Program Director: Clements
Faculty: Clements, Garrie, Houser, Kinnerson, Ray, Spath, Wilson
Health information managers (HIMs) work with administrative and clinical staffs in health care facilities to provide the best possible information resources, a necessity for quality health care. HIMs design and maintain health information systems to collect, assess, and disseminate clinical and administrative data. These data are utilized by health care professionals in education, research, utilization management, quality assessment and improvement, and decision making. Health services administrators utilize the data in financial management, facilities planning, and operational and risk management.
Health information managers may find employment in various types of facilities, including hospitals, managed care organizations, ambulatory care centers, insurance companies, local and state governmental agencies, research and education centers, and long-term care facilities.
Accreditation: The program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM).
Credentials Conferred: Diploma—The Bachelor of Science degree and a baccalaureate certificate of completion are awarded by the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Professional Certification: Graduates are eligible to apply to write the appropriate credentialing examination given by the American Health Information Management Association.
Length of Study: Preprofessional Phase—Four semesters (approximately two years); Professional Phase in SHP—Five semesters (approximately two years).
Term of Enrollment for Professional Phase of Program: Fall semester.
Professional Phase Application Deadline: Completed applications for the professional phase of the program should be submitted, preferably, by March 1 preceding the expected term of enrollment in the professional phase; after March 1, applications are considered on a space-available basis.
Application Procedure: The following materials must be submitted.
To the UAB Undergraduate Admissions Office:
- completed UAB undergraduate application form, indicating pre-health information management as the major, and application fee, if applicable (if enrolled at UAB in another major, complete a Change of School/Major Request indicating pre-health information management as the major; form available from the Office of Registration and Academic Records), and
- official transcripts from each college or university attended.
To the Health Information Management Program Office, School of Health Professions:
- completed application to the professional phase of the program (form available from the program office or from the HIM Program web page: http://www.uab.edu/him), and
- current transcript.
Requirements for Admission: Students are eligible for admission to the professional program only in the fall term of the junior year after completion of the prerequisites with a minimum of 60 semester hours, exclusive of physical education.
All candidates must satisfy the following requirements:
- have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 (A=4.0),
- have a minimum grade of C in each course in the UAB/Program Core Curriculum and in the HIM Core Curriculum,
- be accepted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and
- if accepted, complete the UAB medical history questionnaire and physical, provide proof of required immunizations, and receive satisfactory screening by the UAB Medical Center Student Health Service.
Essential Requirements: Fundamental tasks, behaviors, and abilities necessary to successfully complete the academic and clinical requirements of the program and to satisfy licensure/certification requirements, if any, have been outlined and are available upon request from the academic program office. Students requesting disability accommodations must do so by filing a disability accommodation request in writing with the Disability Support Services Office.
UAB/Program Core Curriculum - UAB Equivalents(Course requirements are listed in semester credit hours)
The following courses must be completed prior to the beginning of the professional phase of the program. Contact the program advisor for details regarding the core curriculum.
Area I. Written Composition (6 hours)English Composition I, II - EH 101, 102 (6)
Area II. Humanities and Fine Arts (12 hours)Literature
1 (3)
Public Speaking - CM 101 (3)
Fine Arts elective (3)
Elective
1 (3)
Area III. Natural Sciences and Mathematics (11 hours)Precalculus Algebra - MA 105 or Finite Mathematics - MA 110 (3)
Electives in Natural Sciences (with laboratory) from approved Area III science courses (8)
Area IV. History, Social, and Behavioral Sciences (12 hours)Introduction to Psychology - PY 101 (3)
History
1 (3)
Electives
1 (6)
Area V. Preprofessional, Major, and Elective CoursesHuman Anatomy and Human Physiology - BY 115 (4) and BY 116 (4) or HIM 318 (8, offered online)
Principles of Accounting I - AC 200 (3)
Statistics - AHS 360 (offered on-line), QM 214 or MA 180 (3)
Health Care Systems - AHS 330 (offered on-line) (3)
Law for Health Care Professions - AHS 318 (offered on-line) (3)
Microcomputer Applications - AHS 320 (offered on-line) (3)
1A 6-semester hour sequence either in literature or in history is required. If a second literature is chosen, it will apply as 3 of the elective hours in Area II Humanities and Fine Arts; if a second history is chosen, it will apply as 3 of the elective hours in Area IV History, Social, and Behavioral Sciences.
Typical Program
Professional Phase
(Course requirements are listed in semester credit hours)
The following courses, except for clinicals and internship, may be completed at UAB or by internet. Some courses in business may be transferable to meet requirements. This is a suggested full-time schedule but student can attend part-time. Contact the Program Director for additional information.
First Year
Fall
AHS 405 Human Resources Managment in HCO (4)
HIM 405 Clinical Information I (3)
HIM 415 Introduction to Health Information Management (3)
HIM 416 Health Data Concepts (3)
Spring
AHS 318 Law for Health Care Professions (3)
AHS 435 Survey of Clinical/Administrative Information Systems (3)
HIM 410 Clinical Information II (3)
HIM 440 ICD-9-CM Coding (4)
Summer
AHS 416 Financial Management in Health Care Org (3)
HIM 425 Epidemiology and Applied Statistics in Health Care Organizations (3)
HIM 430 Clinical Experience I (1)
HIM 458 Clinical Terminologies and Vocabularies (2)
HIM 460 Coding and Classification Systems (3)
Second Year
Fall
HIM 431 Clinical Experience II (1)
HIM 443 Information Resource Management (3)
HIM 450 Clinical Research Methods (3)
HIM 455 Reimbursement/Regulatory Requirements for Health Information Management (3)
HIM 465 Clinical Evaluation and Outcomes Research (3)
Spring
HIM 470 Data Management (3)
HIM 480 Internship (6)
HIM 481 Issues in Health Information Management (3)
For further information, contact:
Program Director
B.S. in Health Information Management
School of Health Professions
1675 University Boulevard
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama 35294-3361
Telephone: (205) 934-5173 or 934-1678
E-mail:
bshim@uab.edu
Web address: www.uab.edu/him