National Accreditation Awarded to BSHIM Program
The Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) accredits degree-granting HIM programs that have undergone a rigorous process of voluntary peer review and have met or exceeded the minimum accreditation standards as set by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). More information about CAHIIM’s mission and purpose can be found at www.cahiim.org. The Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management (BSHIM) Program at the Herzing University Online campus was granted CAHIIM Accreditation on August 27, 2009. This is an exciting accomplishment for our school and gives national recognition to the quality of our BSHIM program!
Eligibility for RHIA Credential
Graduates of our BSHIM Program, as well as students in their final term of study are now eligible to sit for the Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) certification examination. An individual holding the RHIA credential is considered an expert in the field of HIM and possesses comprehensive knowledge of medical, administrative, ethical and legal requirements and standards related to healthcare delivery and the privacy of protected patient information. Information about eligibility requirements, associated fees (reduced for AHIMA members), and exam preparation can be found on the AHIMA website at www.ahima.org/certification/rhia.
AHIMA Membership Opportunity
All Herzing University Online students who are currently enrolled in the BSHIM program are eligible to join AHIMA as a student member at no cost to them! Herzing Online will pay for the membership. AHIMA members enjoy many benefits including: professional journal that addresses cutting edge issues related to the HIM profession, access to best practice briefs and practice tools, discount pricing for certification exams, publications, products and other educational opportunities, access to HIM job postings, a members-only website, automatic membership in your state’s HIM association, and access to the AHIMA Foundation Library.
To be eligible for Herzing Online to pay for AHIMA student membership, the student must be at the beginning of their third semester or beyond in their schooling. Interested students should complete an application at www.keysurvey.com/survey/256302/24ca/-. The application will then be submitted to AHIMA and the student membership will be activated within approximately 6 weeks. For any questions regarding this wonderful membership opportunity, please contact Kay Eilers, Associate Director of Career Services, at (866) 508-0748 x820 or keilers@onl.herzing.edu.
Employment Opportunities
Employment opportunities for the health information management professional can be found in a variety of both traditional and non-traditional settings including hospitals, multi-specialty clinics and physician practices, long-term care, mental health, consulting firms, government agencies, managed care and insurance companies, healthcare software vendors, education, pharmaceutical companies and many other environments. Armed with the BSHIM degree from Herzing University Online, and accompanied by the RHIA credential, health information professionals are well suited to take on professional responsibilities in one of the following roles:
- HIM Director or Assistant Director
- HIM Manager or Supervisor
- Compliance Officer
- e-HIM® Project Manager
- Clinical Data Analyst
- Health Information System
- Application Designer
Consultant - Healthcare Consumer Advocate
- Health Data/Information Resource Manager
- Business Process Engineer
- Coding Professional
What Does the Future Hold for HIM Professionals?
“We have been through the decade of health IT – health information technology; we have now entered the decade of health IM – information management.
The challenge of the coming years will not be the technology; it will be managing digital health information, including, but not limited to the information content of electronic health records.
In digital form, personal health information will be routinely exchanged among providers and between providers and other trusted stakeholders, including the key stakeholder, individual consumers. And such routine information exchange presents unprecedented health IM challenges…
…For us certainly, as health information management professionals, but also for the many millions of people who need basic Health IM skills to do their jobs and live their lives.” –Linda Kloss, MA, RHIA, CAE, Chief Executive Officer, AHIMA