@sbcc.edu