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Health Information Technology

Certificates and Associate in Applied Science (AAS) Degree

NEW-- Lower entry requirements!

ENGL&101, English Composition I
HIT 105, Comprehensive Medical Terminology
OR HIT 130, Medical Terminology I
CU 103, Excel I
OR CU 105, Word I/Excel I

Program Description

The HIT certificates and degree program focus on the business operations of healthcare. Employment opportunities range from entry-level clerical roles to more advanced roles within the revenue cycle and medical information management.

HIT Certificates + Associate of Applied Science Degree

The first-year certificates can be taken as stand-alone options or applied to a degree. Each certificate builds on the one before.

1. Health Records Certificate

(26 credits)

This 26-credit certificate can be taken as a stand-alone option, or it can be applied to the HIT Associates in Applied Sciences degree. Prepares students for employment in entry-level healthcare clerical roles such as: Customer service representative, call center representative, patient service representative, medical records clerk, medical receptionist, and more.

Entry requirements (11 credits)

ENGL&101, English Composition
HIT 130 or HIT 105
CU 103, Excel I (or CU 105, Word/Excel I)

Core requirements (15 credits)

HIT 120, Information Protection
HIT 125, Record Content & Standards I
HIT 126, Health Info Technologies
LS 101, Introduction to Research

2. Health Information Associate (HIA) Certificate

(26 credits Health Records Certificate + 28 additional credits = 54 credits)

This 54-credit certificate can be taken as a stand-alone option, or it can be applied to the HIT Associates in Applied Sciences degree. Prepares students for employment in entry-level health information roles such as: health information technician, medical records specialist, patient access representative, scheduling coordinator, or release of information clerk.

Entry requirements (26 credits)

Health Records Certificate

Core requirements (28 credits)

MATH&146, Introduction to Statistics
CU 203, Excel II
HIT 145, Healthcare Statistics
HIT 195, Health Law
HIT 173, Data Analytics
HIT 175, Healthcare Quality & PI
HIT 225, Record Content & Standards II

3. Health Information Technology (HIT) Associates in Applied Sciences Degree

(54 credits HIA certificate + 52 additional credits = 106 credits)

Prepares students for employment in entry-level health information roles such as: health information technician, medical records specialist, patient access representative, scheduling coordinator, or release of information clerk.

Entry requirements (54 credits)

Health Information Associate (HIA) Certificate

Core requirements (52 credits)

BIOL&175, Human Biology w/ Lab
HIT 131, Medical Terminology II (if took HIT 130)
HIT 161, Pathopharmacology
HIT 141, Intro to ICD-10-CM coding
HIT 221, Intro to ICD-10-PCS coding
HIT 230, Revenue Cycle
HIT 170, Coding for Professional Services
HIT 245, Coding & legal Compliance
HIT 242, Leadership/Management
HIT 251, Advanced Coding Practice
HIT 254, Capstone
HIT 255, PPE/Internship

Learn More About HIT

Explore our virtual information sessions and research jobs and careers for this area of study.

A student in scrubs points to a screenSelf-Paced Information Session Jobs & Careers Admissions Internships Costs

Program Pathway

TCC’s HIT AAS degree prepares students for a variety of careers in health information technology. The two-year Associates in Applied Sciences (AAS) degree can also lead to the Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) in Health Information Management offered at TCC.

Academic Requirements

Review the degree requirements on TCC's College Catalog

Degree Requirements

Non-Academic Requirements

Professional Practice Experience internships for the program require:
- Criminal and federal fraud background checks
- Health insurance
- Immunizations
- Vehicle insurance (where applicable)
- 80 hours of in-person, onsite clinical experience
Accreditation

The Health Information Management accreditor of Tacoma Community College is the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management (CAHIIM). The College’s accreditation for associate degree in Health Information Management has been reaffirmed through 2029-2030.

All inquiries about the program’s accreditation status should be directed by mail to

CAHIIM
200 East Randolph Street, Suite 5100
Chicago, IL, 60601
phone at 312.235.3255
email at info@cahiim.org

Graduates of the Health Information Technology (HIT) Associates of Science (AAS) degree program are eligible to sit for the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) national accreditation examination.

Certification Information

In accordance with U.S. Department of Education Regulation 34 CFR 668.43 (a) (5) (v), educational institutions must provide information related to whether their programs will fulfill educational requirements for specific professional licensure or certification and to inform prospective students whether their degree upon graduation will qualify them to work in the state where they are located. Graduates of the HIT program are eligible to sit for the RHIT exam, which is valid in every state.

Program Effectiveness

Program Effectiveness Outcomes

TCC’s HIT AAS program stives to provide the best learning environment for success on the RHIT exam.

RHIT Pass Rate
Exam Period	TCC HIT Program
2023	85%
2022	78%

Graduation Rate within 150% of Published Time
Academic Year	Completion Rate
2022 - 2023	100%
2021 - 2022	100%

Student Statisfaction Rate
Academic Year	Satisfaction Rate
2022 - 2023	95%
2021 - 2022	97%

Employment Rate (based on survey results)
Academic Year	Employment Rate
2022 - 2023	80%
2021 - 2022	100%

Program Learning Outcomes
1. Apply policies and procedures surrounding data structure, data content, and information governance. (COK,COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
2. Evaluate health recod, data dictionary and data set regulatory and accreditation compliance. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
3. Apply legal and information protection solutions for maintaining privacy, confidentiality and security of health information. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
4. Apply informatics and analytics concepts to health data use and technologies such as clinical decision support, statistical calculations, graphical representations, research methodologies, and data management. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
5. Evaluate the management of database systems and health information exchange standards. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
6. Apply revenue cycle policies and coding methodologies in accordance with guidelines. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
7. Evaluate revenue cycle processes and compliance with regulatory requirements and reimbursement methodologies. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
8. Identify legislation, legal processes, health policy, and risk management concepts that affect health information. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
9. Demonstrate leadership skills that adhere to equity, diversity and inclusion policies, human resource strategies and performance improvement techniques for workforce training, organizational change, and financial management. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, ICD, RES)
10. Evaluate compliance with federal regulations and ethical standards of practice. (COK, COM, CRT, IIT, RES)
11. Identify major concepts of supportive knowledge to include pathophysiology, pharmacology, anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, statistics and computer applications. (COK, COM, CRT)