How to Find the Right School!

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Making the decision to go to college may be a difficult one for some people. All students aren't fresh out of high school. Today's student population is filled with people beginning a second career, stay at home moms wanting to enter the workforce, late bloomers that decided to work after high school and those who can just now afford to go. The ages vary within classrooms and learning styles are definitely different.

Health Information Technology and Management or Health Informatics are programs that aren't offered at every university like English, Chemistry or Education. The programs tend to exist at schools that have Allied Health programs yet, they may not always be available.

When you are looking for a reputable school, that is accredited by AHIMA for their educational programs, please visit here.  I always encourage the use of this site because there are schools out there that will tell you they have a coding and billing program and you can work after graduation but they are not accredited and you won't be able to attain any credentials. Most hospital and healthcare facilities will not hire non-credentialed people. So PLEASE always use this site for your school search. The schools listed by AHIMA give you the opportunity to sit for those credentialing exams after graduation and make you employable.

What I've noticed is that there seems to be more Associate (HIT) degree programs available than Bachelor degree (HIM) programs. I'm from Mississippi and we have 4 community colleges that offer HIT programs and only 1 university that offers HIM. Now that I live in Texas, a HUGE state, there are over 25 HIT programs and only 2 HIM programs. I hate how disproportionate those numbers are but that's how the cookie crumbles. Online program have come to favor in the last 5-8 years so that's always an option.


Happy School Hunting!