Health Information Administration

What is Health Information?

Health Information is human information. It’s the data related to a person’s medical history, including symptoms, diagnoses, procedures and outcomes. A health record includes information such as a patient’s history, lab results, X-rays, clinical data, demographic data and notes.

What is Health Information Management?

Health Information Management is the practice of acquiring, analyzing and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care. It is a combination of business, science, and information technology.

What Does a Health Information Professional Do?

Health Information professionals are highly trained in the latest information management technology applications. They care for patients by caring for their medical data and are responsible for the quality, integrity, security, and protection of patients’ health information.

• Understand the workflow process in healthcare provider organizations, from large hospital systems to private physician practices.
• Vital to the daily operations management of health information and electronic health records (EHRs).
• Ensure a patient’s health information is complete, accurate and protected.
• The link between clinicians, administrators, technology designers, operations and information technology professionals.
• Affect the quality of patient information and patient care at every touchpoint in the healthcare delivery cycle.
• Work on the classification of diseases and treatments to ensure they are standardized for clinical, financial and legal uses in healthcare.

For more information, watch this short video, What Is HIM? or visit the American Health Information Management Association website.

UToledo graduates in Health Information Administration are highly marketable. As the industry grows more complicated HIA jobs are rising faster than the national average.

Top Reasons to Study Health Information Administration at UToledo

Options.

UToledo's Health Information Administration program offers three options for students to earn a bachelor's degree. All prepare students for the national Registered Health Information Administration (RHIA) examination and to become a credentialed health information professional.

• Earn a four-year baccalaureate HIA degree.
• Use coursework from a bachelor's degree in another area to earn an HIA baccalaureate degree.
• Use coursework from your health information technology (HIT) associate degree to develop a 2-plus-2 degree program. UT has partnered with Ohio community colleges to offer this program.

Strong job prospects.

The U.S. Department of Labor predicts that jobs for Health Information Specialists will increase by more than 50,000 new positions in the next decade. More than half of new HIA graduates with a bachelor's degree find jobs with salaries in the $30,000 to $50,000 range.

Online classes.

UToledo’s HIA classes are offered only online. (UT’s online HIA program has been lauded as one of the country’s best.) Other courses and electives can be completed on campus.

Good prep for the RHIA certification exam.

UToledo undergraduate students in their final semester of the HIA program can qualify to test early for the Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) certification. This credential enhances your marketability in the competitive healthcare industry. Employers may pay more if you have it.

Accreditation.

UToledo’s HIA online degree program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management (CAHIIM). The majority of HIA courses are certified by Quality Matters, which monitors the quality of online courses.

UToledo Virtual Labs.

Labs and virtual computers on UToledo's campus are available 24/7. HIA students use software exclusive to UToledo's health information administration program.