If you plan on earning your Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) credential, CAHIIM should be top-of-mind when choosing a health information degree program. To qualify for the RHIA exam, you must graduate from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) .
Due to the extensive CAHIIM accreditation process, not all programs are able to meet the accreditation requirements, which is why it’s important to check that your program has undergone this process and received accreditation. All partner campuses of the online University of Wisconsin Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management and Technology are—or are in the process of becoming—fully CAHIIM accredited , equipping students for success in the health information field upon graduation.
To ensure that a program meets CAHIIM’s quality standards, programs must undergo a rigorous review process with the following steps to achieve accreditation:
After earning accreditation, a program must continue to meet CAHIIM’s standards to keep accreditation. This includes updating program courses to meet curriculum competencies declared by CAHIIM, ensuring that there is a program director at every campus that maintains a CAHIIM credential, and submitting an APAR showcasing student success and faculty performance.
Healthcare information professionals need to graduate from a CAHIIM accredited program to qualify to take American Health Information Management Association ( AHIMA) Professional Certification Exams, including RHIA and RHIT. AHIMA wants to ensure that those taking the exams have the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in the exam and, ultimately, thrive in a professional health information role.
Health information management (HIM) professionals focus on the business aspects of healthcare. They are responsible for planning, organizing, overseeing, and following up on all activities related to the HIM department and the integrity of clinical and financial data. Some common job titles are health information manager, compliance officer, and clinical informatics coordinator.
Earning the RHIA credential qualifies individuals to transition into leadership roles . RHIAs are equipped to perform duties such as participating in administrative committees, preparing budgets, managing projects, drafting department and hospital-wide policies and procedures, and much more. They focus on data governance, HIPAA privacy and security, and data analytics.
Health information technology (health IT) specialists handle the technical aspects of managing patient health information. They know what data is needed, where it is stored, and how the data is used. Those interested in health information technology (HIT) roles—such as systems analyst, data architect, or electronic health record (EHR) implementation specialist—can find success without an RHIA certification, but may want to consider the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) instead.
RHITs tend to focus more on the data itself rather than its applications. They use computer applications to analyze patient information with the goal of controlling costs and improving care. They also specialize in data input and capture, including medical coding data for reimbursement and research purposes. Individuals need at least an associate degree from a CAHIIM accredited program to qualify for the RHIT exam. Learn more about the differences between the two credentials here .
