The Health Information Management Field
Health information management is an important emerging field, ripe with opportunities for students pursuing a degree in that field. Health information managers advise organizations on computerized healthcare systems, entering, coding, and analyzing healthcare data for clinical, billing, and other institutional purposes. The healthcare field and its delivery systems daily grow ever more computerized, requiring ever greater organization, storage, transmission, analysis, and other use of electronic records. Prominent health career websites thus tout health information management as a burgeoning field with stable hours and conducive office working conditions. Bureau of Labor Statistics supports those rosy views for the health information management field, projecting an astounding 17% growth rate in jobs within that field in the next ten years. You doubtless did well when choosing health information management as your major field of study. Value what you chose, even if you now face misconduct charges or issues involving failure to progress, unprofessionalism, or certification.
Health Information Management Education Issues
The Bureau of Labor Statistics and other job and career sites report that to pursue a rewarding career in health information management; you will most likely need at least an associate's degree and perhaps a bachelor's degree from an accredited school and program. Preferred positions may even require a master's degree or other advanced education and training. If you're already enrolled in one of those programs, you've already discovered that colleges and universities across the country offer health information management degree programs. You'll find health information management programs at public schools like the University of Illinois Chicago, Grand Valley State University, and Ferris State University, and at private schools like the University of Detroit Mercy and Franklin University. Michigan State University, Western Governors University, Rasmussen University, and other prominent schools also offer online health information management degree programs at both the bachelor's and master's degree levels.
Health Information Management Program Issues
Students in any of these health information management programs can face issues that could delay, interrupt, or even spoil the educational program. Students in these programs can, for instance, face charges of academic misconduct, Title IX or other sexual misconduct, failure to progress, or unprofessional conduct. Any of these charges could result in program suspension or even dismissal. See the further explanations below. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento to represent you nationwide, no matter the location or level of your health information management program or the nature of your issues.
Health Information Management Program Accreditation
You might think that your school's accreditation has nothing to do with your school issues. Think again. Only accredited health information management programs generally get the federal funding and graduate certifications necessary for them to survive in the education market. Your school's administrators must thus closely consider the impact on their school's accreditation of the decisions they make, especially those involving student progression, discipline, retention, and dismissal. The Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education accredits health information management programs nationwide. The Commission very likely accredits your school. That means that your school must generally meet the Commission's accreditation standards covering such things as curriculum, course sequence and content, and student evaluation, outcomes, and assessment. You must, for instance, prove your working knowledge in the six major domains of (1) data structure, content, and information governance, (2) information protection including access, use, disclosure, privacy, and security, (3) informatics, analytics, and data use, (4) revenue cycle management, (5) health law and compliance, and (6) organizational management and leadership. To resolve your school issue favorably, your national education attorney advisor must show your school that the resolution meets the Commission's accreditation standards.
Health Information Management Graduate Certification
The American Health Information Management Association certifies health information management professionals. It advertises that three-quarters of its certified members enjoy an annual income of $50,000 or more, reflecting the extra value that employers place on its credential. Healthcare organizations that employ health information management professionals need proof of those professionals' competence because of the privacy and sensitivity of the medical records they handle and the fraud charges, and other financial and legal implications that can follow inaccurate or mishandled records. Those organizations include not just hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices but also health insurers, government agencies, and even self-insured private employers. The Association offers eight different certifications, each with its different qualifications and exam format and content. The certifications cover roles like basic technician, basic medical coding, advanced medical specialist coding, information administrator, documentation improvement, analysts, and privacy and security specialists.
Certification Issues
The Association publishes a Candidate Guide that includes your requirements to qualify for, sit for, and obtain results of its certification exams, administered through a third-party vendor Pearson Vue. The Candidate Guide includes specific rights you have when taking a certification exam, along with your specific responsibilities. The Candidate Guide also includes examples of misconduct that could get you removed from an exam center and your score withheld. Those examples include using unauthorized electronic devices such as calculators, pagers, cell phones, and tablets, giving or receiving help during the examination, attempting to take the examination for someone else or attempting to have someone else do so for you, using notes, books, or other aids, removing or attempting to remove note paper from the test center or otherwise record and distribute exam questions, or creating a disturbance or behaving in an abusive or otherwise uncooperative manner. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento if you face certification issues qualifying for the exam, completing the exam, or getting your exam score. The Association offers an appeal process attorney advisor Lento could invoke on your behalf for your best outcome.
Health Information Management Academic Standards
Your health information management program has academic standards it expects you to meet. For example, the health information management bachelor's degree program at Tennessee State University maintains a Retention Policy requiring that students earn at least a C grade in all major courses and a cumulative grade-point average of 2.00 / 4.00. Those are academic program requirements. Failure to meet those requirements can result in the student's program dismissal. But schools also maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP) policies that students must meet for financial aid. The SAP policy at Tennessee State University, for example, requires that students reach at least a 2.00 GPA by the time they are halfway through their bachelor's degree program, complete at least two-thirds of the credits they attempt, and complete the program within 150% of the program's planned time, typically within six years for a four-year program.
