Health Information Technology

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Our Health Information Technology (HIT) program provides you with a comprehensive understanding of the management and security of medical information in the digital era. With our program’s practical coursework and training, you’ll be prepared for a high-demand career in health information management.

Program Details

WCJC’s Health Information Management program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The College's accreditation for the associate degree in Health Information Management has been reaffirmed through 2029-2030. Learn more about our Health Information Technology program and find course descriptions in the WCJC Catalog.
Our health information technology A.A.S. degree prepares you to manage and maintain patient information, ensure data accuracy and security, understand healthcare regulations and compliance, analyze and classify medical data to improve patient care, and more. TSI readiness is required for this program. Classes for this program are held online.

Certificate Academic Maps

Our HIT certificate programs prepare you for an entry-level clerical position in a medical record or health information management department. Those who graduate with a Level I Certificate will possess the medical terminology and requirements for collecting, storing, and retrieving medical record content for varying types of medical facilities. Level II builds on the knowledge gained in the Level I Certificate and provides a more in-depth understanding of HIT and introduces medical coding to students. TSI readiness is also required for a Level II Certificate. Classes for this program are held online. Explore more about the two certificates you can earn:

Graduates of the A.A.S. degree are eligible to sit for the American Health Information Management Association’s credentialing exam for qualifications as a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). HIT professionals can work in a variety of positions responsible for the quality and protection of patients’ medical data. You can earn a position as a health information specialist, health information technologist, clinical coding/billing analyst, and more. You can also decide to pursue a bachelor’s degree in a related field. 

Find more information, including wages and education requirements, on Career Coach!

Protect Patients' Information & Data

Health Information Technology Program Play Video
Hear from our HIT students about what makes our unique program stand out from the rest. 

Program Requirements

The HIT program requires that you complete the program application or interest form. A background check and a drug screen are required for the A.A.S. degree.
In addition to applying to WCJC, HIT requires a program application. Complete the application and return it to the HIT department.  If you have questions about the program application, reach out to Carol Riley at (979) 532-6491 or CarolR@wcjc.edu
If you’re only interested in the certificate option, complete the interest form.

Criminal Background Checks

Most clinical facilities require that criminal background checks be completed before allowing students to participate in clinical training. Applicants conditionally accepted into the HIT A.A.S. degree program must complete a criminal background check. Final acceptance into the program is contingent upon a satisfactory background check, which a WCJC-approved agency will complete. The cost of the criminal background check will be at the applicant’s expense. The anticipated cost for the criminal background check is $53.00. Information regarding this process should be obtained from the HIT Department Head.

Drug Screening

Most clinical facilities require that drug screening be completed before allowing students to participate in clinical training at their facilities. Applicants conditionally accepted into the HIT A.A.S. degree program must complete a drug screen consisting of a Healthcare Professional Panel. Final acceptance into the program is contingent upon a negative drug screen, which a WCJC-approved agency will complete. The cost of the drug screen will be at the applicant’s expense. The anticipated cost for the drug screen is approximately $50. Information regarding this process should be obtained from the HIT Department Head.

Program Costs

Explore the program costs associated with the A.A.S. degree and the certificate programs.

HIT A.A.S. Estimated Program Cost

  • Tuition Fees/In District $6,685
  • Tuition Fees/Out of District $10,045
  • Tuition Fees/Out of State $13,165
  • AHIMA Student Fees $50
  • Drug Screen Background Check $90
  • Physical Exam/Immunizations $165
  • Books $2,600
  • Credential/Licensing Fee $230
  • Laptop/webcam with microphone $500

Total Estimate In-District Cost: $10,320

Total Estimate Out-of-District Costs: $13,680

Total Estimate Out-of-State Costs: $16,800

HIT Level I Certificate Estimated Program Cost

  • Tuition Fees/In District: $2,120
  • Tuition Fees/Out of District: $3,128
  • Tuition Fees/Out of State: $4,064
  • AHIMA Student Fees: $50
  • Books: $775
  • Laptop/webcam with microphone: $500

Total Estimate In-District Cost: $3,445

Total Estimate Out-of-District Costs: $4,453

Total Estimate Out-of-State Costs: $5,389

HIT Level II Certificate Estimated Program Cost

  • Tuition Fees/In District: $3,380
  • Tuition Fees/Out of District: $5,060
  • Tuition Fees/Out of State: $6,620
  • AHIMA Student Fees: $50
  • Books: $1,275
  • Laptop/webcam with microphone: $500

Total Estimate In-District Cost: $5,205

Total Estimate Out-of-District Costs: $6,885

Total Estimate Out-of-State Costs: $8,445

Take the Next Step Toward a Fulfilling Future

You won’t regret enrolling in our HIT program. Don’t take our word for it - just look at the numbers.
83%
employment rate of HIT program 2022 graduates
100%
student satisfaction of 2022 graduates
100%
pass rate of the RHIT certification exam from 2021-2022

About HIT

Health Information Technology (HIT) combines healthcare and information technology to improve patient care and outcomes. Learn more about this rapidly growing field below.
Woman in front of a computer

What Is Health Information Technology?

