PHILADELPHIA – Rising demand for electronic patient records management has spurred Peirce College in Philadelphia to introduce a bachelor’s degree in Health Information Administration (HIA). The HIA credential will help equip those aspiring to management and leadership positions in the healthcare field, college officials said.

“The Peirce 2+2 program is definitely a rare model," said Stephanie Donovan, assistant professor and program manager for health information technology/health information administration at Peirce College. "The programs offered by most institutions are traditional four-year programs. Plus, the flexibility of selecting online or classroom study formats at Peirce is definitely a benefit."

Health information administration is "a necessary degree program for such a growing field,” Donovan added. “It is another extension of Peirce’s mission to offer highly relevant, career-related degrees for working adult students in the region.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, of the 20 fastest growing occupations in the economy, half are related to healthcare. Employment among healthcare practitioners and technical occupations is expected to increase by 21 percent by 2018. Healthcare is one of the primary industries in the greater Philadelphia area.

When Peirce’s Health Information Administration program was presented to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, it was considered it to be relatively unique in the way the program is structured, Donovan said. “They were bowled over by our proposal," she said. "Plus, there are not many of Peirce’s type of program out there."

“Our Health Information Technology associate degree and Health Information Administration bachelor’s degree make up what we call a 2+2 model,” Donovan said. “This model, which is not offered by all institutions, enables students to earn an associate degree, secure credentials to begin working in the field, and then continue on to earn a bachelor’s degree.”

Dominic Adams, risk manager at Temple University Hospital, says healthcare education curricular models are changing, so the jobs associated with healthcare are changing. One example he points to is the similarity a few years ago of positions associated with medical records.

“Now there are more models based on the different complexities of healthcare,” Adams said. “The Peirce 2+2 program is definitely a rare model. The programs offered by most institutions are traditional four-year programs. Plus, the flexibility of selecting online or classroom study formats at Peirce is definitely a benefit.”

Another Peirce program advantage is that students are exposed to Health Information Management (HIM) specific courses in every year of study. It gives the Peirce program and students continuity.

“It is a plus, because during the first two years of studies, students at most schools, especially those in four-year degree programs, are exposed to general studies courses, not the root of the degree, until later in the program,” Adams said.

The two programs – HIA and HIT – represent more opportunities for those who are already in the patient records management field and who want a bachelor’s degree that is current to industry demands, Donovan said. Peirce’s Health Information Technology program is a two-year degree that prepares students with the technical skills needed to manage electronic healthcare data and protect the integrity of patients’ records.

“The need for sharing fast and accurate medical information has never been greater," said Patricia Rucker, senior vice president, academic advancement and provost for Peirce College. "We want to help our students get on the fast track to a career centered on supporting the delivery of healthcare and the management of patient health information with one of Peirce College's healthcare degree programs."

Access to virtual lab
The Peirce Health Information Administration program also provides students with access to the AHIMA Virtual Lab, which includes a number of software applications currently used in the healthcare industry. Hands-on access to the lab helps ensure students are better prepared to enter healthcare information careers.

The lab provides students a competitive advantage when they apply for positions because they will be able to demonstrate a level of experience with the software. For example, in Peirce’s coding course, students will employ the QuadraMed and 3M encoders. “Our graduates will have an elevated degree of proficiency because of their experience using these encoders in the classroom,” Donovan said.

The Health Information Administration degree prepares students to advance in a career as a health information administrator in a number of professional settings. Students who already have a Registered Health Information Technology (RHIT) credential may be able to earn their bachelor's degree in two years. The Health Information Administration (HIA) program is especially designed for professionals in the field who already have an RHIT credential and wish to earn a bachelor's degree and secure a Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) credential.

After completion of the RHIA exam, graduates can seek employment in hospitals, multispecialty clinics and physician practices, long-term care, mental health and other ambulatory care settings, and/or non-patient care settings, with careers in managed care and insurance companies, software services, consulting services, government agencies, education and pharmaceutical companies.

Peirce also offers a bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration. Officials say the program provides a solid foundation of business concepts integrated with industry knowledge for future leadership in the sector.