Program Name:
Health Information Technology
PLO Assessment Procedure:
The PLO Assessment is based upon the analysis of the course learning outcomes for each
course in the health information technology (HIT) curriculum. The HIT program has 72 course
learning outcomes that must be assessed in the Fall and Spring of each academic year. The
HIT program has attempted to assess each course within the past two years. The following
courses have not been assessed HTHTEK 100 Introduction of Health Information Technology,
HTHTEK 106 Hospital Ethics and Law, and HTHTEK 133 Medical Terminology. Dorothy Roane
refused to participate in the collection and analysis of the course learning outcomes for those
course.
Benchmark per PLO:
Upon completion of the course(s) linked to the program learning outcomes, 80% of the students
will be successful in passing the courses with a grade of "C" or better.
Analysis of Program PLOs
1. What did you learn from the assessment of your Program Learning Outcomes?
During the past two years, the HIT program had to revise the curriculum by adding
pre-requisites or co-requisites to the courses so that students would take the courses in
sequence. When students take courses out of sequence, they are usually not successful
because they are not able to relate to the instructor when he or she is lecturing. There
continues to be a problem when students register for courses. The Student Information
System allows the student to register for courses when they have not completed the
pre-requisite or registered for the co-requisite.
2. In what areas did students excel?
Students indicated that participatory exercises (group sessions, students demonstrating coding in front
of the class), helped them to better understanding course concepts. Further, they stated that they now
realized that this course requires a great deal of reading and practice in order to full grasp coding
concepts. Most students completed assigned activities and were able to select appropriate CPT codes
and modifiers for their level of knowledge. Through the practice of using the 3M encoder, the students
were able to assign and select appropriate diagnosis and procedure codes. Through the instruction of
applying the highest specificity the students were able to apply the logic for DRG coding. Most students
are able to utilize research methods to gather data. Students were able to identify work flow
opportunities for improvement.
3. What issues and needs were revealed?
It appears students need more remedial math classes. It has been detected that student do not prep or read before they come
to class. This pertains to all courses in the HIT program. They wait for the instructor to read, lecture on the chapter and work
the exercises in class. Students new to the HIM program did not know the meaning of CPT codes or ICD-10 codes. The
classes should be sequenced and the Healthcare Statistics class should not be taken until the student has completed the
introductory/core HIM courses, as well as, CPT & ICD-10 courses. Some of the students did not know what a MS DRG or
outliers are because they have not completed their core HIM classes, therefore they are unable to relate and understand the
statistic they are required to compute. Some students don't buy the course book but rely on taking a picture of the chapters
with their cell phone or photocopying the pages. These students did not do well in the class. There were also disruptive
students in the class. The students did not do well even when they were given a take home test. Students were relying on the
Professor grading on a Curve in order to pass the course. There needs to be additional prerequisites for the HIT Statistics
class before a student can enroll in the class. Student struggled with critical thinking when math problems were presented as
word problems. The students also struggled with the understanding and interpreting of the healthcare statistics.
4. Describe any additional assessment that is needed in order to more fully understand your
students, their progress and outcomes.
The Program Director needs to figure out how students are able to take HTHTEK 207
Introduction to Healthcare Statistics before taking the core courses within the program.
The Program Director needs to review the course learning outcomes to make sure the
program has the correct assessment tool(s) linked to the PLOs/CLOs.
5. Describe any request for evaluation that you plan on making to OIEA to gain a better
understanding of student success in your programs.
There are no plans at this time.
6. Please describe how you will use the course assessment for course improvement. (Note:
only describe course assessment results associated with the Program of Study.)
For each course that did not meet the benchmark, the Program Director and the Instructor
of Record will implement a plan on how to improve the results. For the courses that did
meet the benchmark, the Program Director and the Instructor of Record will review the
course to make it better to ensure that we are covering all the subject matter that is need
for that topic.
7. Please describe how you will use the program assessment results for program
improvement.
The Program Director will work with each Instructor of record for the courses that did not
meet the benchmark. This will allow the Instructor to revise their course syllabus which in
turn with assist the student in being successful within the course. The Program Director will
work with each Instructor of record for the courses that did meet the benchmark to see if we
can make the course better by adding update exercises to the course.
8. What changes in instruction, support services, and technologies will contribute to
improved student outcomes?
ELAC is the only college within the District that offers the Health Information Technology Program. Over the past
two years, the enrollment of this program has been on a steady increase. The major key to continued success of
this program is for the College to continue with or perform the following activities:
1) Continue to financial support the AHIMA Virtual-Lab for all HIT students.
Justification: Students can access and experience state-of-the-art software like the master patient index (MPI), EHR
(Cerner), encoders, electronic document management systems (EDMS), and other applications they'll regularly use
in the working world. Lessons and activities designed specifically for the lab applications allow students to test their
skills and decision-making ability without jeopardizing the privacy, security, or integrity of real medical records.
2) Be allowed to participate in recruitment activities such as the 2015-2016 Black College Expo. Justification: This
will allow the program to increase the diversity among the students within the program.
3) Be able to offer a stipend for hospitals and healthcare organizations that will accept students for their directed
practicum. Justification: There continues to be fewer and fewer HIM Departments that are willing to accept
students. This stipend could encourage the HIM Director to accept students which in turn will build a better
relationship between ELAC and the organization.
4) Provide financial support to all HIT faculty so they can attend AHIMA Assembly on Education (AOE) every two
years. Justification: AHIMA AOE provide faculty development to HIM professionals who teaches in a HIM/HIT
programs. The Assembly on Education is the educator community. Increasingly this group also represents the
workforce. The annual AOE symposium is a large gathering of HIM educators that is often used as an opportunity to
get feedback and input from key stakeholders that the CEE, CCHIIM and CAHIIM represent.
5) The HIT program could utilize the services of a Web-page designer to enhanced the HIT program section of ELAC
website. Justification: ELAC HIT program needs the ability to compete with the other programs such as Cypress
College and Santa Barbara College on-line.
6) Purchase 75 tablets where the student can access AHIMA Virtual Lab. Justification: Some of the HIT classrooms
where lecture is held do not have computer access for the students. This will allow the students the ability to perform
the different exercises for that particular course during class time. The program would also need storage containers
to house the tablets.
9. Referring to your SLO Four Colum Report located in TracDat, describe any actions that
have been made as a result of your SLO assessments and what additional resources are
needed in order to complete these action plan.
Due to Dorothy Roane not participating in collecting and analyzing course learning
outcomes, she has been reassigned to teach HTHTEK 133 Medical Terminology. By
having Dorothy to teach this course, as the Program Director, I can use the overall grade of
the course to see if the students are meet the course learning outcomes.
Additional Resources: The HIT Program would need an additional full-time faculty to assist
with teaching courses, assisting the Program Director with the collecting, analyzing
PLOs/CLOs and participate with recruitment. Justification: If the current full-time faculty
was to leave the current position, the HIT program will not be in-compliance with CAHIIM
(accrediting body). CAHIIM requires all HIT programs to have two full-time faculty at all
time.
Hire a Professional Expert to tutor the students in the four required coding courses within
the program. Justification: A Professional Expert that has the RHIA, RHIT or CCS
credential with several years of coding experience can assist the students in being
successful in these courses.
The College needs to contiune to support the program with additional clerical support such
as