Patient information is used for care, health planning, quality assurance/performance improvement, medical research, professional education, and financial reimbursement. A Health Information Technician is a healthcare professional trained in collecting, analyzing, processing, and using this information. All healthcare community members call upon HIM professionals to assist them in delivering quality healthcare
Woman in front of a computer

The Role of the Health Information Technician

Health Information Technicians perform a variety of technical health information functions. They:

  • Code and classify data for reimbursement
  • Organize, analyze, and evaluate information necessary for decision support
  • Provide information security to protect patient privacy
  • Provide data for use within the healthcare community
  • Comply with standards and regulations regarding health information
  • Prepare health data for accreditation surveys
  • Analyze clinical data for research and public policy
Student holding books

Facilities and Faculty

Changes in the healthcare delivery system notably alter every facet of the medical field. In keeping pace with these rapid changes and technological advancements, faculty members use state-of-the-art equipment and resources to implement the most current professional practice in the learning environment. WCJC has exceptionally well-qualified instructors dedicated to preparing you to meet the changes in health care for the new millennium. Credentialed instructors bring practical knowledge to the classroom and lab setting, providing education in developing, maintaining, and using patient health information.

Meet the Faculty and Staff

Have questions about our HIT program? Contact one of our program’s faculty members.

Debbie Lutringer, RHIA, CTR

Department Head, Health Information Technology

Ms. Lutringer received her A.A.S. degree from WCJC and her B.S. degree from Texas State. Before entering academia full-time, she worked for 16 years in Health Information Management. Ms. Lutringer has been a full-time instructor for WCJC since January 2007. 

Office: Wharton Campus, Johnson Building 206-H
Phone: (979) 532-6363
Email: lutringerd@wcjc.edu

Robin Matzke, RHIA

Faculty, Health Information Technology

Ms. Matzke received her B.S. degree from Texas State. Before entering academia full-time, she worked for Gulf Coast Medical Center for 22 years. 

Office: Wharton Campus, Johnson Building 120
Phone: (979) 532-6364
Email: matzker@wcjc.edu

Additional Program Information

  • Carol Bartek, HIM Director, Oak Bend Medical Center, Richmond
  • Sarah Glass, Independent Consultant, Wharton
  • Judy Hardin, Practice Manager Health Information, Memorial Hermann Medical Group, Houston
  • Mary W. King, Retired, WCJC Faculty, Wharton
  • Becky Malone, Remote Coder, Oak Bend Medical Center, Richmond
  • Mary Jo Spanihel, Rural Health Clinic Manager, Rice Medical Associates, Eagle Lake
  • Linda Stewart, Medical Record Supervisor, Medical Clinic of Houston, Houston
  • Karen Wells, HIM Director, El Campo Memorial Hospital, El Campo

The goal of the Wharton County Junior College’s Department of Health Information Technology (HIT) is to prepare students for practicing health information management. Modern allied health education requires the accumulation of scientific knowledge to be accompanied by the simultaneous acquisition of essential skills, functions, and professional attitudes and behavior. The HIT faculty of Wharton County Junior College has a responsibility to graduate the best possible practitioners; therefore, admission to the HIT educational program in the College is offered only to those who present the highest qualifications for education and training in the art and science of the profession.

Applicants to the HIT program of the College must possess the following general qualities: critical thinking, sound judgment, emotional stability and maturity, empathy, physical and mental stamina, and the ability to learn and function in various didactic and clinical settings. Graduates of the HIT program must have minimal skills, essential functions, and knowledge to function in multiple clinical settings. 

The faculty of WCJC’s HIT program are responsible for the welfare of the patients treated or otherwise affected by students enrolled in the College and for the educational interest of its students relative to the educational programs of the College. To fulfill this responsibility, the Department Head for the HIT program of the College maintains that specific minimal technical standards must be present in applicants to the HIT educational program of the College. Candidates for the associate of applied science degree must have the following essentials:

  • Motor skills
  • Sensory/observational skills
  • Communication skills
  • Intellectual-conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities
  • Behavioral/social skills and professionalism

The Department Head, in accordance with Section 504 of the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (PL101-336), has established the aforementioned essential functions of students in the HIT educational program offered by WCJC.

