ECU, PCC AGREEMENT
ECU, PCC agreement makes highly competitive degree more accessible
The College of Allied Health Sciences at East Carolina University is the only school in North Carolina to offer an accredited undergraduate program in health information management.
And there were only 10 spots available in each of the two most recent incoming classes.
“We’re turning away a lot of high GPAs, but right now that’s all we can do,” said Dr. Susie Harris, the program’s director.
However, a new bilateral agreement between ECU and Pitt Community College could help increase the class size and make it easier for community college graduates interested in higher paying careers in health information technologies to obtain what Harris called one of North Carolina’s “most valuable and sought-after credentials.”
“With all the health data being collected, electronic health records, personal health information, and diagnostic and procedure codes, our graduates are trained to make valuable use out of that data and information,” she said. “Our graduates are the backbone of any health care facility because they know how to code those diagnoses, code those procedures, file the insurance claims, work on the denials and bring in the insurance money.”
Jeffery Norris, a double major in health information management and health services management, prepares for an exam at ECU.
Under an agreement signed by ECU leadership in January, students who graduate from PCC with an associate degree in health information technology can apply credits from their community college level courses toward a bachelor’s degree from ECU. This saves students the time and expense of repeating certain courses in their effort to enter the workforce with a bachelor’s degree and the Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) certification, Harris said.
Nearly a dozen community colleges expressed interest in having a bilateral agreement with ECU, Harris said, but PCC was the first to make it a reality.
Ashleigh Walker, director of PCC’s health information technology program, said the agreement enables students at the community college to better plan their educational and career goals in advance.
“They are able to obtain their two-year associate degree in health information technology, knowing that upon successful completion, they will have already completed half of the requirements for ECU should they wish to apply for a seat in the program at ECU,” Walker said.
“Both schools are longstanding producers of health information professionals in eastern North Carolina,” she added. “And to be able to offer this opportunity to students is a real motivator for students to further their education.”
For more than four decades, ECU graduated classes of roughly 10 to 20 students annually from its health information management program. In 2013, the university stopped admitting students to its undergraduate program due to the creation of its master’s degree program.
“Because there were no other accredited HIM programs in the state, our students had no choice but to pursue their educations in other states and pay out-of-state tuition,” Harris said.
Last year, however, the demand for an in-state undergraduate HIM program prompted ECU to reinstate its program for a limited class size of 10 students. It is the only program in the state accredited by the Commission on Health Informatics and Information Management Education.
Dr. Xiaoming Zeng, chairman of ECU’s Department of Health Services and Information Management, said the new bilateral agreement could potentially help the undergraduate program grow into a full-sized program.
“We certainly want to attract more students and more quality students, so this will be beneficial to those students in finding the next step toward getting a BS degree,” Zeng said. “Of course resources right now are limited, but we are looking toward the future to try to build capacity. And by showing demand from Pitt and other community colleges, that will be the strategy for us in wanting to grow into a full-sized program.”
ECU Assistant Professor Dr. Molly Jacobs gives instruction to health information management student Alexis Brooks.