HITS-110: Health Data Content and Structure

Course Description: This course introduces systems and processes for collecting, maintaining, and disseminating primary and secondary health-related information. The focus is on the content of health records, documentation requirements, registries, indices, licensing, regulatory agencies, and more.

Course Text: Essentials of Health Information Management: Principles and Practice Third Edition
The book can be ordered in print or eVersion at the Champlain College Bookstore (Links to an external site.) or at this link:

Essentials of Health Information Management: Principles and Practice  (Links to an external site.)

Student Centered Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course you will have enough information to help you:

1. Describe the health record in terms of its purpose, ownership, uses, and value in the healthcare environment.
2. Differentiate between primary and secondary records.
3. Identify and demonstrate how data and information is maintained in the healthcare industry.
4. Identify operational functions of a health information department.
5. Describe the purpose, organization, and regulatory requirements of indices and registries maintained by healthcare facilities.
6. Value the role and responsibility of the health information professional in data collection, storage, retrieval, and maintaining of data integrity.
7. Recognize the importance of data quality and evaluate quality of data.
8. Identify the major minimum healthcare data sets, their scope, and special features.
9. Identify and apply accreditation and licensing standards in maintaining patient and healthcare data.
10. Understand industry trends and evaluate new uses of heath data.

* Course Discussion and Participation*

Attendance is measured through your presence and participation in all aspects of the class. Your participation is extremely important to the learning experience for both you and your classmates.

You will have weekly forum discussions. In order to receive credit for Participation, students need to be active and engaged in the discussions each week. It is expected that each week students contribute substantively with at least one original post and respond to the posts of at least two other students. A successful discussion includes the following features. The student will:

• Demonstrate relevance to readings and class discussions
• Demonstrate an understanding of course content
• Offer insightful comments or questions that build on comments from peers
• Use professional language
• Use proper grammar and punctuation
• Post often throughout the week period
• Respond to all questions
• Cite relevant resources (readings, module content, and personal experience) with appropriate detail

PLEASE NOTE:  Several discussions have been defined such that you need to make your own posting before you can see posts that have been made by any other classmate. This is an effort to encourage original, researched, thought-out postings uninfluenced by anyone else’s writings.

Assignment Evaluation

Assignments will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Completeness – Addresses each step/element required by assignment with no obvious omissions
• Timeliness – Completed within specified time frame
• Originality – The work is not plagiarized and does not violate copyrights held by other entities
• Critical Thinking – Contains substantive original analysis and interpretation. Uses inductive and/or deductive reasoning to reach conclusions and construct big-picture meaning
• Application – Applies course content, required readings, independent research, and original thought into assignment as appropriate
• Credibility – Opinions, assertions, and conclusions are well supported with relevant (cited) factual information
• Treatment – Approach, voice, vocabulary, terminology, level of detail, and formality of the assignment are engaging, effective, and appropriate
• Clarity – Composition is structured logically, focused, well organized, and flows well. Conveys ideas clearly and concisely
• Language – Assignment consistently employs conventional English spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, and paragraph construction

Late Policy

Discussions: At the start of each week, new discussions will be opened and past discussions will be locked. So, points lost from prior weeks cannot be made-up.

Assignments: Assignments are expected to be turned in on time. Late assignments will receive a 10% deduction. Late assignments greater than 2 weeks will not be accepted.