Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

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Health Information Management (HIM) professionals create, analyze and manage health care information and data. HIM professionals are part of the healthcare team, rather than direct patient care, HIM is the business side of healthcare. HIM professionals are integral to the healthcare industry, as the work they provide is required wherever health information is collected, organized, and analyzed.

The Oregon Employment Department forecasts the employment of health information technicians in the Portland area will grow 14.1% through 2027.

Why choose Health Information Management at PCC?

The following are unique to Portland Community College’s Health Information management (HIM) program:

• Entirely online program
• Students will receive weekly lessons, complete assignments, and communicate in a virtual classroom setting.
• PCC is the oldest in the state of Oregon, graduating the first class in 1971.
• Credit for Prior Learning (CPL) and Transfer Credit are available
• Students with coding credentials may get Credit for Prior Learning
• 2 year associate degree program
• Guaranteed admissions process
• A new cohort starts every fall
• Experienced Instructors that have graduated from the program at PCC and are involved in professional development. Instructors are expert professionals and leaders with experience serving in professional association leadership positions at the state and national level.
• Many PCC alumni are working throughout the country in various technical and leadership positions.
• Active Advisory Committee with reps from Kaiser, Legacy, OHSU, Providence and more. The committee ensures curriculum is current and state of the art.

The only on-site requirement will be a students work experience practicum (Supervised Experiential Learning) which occurs the last term of the program.

Student success

• Proven track record of students success and employment.
• For the 2022-2024 (2 year cycle), our first time pass rate is 87.5%, with the national average being 80%.
• We have an 86% retention rate from the beginning to the end of the program ¨C also very high for a fully online program.

Mission statement

The Health Information Management program at Portland Community College supports student success by delivering quality education to a diverse group of students, ensuring equity in the admission process and inclusion throughout the program while preparing them to be HIM professionals.

Accreditation statement

The Health Information Management accreditor of Portland Community College is the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The College¡¯s accreditation for the AAS degree in Health Information Management has been reaffirmed through 2028-2029. All inquiries about the program¡¯s accreditation status should be directed by mail to CAHIIM, 233 N. Michigan Avenue, 21st Floor, Chicago, IL, 60601; by phone at 312.233.1134; or by email at info@cahiim.org.

PCC was selected by CAHIIM to be a Demonstration Program – as CAHIIM and all CAHIIM HIM Programs are moving toward Competency Based Education (CBE). As a Demonstration Program, PCC is an early adopter of the CAHIIM CBE model and this benefits our students greatly in giving more real world education and experience.

Degrees and certificates

Awards with a icon can be earned online (no scheduled meetings).

What will you learn?

HIM professionals bring unique skills to the healthcare industry. The skills that HIM professionals possess through education and training are planning, collecting and analyzing data and summarizing into useful information.

At PCC, our Health Information Management program provides you with the fundamental skills necessary to begin a career in HIM.? In the program you will learn:

• Medical coding in ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and CPT; all used in reimbursement and/or research
• Manage medical records and health information systems
• Enhance the quality and uses of data within the healthcare industry
• Summarize data into useful information
• Comply with standards and regulations regarding health information
• Protect the privacy and security of patient health information
• Ensure health information is complete and available to legitimate users

What will you do?