NorthWest Arkansas Community College

Health Information Management (HIM)

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NWACC Health Information Management (HIM) Program Mission:
The mission of NWACC's HIM program is to develop the fundamental skills and abilities needed to fulfill the complex role of a health information management technician and to cultivate the attitudes and principles that will encourage a commitment to lifelong learning and provide the greatest competitive advantage in allied health facilities and agencies.

About HIM 

NWACC's Health Information Management (HIM) program prepares you to perform as an entry-level technician. Duties include organizing and managing health information data by ensuring its quality, accuracy, accessibility and security in both paper and electronic systems.

NWACC offers a two-year Associate of Applied Science in HIM that integrates medical science, coding systems, computer technology and health care management. 

When pursuing the online HIM degree, you will take 20 credit hours in general education and 46 credit hours in HIM coursework. In-person internships consist of eighty-hour clinical rotations that will be held in the summer semester (first year) and spring semester (second year).

NWACC also offers an online Technical Certificate in HIM in Coding that is embedded into the degree program and requires 32 credits, which can be applied toward the HIM associate degree. Through this certification, you will learn medical billing and coding. This is the process of identifying diagnoses, medical tests, treatments and procedures found in clinical documentation and transcribing the patient data into standardized codes to bill government and commercial payers for physician reimbursement.

Successful completion of an accredited HIM program leads to an associate of applied science degree and eligibility to sit for the Registered Health Information Technology (RHIT) examination and the AHIMA professional HIM certification exam.

Program Outcome Data
• The program had a 100% graduation rate for 2023.
• The program had a 100% employment rate for 2023.
• The program had a 100% satisfaction rate for 2023.
• The RHIT Exam had an 83% pass rate for the reporting period August 1, 2022- July 31, 2023. The national pass rate was 80%. 

 

The Student Experience

View the informational video to learn more about the HIM program and one student's experience. 

Accreditation

NWACC's HIM program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).

Graduating from a CAHIIM accredited program offers employers assurance that you have the expected professional knowledge and skills, and have experienced a curriculum that is relevant to today's electronic health record (EHR) environment.

About CAHIIM: 

NWACC's Health Information Management accreditor is the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The college’s accreditation for the associate degree in Health Information Management has been reaffirmed through 2023-2024. 

All inquiries about the program’s accreditation status should be directed by mail to CAHIIM, 200 East Randolph Street, Suite 5100, Chicago, Illinois, 60601, by phone at 312-235-3255, or by email at info@cahiim.org. Learn more about CAHIIM at cahiim.org/accreditation.