Health Information Management Advising Tips

Medical Information Coder/Biller Certificate (34 credit hours)

Health Information Management AAS Degree (67 credit hours)

1. NOTE: The College Placement Test (CPT) is administered in the SS Building, Testing Lab Room 117. The phone number is (352) 435-5009. For additional information or to take sample test, click the following link: Placement Testing Page
2. Once students have discussed college preparatory and general education requirements with an academic advisor in Student Services, they should contact Brandy Ziesemer, the HIM Program Manager, at ziesemerb@lscc.edu or (352) 435-6414 to discuss program-specific advising and to complete an HIM program data sheet.
3. The Medical Information Coder/Biller program may qualify graduates to obtain hospital coding positions or coding positions in a large, multi-specialty physicians’ practice but these jobs generally require national certification as a Certified Coder Specialist (CCS or CPC-H) for hospital or a Certified Coder Specialist – Physician Based (CCS-P or CPC) for medical offices. Coding and billing positions in smaller physicians’ offices do not require national certification. Those students who desire national certification who are not able to complete the certificate in one year, should complete all courses necessary so that they take CPT Coding(HIM2253C), Advanced ICD-9-CM Coding (HIM2234C) and PPE II (HIM2810) the spring semester they are planning to graduate. This sequence will ensure the coding knowledge and books are current for the year in which the national exam is taken.
4. Graduates of the HIM AAS degree are eligible to take a national examination to become a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). Most hospitals will hire students without this credential but the career path is more limited for those who choose not to obtain the credential. To optimize success on this exam, all courses required for the degree that do not have an HIM prefix (except HIM 1433 which can taken earlier) should be completed before the student starts taking HIM-specific courses so that the technical knowledge required to pass the exam is current.
5. For the certificate and the degree, students should look at the courses required in the program and note those that are generally only offered one time per year and then check the course descriptions to determine the prerequisites for each course. Not having the prerequisites for a course may cause the student to delay graduation by a full year when the course is only offered once per year. The following are the courses for which students most frequently overlook the prerequisites or the fact that the course is only offered once per year: