HIM 115: Principles of Health Information Management

Course Description

In this course, students will investigate the importance of the patient health record in the healthcare system. They will discover the profession of Health Information Management and the many different roles and credentials that are possible in this career path. Professional membership associations and codes of ethics will be explored. Topics will include: purpose, format, content, and accuracy of health records; ownership of health information; access, retention and destruction; privacy and confidentiality; indexes and registries, and legal requirements including HIPAA. Students will learn how medical coding is dependent on the quality of patient health information. An exploration of paper records vs. electronic health records will be included. (3 credits)

This course meets certain CAHIIM competencies for HIM Majors.

Prerequisites

HCA 105: Medical Terminology
ENG 101: English Composition 1

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

Summarize the evolution of healthcare in the U.S.
Identify responsibilities and areas within a Health Information Management Department.
Identify HIM roles and credentials.
Explain the purpose and importance of professional membership associations such as AHIMA.
Discuss professional code of ethics.
Explain the purpose of the patient record and describe the various kinds of records
Show how records are developed, analyzed, corrected, authenticated and stored.
List the contents of inpatient, outpatient and physician's office records.
Define alphabetic and numeric filing systems and the advantages of each.
Compare and contrast the paper record and the electronic health record.
Demonstrate an understanding of HIPAA laws and how they relate to the healthcare professional and the patient.
Identify legal aspects of the medical record and the release of information.
Identify future trends in medical information.
Explain the purpose and use of indices and registries in healthcare information management.
Describe the purpose, history and future of medical coding.

Course Activities and Grading

Note: A "C" grade or higher must be earned to pass this course.

Letter Grade	Percentage
A	93.0-100.0
A -	90.0-92.9
B+	87.0-89.9
B	83.0-86.9
B -	80.0-82.9
C +	77.0-79.9
C	73.0-76.9
F	72.99% and below

Assignments	Weight
Discussions	20%
Chapter Review Quizzes	40%
Competency Assignments and other Written Assignments	40%
Total	100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's online bookstore

Green, Michelle and Mary Jo Bowie. Essentials of Health Information Management. 5th ed. Cengage Learning, 2023. ISBN-10: 0-357-62425-4 or ISBN-13: 978-0-357-62425-8

Course Schedule

(Note: Course week runs Monday 12:00 am EST - Sunday 11:59 pm EST)

Week	SLOs	Readings and Exercises	Assignments
1	1-5	Topics: History of Health Care and Introduction to HIM Readings (Essentials of HIM): Chapter 1 Chapter 2	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Post an Introduction on Discussion Board Review the Lecture material Complete Chapter Review Quiz (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Professional Association Exploration Assignment (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete HIM Department Virtual Tour Assignment (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST)
2	6,7,8,10	Topics: The Patient Record and EHR's Readings: Chapter 4 Chapter 5	Read assigned chapters Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Review the Lecture material Complete Chapter Review Quiz (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Abbreviation Assignment (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Competency Assignment - Patient Record Audit (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST)
3	6,7,8	Topic: Content of the Medical Record Readings: Chapter 6	Read assigned chapter Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Review the Lecture material Complete Chapter Review Quiz (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Competency Assignment: Data Entry Screen Design (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST)
4	8,9	Topic: Numbering, Filing, Storage and Retrieval of Health Records Readings: Chapter 7	Read assigned chapter Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Review the Lecture material Complete Chapter Review Quiz (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Competency Assignment: Documentation Standards and Guidelines (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST)
5	14	Topics: Indexes, Registries and Data Sets Readings: Chapter 8	Read assigned chapter Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Review the Lecture material Complete Competency Assignment: Data Sets (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Assignment: Cancer Registry (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST)
6	2,11,12	Topic: Legal Aspects of the Health Record; Patient - Centered Health Information Technologies Readings: Chapter 9 Implementation and Management of Patient Portals. Journal of AHIMA 86, no.4 (April 2015): 50-55. Wolter, Julie, and Beth Friedman. "Health Records for the People: Touring the Benefits of the Consumer-based Personal Health Record." Journal of AHIMA 76, no.10 (November/December 2005): 28-32.	Read assigned chapter Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Review the Lecture material Complete Chapter Review Quiz (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Competency Assignment: Patient Portal Education (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST)
7	2,15	Topics: Coding and Reimbursement Readings: Chapter 10	Read assigned chapter Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Review the Lecture material Complete Chapter Review Quiz (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Competency Assignment: Secordard Data Sources (Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST)
8	13	Topics: HIM Department Customers Readings: Hughes, Gwen. "Using Benchmarking for Performance Improvement (AHIMA Practice Brief)." Journal of AHIMA 74, no.2 (2003): 64A-D.	Participate in the Discussions (Individual response must be completed by Wednesday 11:59 pm EST and responses to two classmates must be completed by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Review the Lecture material Complete Competency Assignment: Survey Analysis Customer Health Information Needs(Due by Sunday 11:59 pm EST) Complete Course Evaluation

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.