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Mission, Goals and Communities of Interest
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HIA Mission
The primary purpose of the HIA program at MCG is to prepare
competent entry-level health information management professionals
for a variety of roles within the health care delivery system of the
State of Georgia and the nation. Our department is also committed to
enhancing the visibility of the role of the health information
professional by providing support, continuing education, and
consultation to the general and professional publics as well as the
institution. To further this mission, faculty in the DHI will
participate in the promotion and expansion of excellence in research
and scholarly activities related to healthcare delivery, health
information management, and education.
HIA Program Goals
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The HIA curriculum will include, at a
minimum, the required knowledge cluster content and
experiences to enable students to meet current RHIA
entry-level competencies.
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Faculty will demonstrate current knowledge
and expertise in the areas they teach.
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Graduates will demonstrate RHIA entry-level
competencies.
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The HIA program will provide leadership and
educational opportunities to its community of interest.
Communities of Interest
The Department of Health Informatics (DHI) in the School of
Allied Health Sciences (SAHS) at the Medical College of Georgia
in Augusta, Georgia serves the following communities of
interest:
Students
The MCG is a state-assisted university and is a unit of the
University System of Georgia (USG). Chartered in 1828 as a
single academy to provide instruction in “several branches of
the healing art,” MCG is a major academic health center and a
health sciences university. The Institution, consisting of the
schools of Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Studies,
Medicine, and Nursing, serves a highly focused and specialized
student body. The MCG is committed to the provision of
outstanding educational programs for health professionals,
biomedical scientists, and educators at the undergraduate,
graduate, and postgraduate levels. The MCG is also committed to
lifelong learning through excellence in teaching and the total
development of students in response to the health needs of the
State of Georgia.
The SAHS seeks to prepare students who can make decisions and
achieve higher levels of excellence in their personal and
professional lives. In addition, DHI supports activities
relating to student advising, prospective student counseling,
minority student recruitment and retention of enrolled students.
The Department supports the needs of nontraditional students by
providing part-time enrollment, distance education, and by offering a
post-baccalaureate certificate program to qualified healthcare
professionals and business administration graduates. Faculty in the
Department make every effort to respond to student needs by
providing an educational process which is responsive to the
variability in student aptitude and interest, yet rigorous enough to
ensure that that each acquires the entry-level competencies
necessary to function as a competent health information
professional.
Marketplace
The primary communities served by this Department are healthcare
providers, healthcare institutions, healthcare related industries
such as software vendors, and consulting companies specializing in
coding, billing and reimbursement, and compliance. Graduates of this
program have fulfilled the needs of local, regional, and national
employers. Increasingly, graduates are serving employers in
alternative care settings (such as long-term care and rehabilitative
services).
DHI strives to meet these manpower needs by adjusting the
curriculum to reflect the changes in the healthcare environment. In
addition, faculty members provide consultation services as requested
by employers in a variety of settings. Annually, the Department
conducts a survey of employer satisfaction with graduate
preparation. Survey results are used to assess and modify, if
necessary, the curriculum.
Alumni
Alumni success on the national registration exam and career
success are key indicators of the program’s success. Therefore, the
Department relies on the alumni for feedback and program support.
Alumni are periodically asked to respond to surveys intended to
gather information about their satisfaction with the program and how
well it prepared them to enter the profession upon graduation. In
return for this support by alumni, the Department maintains a job
bank, responds to requests for consultative services, and provides
continuing education programs.
Local, State, and National Professional
Associations
DHI serves the interests of various associations by preparing and
encouraging students and graduates to assume active participation in
professional associations at the local, regional, and national
levels. Faculty members also provide leadership and active
participation in various professional associations at the local,
regional, and national levels.
SAHS and MCG
The Department serves the needs of the School and University by
providing courses in which students in other programs may enroll and
by providing guest lectures in courses of other programs. Faculty
also provide assistance at the Institutional and School levels by
participating on a wide variety of academic administration
committees and by providing consulting services to units of the
University and its sister units in the hospital and clinics.
Other Healthcare Practitioners
DHI assists healthcare practitioners in the community by
providing consultative services and continuing education programs.
This type of service is also provided throughout the state and
nation. Specifically, the Department provides a course offered to
physicians and healthcare practitioners, entitled “Physician’s Guide
to Practice Management.”
Practicum Sites
The Department assists practicum sites by providing students who
are trained in the didactics of the profession. Faculty also provide
consultation and other resources to these facilities.
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