Appealing Health Information Management Program Academic Dismissal
Students who fail to meet academic and satisfactory academic progress standards within their health information management programs should have grade appeal and SAP appeal procedures to challenge their dismissal. Tennessee State University, for example, offers both a grade appeal and an SAP appeal procedure. SAP appeals, in particular, can be much more difficult than simply writing a brief letter explaining your issues. Instead, SAP policies like the one at Tennessee State routinely require both an explanation and documentation of the special extenuating circumstances causing your failure to meet academic standards, plus your articulation of a sound and achievable remediation plan. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento for your health information management program academic appeals.
Health Information Management Academic Misconduct
Making the grades isn't a student's only challenge. Students must also meet their program's expectations around academic honesty and integrity. Your school very likely maintains an honor code or academic integrity policy that applies to your health information management program. The prominent health information management program at Coppin State University is an example. Coppin State's Student Code of Conduct, applicable to its health information management students, expressly prohibits “acts of dishonesty, including but not limited to … cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty.” Other forms of academic dishonesty could include unauthorized collaboration, dual submissions of work or self-plagiarism, and research fraud. Sanctions can include everything from a reprimand to suspension or even expulsion.
Defending Health Information Management Academic Misconduct Charges
If you face academic misconduct charges, you should have protective procedures your retained attorney advisor can invoke on your behalf to challenge those charges, like the procedures in Coppin State's Student Code of Conduct. Those procedures should include written notice to the accused student, a hearing before an independent official or panel, and an appeal of any adverse decision. Retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento for the special academic and administrative skills and experience you need for your best outcome to academic misconduct charges.
Health Information Management Behavioral Misconduct
Health information management programs also expect students to behave responsibly, not just in academics but also to ensure the health, safety, and orderliness of the school environment. Your school very likely maintains a student code of conduct like the one Chicago State University applies to students enrolled in its health information administration degree program. Chicago State's Student Handbook addresses hazing, weapons, drugs, alcohol, bullying, tobacco use, and many other student activities. Chicago State's separate Policy on Student Conduct addresses other forms of behavioral misconduct like property damage or theft, trespass, furnishing false university information, and obstructing programs or movement. Violations can result in discipline from restitution, school service, and education to suspension and expulsion. Health information management programs take student behavior seriously and will pursue charges and sanctions.
Defending Health Information Management Behavioral Misconduct Charges
If you face behavioral misconduct charges in your health information management program, you should have the benefit of protective disciplinary procedures like those in Chicago State's Policy on Student Conduct. Chicago State's procedures, like disciplinary procedures at other schools, begin with a preliminary meeting with disciplinary officials following notice of the charges. If the meeting does not resolve the charges, the accused student may attend a formal hearing to present evidence in exoneration or mitigation with the assistance of a retained attorney advisor. The accused student may also appeal any adverse decision. National education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento has helped hundreds of students nationwide successfully defend misconduct charges in such proceedings. Get the help you need for your best outcome.
Health Information Management Sexual Misconduct
The federal anti-discrimination law Title IX requires colleges and universities receiving federal funding to prohibit sexual misconduct in school programs. Because your health information management program very likely receives federal funding, your school will have a Title IX policy like the one at Indiana University Northwest covering its top-ranked health information administration program. Indiana University Northwest's Title IX policy prohibits not just sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, and stalking but also sexual harassment in both the quid pro quo and hostile environment forms. Indiana University also prohibits non-Title IX forms of sexual exploitation, including exposure, prostitution, voyeurism, and deception for sexual purposes. Beware of the serious collateral consequences of school sexual misconduct charges. You could face not only school suspension or expulsion but also loss of housing, health services, jobs, professional licenses and certifications, and careers.
Defending Health Information Management Sexual Misconduct Charges
Title IX regulations require schools receiving federal funding to provide students accused of Title IX sexual misconduct with specific protective procedures. Indiana University's Title IX policy, covering students at its top-ranked health information administration program, is an example. Those federally mandated procedures currently include special rules for, among other things, attorney cross-examination of adverse witnesses, live testimony at the hearing, and narrower sexual misconduct definitions. But for your best results, don't attempt to navigate those procedures on your own or with inexperienced help. Instead, retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento for the experienced Title IX defense attorney representation you need.
Health Information Management Professional Misconduct
Health information management students must also act professionally. Your school's program likely requires students to comply with the American Health Information Management Association's Code of Ethics applicable to its certified members. After all, your program's goal is to qualify you to meet those professional standards. Professionalism concerns can arise around coding, documentation, confidentiality, and similar issues, all critical to employer compliance and reputation. Schools treat unprofessional student conduct seriously, typically following their student conduct code procedures.
National Education Attorney Advisor Available
Your best move when facing any of the above issues is to retain national education attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team for your best outcome to health information management program issues. Attorney Lento has successfully represented hundreds of students nationwide on misconduct, failure to progress, professionalism, certification, and other issues. Call 888-535-3686 now or use the online service.
