Health Information Technology
What is the Health Information Technology program?
The Health Information Technology program trains students to work as Health Information Technicians. As a Health Information Technician, you will work in a healthcare facility or a healthcare-related business reviewing health records for completeness, abstracting pertinent data, entering pertinent data, locating and/or releasing health information, reviewing health records for medical necessity documentation, coding and classifying diagnoses and procedures, and being a team leader or front-line supervisor.
Mission Statement:
The mission of the Health Information Technology (HIT) program is to provide an environment fostering excellence in technical achievement while remaining responsive to the needs of the community. The mission is fulfilled by providing education and training that assures the demonstration of health information entry-level competencies by the graduates of the Health Information Technology program.
What will I learn?The Health Information Technician (HIT) program prepares graduates to accomplish technical job functions in the health information management department at a number of healthcare facilities and services. With a degree in health information technology, graduates are able to work in hospitals, long-term care facilities, health insurance companies, state, and local government healthcare agencies, and other companies that provide patient care services. Health information professionals are a vital resource in reviewing and reporting data collected during a patient encounter. Patient data must be complete, accurate, timely, and secure for patient care, healthcare reporting, and reimbursement. The Health Information Technology program at St. Philip’s College offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Health Information Technology. What can I do with this course of study?
For more about Health Information careers, see the career map at http://www.ahima.org/careers. |
What's unique about the program?The entire curriculum is taught online with the exception of the last semester's Clinical course (placement at a San Antonio or surrounding area facility during daytime business hours is required). Online courses are rigorous and reading-intensive, as is the profession. The degree is 72 weeks. Approximately 2 of those weeks are not completed online. Want more information?Announcements:Program applications must be submitted by certified mail no later than August 1st (of every year) for Fall cohort admission. |
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♦ This symbol indicates the offering is also available fully online.
The Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree, Health Information Technology Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The College's accreditation for Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Health Information Technology has been reaffirmed through 2028. All inquiries about the program's accreditation status should be directed by mail to CAHIIM, 200 East Randolph Street, Suite 5100, Chicago, IL, 60601; by phone at (312) 235-3255; or by email at info@cahiim.org.
Additional information on professional credentialing is available from the American Health Information Management Association.
Program Highlights
Graduates who earn an associate's degree will be able to take the national accreditation examination administered by the American Health Information Management Association (www.ahima.org). Upon successful completion of this exam, you will be a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).
Program statistics (students that began the program in 2021 and graduated in 2023)
- Graduation rate 86%
- Employment rate 92%
Program RHIT pass rate for Academic Year 2022-2023:
- 86%
Student Satisfaction (based on graduate surveys)
Students generally agreed that the Health Information Technology curriculum:
1. Prepared them with skills to perform as a Health Information Technology (HIT) professional.
2. To think critically to solve problems effectively.
3. Communicate effectively in the workplace.
A program application (separate from the admission application to the college) must be submitted by certified mail no later than August 1st (of every year) for Fall cohort admission.
HIT is a Fall program cohort start. Students wishing to enroll in the Health Information Technology Program must meet all prerequisites and application requirements for acceptance to St. Philip's College and the Health Sciences Department. In addition, the student must apply to the program as outlined below in the "Application and Selection Process" section. Students requiring developmental courses must have completed all of these courses in order to be eligible for application to the program.
Students electing specialization in the Health Information Technology (HIT) program must meet all admission requirements for acceptance to St. Philip's College: to include completion of AlamoEnroll if new to the college and/or ApplyTexas; receipt of Banner ID.
All students must also meet and/or complete the following HIT program requirements:
- at least 12th-grade reading, writing, and math
- HITT 1305 Medical Terminology I (with a grade of C or higher)
- BIOL 2404 Human Anatomy and Physiology (with a grade of C or higher) (or BIOL 2401 and 2402)
- MATH 1332 Contemporary Mathematics
All interested students please contact Beatrice Avila, Program Director, 210-486-2129, balcorta3@alamo.edu or Patricia Lamson, Clinical Coordinator, 210-486-2455, plamson@alamo.edu.
- Overall GPA 2.5
Application Process:
A program application (separate from the admission application to the College) must be submitted by certified mail no later than August 1st for Fall cohort admission. Cohorts begin in the fall semester.
Selection Process:
The following criteria for selection will be utilized:
- The student must be an Alamo Colleges student
- Application Form
- Must be typed or handwritten with no typographical or spelling errors
- Must include Banner ID
- Must include the @student.alamo.edu email address
- The maximum application score is 10 points
- Prerequisite courses:
- Completed courses will be scored based upon the letter grade for each course. Each letter grade will be converted to a numeric equivalent:
- "A" equals 4 points
- "B" equals 3 points
- "C" equals 2 points
- "D and F" will not be considered.
- Students completing both BIOL 2401 and BIOL 2402 will have their scores averaged
- A maximum score is 8 points
- Successful completion of the OLRN (Orientation to Online Learning) must be noted on the student Alamo GPS transcript.
- All transcripts from other colleges must be submitted to St. Philip's College Transcript office.
- Acknowledge the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) compliance.
No person shall, on the basis of race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, national origin (including ancestry), citizenship status, physical or mental disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, transgender status, gender identity, gender expression, veteran or military status (including special disabled veteran, Vietnam-era veteran, or recently separated veteran), predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, any other protected category under applicable local, state or federal law, or persons who have opposed discrimination or participated in any complaint process on campus or before a government agency, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in employment or under any program or activity sponsored or conducted by the College District. H.1.1
Contact Information
| Program Director: Beatrice Avila, ME.d, RHIA, CCSP balcorta3@alamo.edu 210-486-2129 MLK Center for Health Professions (CHP), 130F |
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