The Department Head will consider the essential skills listed in this document for admission applicants who demonstrate the ability to perform or to learn to perform. The College must ensure that patients are not placed in jeopardy by students with impaired intellectual, physical, or emotional functions. Students will be judged not only on their academic accomplishments but also on their physical and emotional capacities to meet the complete requirements of the College’s curricula and to graduate as skilled and effective practitioners.

The essential abilities listed in this document can be accomplished through direct student response, prosthetic or orthotic devices, or personal assistance, e.g., readers, signers, and note-takers. The responsibility for purchasing prosthetic or orthotic devices serving a student in meeting the abilities noted remains with the student and/or agency supporting the student. The College will assist with this accomplishment, as law and institutional policy require.

Upon admission, a student who discloses a properly certified disability will receive reasonable accommodation but must be able to perform the essential functions of the curriculum and meet the standards described herein for the program in which the student is enrolled. Possible accommodations include opportunities for individual and group counseling, peer counseling, linkages with community services, faculty advisory committees whose members are aware of disabled students and their needs, career counseling, assistance with job searches and interview skills, and extended test-taking time, if and when appropriate. Students seeking accommodations should initiate their request in the Office of Counseling and Disability Services, WCJC. 

In addition to the general standards described above, the HIT program requires additional specific criteria as follows:

Additional Specific Technical Standards For Health Information Technology Students-

Empathy, integrity, interpersonal skills, interest, and motivation are all personal qualities necessary to work with other health professionals and supervise employees in health information management. Candidates must possess the emotional well-being required for the full use of their intellectual abilities: the exercise of sound judgment; and the development of mature, sensitive, and effective relationships with their peers, supervisors, subordinates as well as the medical staff and other users of health information management department services. Candidates must adapt to changing environments, display flexibility, and manage stress.

Students in the health information technology program must have the following minimum abilities:

  • Ability to acquire and apply information from classroom instruction, laboratory experience, independent learning, and team projects
  • Ability to communicate effectively in English in oral and written form with colleagues, clerical employees in health information management departments, and other healthcare professionals as part of the healthcare team.
  • Ability to communicate effectively in English in oral and written form with patients, attorneys, workers’ compensation representatives, insurance companies, other third-party payors, and other individuals and agencies who need information from patient records or databases maintained in health information departments
  • Ability to use computers and complete computer-based assignments
  • Ability to function (consult, negotiate, share) as a team
  • Ability to delegate.
  • Ability to read materials used in HIM settings, such as coding manuals, policies and procedures, and patient medical records
  • Ability to calculate mathematical information such as hospital statistics, budgets, and productivity information
  • Manual dexterity is necessary to file medical records and cards and assemble paper medical record forms.
  • Visual ability and manual dexterity are necessary to prepare office layouts and to design forms and computer screens.
  • Ability to operate equipment, word processors, transcription equipment, electronic movable files, copiers, etc.
  • Ability to synthesize information regarding health care outcomes for formal, verbal, and/or written presentation to professionals.

Accreditation

CAHIIM logoThe Health Information Management accreditor of Wharton County Junior College is the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The College's accreditation for the Associate degree in Health Information Management accreditation has been reaffirmed through 2029-2030. All inquiries about the program's accreditation status should be directed by mail to: CAHIIM, 200 East Randolph Street, Suite 5100, Chicago, IL, 60601; by Phone at (312)235-3255; Or by Email at info@cahiim.org. 

View our listing at http://cahiim.org.

Thank you for being interested in the Health Information Technology Program at Wharton County Junior College. If you want a healthcare career and computers rather than direct patient care, health information technology may be the right field for you!

Information concerning the profession, application procedures, technical standards, curriculum, and faculty can be found on this website. 

The application packet can be printed from the Health Information Technology web page. The deadline for returning your completed application is the fourth Thursday in June or until the class is filled. Don't hesitate to contact the Department Head for more information.

We look forward to meeting you and helping you start a career in Health Information Technology.

For additional information, please feel free to contact one of the following:

Debbie Lutringer, RHIA, CTR
Department Head
Phone: (979) 532-6363
Email
: lutringerd@wcjc.edu

Carol Riley
Program Secretary
Phone: (979) 532-6491
Email: carolr@wcjc.edu