HIM 498: Health Information Management Practicum

Course Description

This course will focus on giving the student professional practice experience in both a real healthcare setting and a virtual setting, using simulations and virtual lab software. The student will gain supervised practical experience with a minimum of 40 hours on-site at a healthcare facility. The student will complete a project for their practicum site and may be allowed and required to work on the project off-site. The practicum allows the student to gain experience as a health information professional in an actual healthcare work setting, and is essential to training and certification. This course should be taken in the last semester of the student's HIM program. Completion of all HIM courses. This course should be taken in the last semester of the student's HIM program. (3 credits)

This course meets certain CAHIIM competencies for HIM Majors.

Prerequisites

  • ENG 101: English Composition 1
  • ENG 102: English Composition 2

  • Completion of all HIM courses. This should be taken in the last semester of the student’s HIM program.

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate ability to problem-solve and complete tasks that are common for a health information administrator.
  2. Plan and administer a project within a health information department or related setting
  3. Observe or shadow health information management professionals in a healthcare setting or other setting related to healthcare informatics or the use of patient information.
  4. Complete health information department tasks successfully in a healthcare setting or other setting related to healthcare informatics or the use of patient information.

Course Activities and Grading

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

Letter GradePercentage
A93.0-100.0 
A -90.0-92.9 
B+87.0-89.9 
B83.0-86.9 
B -80.0-82.9 
C +77.0-79.9 
C73.0-76.9 
F72.99% and below



AssignmentsWeight

On-Site Practicum Assessment

30%

Practicum Timesheet Journal

10%

Virtual Practicum Assignments

40%

Discussions

20%

RHIA Exam Simulation Pre-Assessment - This is ungraded but must be completed in order to pass the course.

0%

Total

100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's online bookstore

  • Oachs, P. and A. Health Information Management Concepts, Principles and Practice. 6th ed. Chicago, IL: American Health Information Management Association, 2020. ISBN-10: 1-58426-725-9 or ISBN-13: 978-1-58426-725-6
  • EHR Go Quarter Subscription. Access Card. Archetype Innovations, 2014.  ISBN: 978-0-9858319-7-6
  • Shaw, P. and Carter, D. (2020). RHIA Exam Preparation. 9th ed. Chicago: AHIMA Press. ISBN-13: 978-1-58426-816-1
    • Note: This textbook is also used in HIM 499.

Additional Resources

  • All textbooks from core HIM courses should be used for review.

Course Schedule

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

Week

SLOs

Readings and Exercises

Assignments

1

1-4

Topic: Preparation for Practicum

  • Reading:
    • Review Practicum Manual
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Read the Practicum Manual
  • Collect resources
  • Register for EHR Go
  • Finalize plans

2

1,4

Topic: Domain 1: Information Governance

  • Reading:
    • HIM Concepts - Chapters 1-6
    • Articles provided in the course
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Competency Assignment: EHR Go MPI Duplication Analysis

3

1,4

Topic: Domain 2: Compliance with Uses and Disclosure of PHI

  • Reading:
    • HIM Concepts - Chapters 9,10,11
    • Articles in weekly course content folder
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Competency Assignment: ROI Case Studies / Disclosure Tracking
  • EHR Go ROI and Accounting of Disclosures

4

1,2,4

Topic: Domain 3: Data Analytics and Informatics

  • Reading:
    • HIM Concepts - Chapters 15-20
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • EHR Go Case Study ReviewEHR Go Cause and Effect CDS Evaluation

5

1,4

Topics: Domain 4: Revenue Management

  • Reading:
    • HIM Concepts - Chapters 7-9
    • Clinical Coder Job Description
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Competency Assignment: Coding Audit Management
  • EHR Go Lab: CMS 1500 Claim

6

1,4

Topic: Domain 5:  Management and Leadership

  • Reading:
    • HIM Concepts - Chapters 21-28
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Competency Assignment: Management Case Studies
  • EHR Go Lab – Assessing Employee Productivity

7

1,2,3,4

Topic: On-Site Practicum

  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Assignment: PPE Time Sheet and Journal
  • Assignment: Evaluations
  • Assignment: HIM Department Tour Video

8

1,4

Topic: RHIA Pre-Assessment Practice Exam

 

  • Participate in the Discussion
  • EHR Go Lab – Pathophysiology and Pharmacology Review
  • Complete Course Evaluation

RHIA Pre-Assessment Practice Exam (not graded)
Although the exam is ungraded, it must be completed in order to pass the course.

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.