Healthcare Administrative Specialist A.A.S. Degree

Healthcare Administrative Specialist A.A.S. Degree

Career Description

Healthcare Administrative Specialist is ideal for individuals who would like a career in healthcare, but are not interested in the hands-on patient care. The medical community depends on educated staff to collect, interpret, analyze, protect and organize medical information so that it may be used for continuity of care, reimbursement, and quality improvement. Health administrative professionals work closely with providers, nurses, researchers, and other healthcare staff to contribute to the quality of patient care behind the scenes. Employment opportunities exist in hospitals, clinics, long-term facilities, nursing homes, physician offices, medical group practices, behavioral health facilities, insurance agencies, home health agencies, consulting firms, government agencies, insurance based healthcare companies, and medical supply organizations.

Program Information

The 60-credit Healthcare Administrative Specialist Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) program graduate is prepared to assume duties in the field including basics of ICD and CPT coding, reimbursement methodologies, quality assessment, legal, accreditation, and electronic health record systems. In addition to the diploma skills, graduates of the A.A.S. program will be able to use and maintain electronic applications and work processes to support healthcare business procedures, workflow, and reform; identify and prevent fraud and abuse while maintaining corporate compliance including HIPAA and HITECH; conduct analysis to ensure the documentation in the health record supports the diagnosis and reflects the patient’s progress, clinical findings, and discharge status; and to support physician reimbursement and revenue cycle management.

Program Outcomes

Graduates will be able to:

  • Demonstrate understanding of how their role fits into and affects their department, other departments, and the organization;
  • Identify and utilize appropriate technologies used to capture, retrieve, and maintain information from internal and external sources;
  • Apply knowledge of human structure and function, diseases and disorders, and medical terminology as it relates to their healthcare role;
  • Apply policies, procedures, and regulation standards surrounding issues of access and disclosure of protected health information and organizational compliance;
  • Evaluate the revenue cycle management process (emphasis on billing procedures);
  • Analyze documentation in the health record to ensure it supports the diagnosis and reflects the patient’s progress, clinical findings, and discharge status;
  • Demonstrate effective verbal and written communication within the healthcare environment;
  • Describe positive work behaviors, personal traits and attitudes desirable in members of a healthcare team; and
  • Explain accepted ethical practices with respect to cultural, social, religious and ethnic differences within the healthcare environment.

Special Program Requirements

In addition to the program requirements listed above, students must meet the following conditions in order to graduate:

  • College Cumulative GPA Requirement: The cumulative grade point average (GPA) must be at least 2.0
  • College Technical Core GPA Requirement: The cumulative GPA of credits in the technical core of the diploma or degree must be at least 2.0
  • Residency Requirement: students must complete 25% of their credits at Central Lakes College.

Admissions

The A.A.S. degree and diploma are offered as full-time programs. Students can start at the beginning of fall or spring. This program is a combination of in-class room, hybrid (both in-class, LiveOnline and online), and online formats. Students pursuing the A.A.S. degree will find the second year courses are offered in an online format to allow for employment while completing the degree.

Employment Statistics

For more information regarding employment statistics, career salary information and estimated job growth, follow the resource links below:

https://apps.deed.state.mn.us/lmi/ces/
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/home.htm
Salary information from indeed.com

Program Course Requirements

Required Discipline Courses (45 credits)
BIOL 1404+ Human Biology (Goal 3) OR
HINS 1122 Body Structures & Functions for Healthcare Professionals, 3 cr
BUSN 1132 Workplace Skills & Professionalism, 1 cr
BUSN 1162 Customer Relations, 3 cr
BUSN 1166 Business Communications, 3 cr
COMP 1102 Introduction to Keyboarding, 1 cr
COMP 1120 Introduction to Computer Applications, 3 cr
HINS 1120 Intro to Health Info Privacy & Security, 1 cr
HINS 1144* Pharmacology for Healthcare Admin, 1 cr
HINS 1150* Introduction to DX and Procedure Coding, 3 cr
HINS 1152* Medical Insurance and Billing, 2 cr
HINS 1163 Medical Office Procedures, 2 cr
HINS 1165 Medical Records Management, 3 cr
HINS 1360 Medical Terminology, 3 cr
HINS 2144 Legal Aspects of Healthcare, 2 cr
HINS 2148 Healthcare Management & Organization, 3 cr
HINS 2172* Reimbursement Methodology, 2 cr

Students must select a minimum of nine (9) credits from the following courses:
BUSN 1102 Introduction to Accounting, 3 cr
BUSN 2126 Business Financial Management, 3 cr
COMP 1134 Microsoft Outlook Comprehensive, 1 cr
COMP 1135 Microsoft Excel Comprehensive, 4 cr
HINS 2140*+ Advanced Medical Coding, 4 cr
HINS 2142* Medical Coding Certification Prep, 1 cr
HINS 2190 Professional Practicum, 2 cr

Required MnTC Courses
COMM 1420 Interpersonal Communications (Goal 1) OR
COMM 1422* Honors Interpersonal Comm (Goal 1), 3 cr
COMM 2420 Intercultural Communication (Goal 1,7) OR
COMM 2422* Honors Intercultural Comm (Goals 1,7),  3 cr

The following MnTC courses are recommended:

BIOL 1404+ Human Biology, 3 cr
ECON 2402 Microeconomics (Goal 5), 3 cr
ENGL 1410* Composition I (Goal 1) OR

ENGL 1420* Honors Composition I (Goal 1),  4 cr

Additional MnTC courses, As needed to complete 60 credits

*Denotes Prerequisites
+Students intending to transfer please meet with the program instructor to discuss MN Transfer suggested courses. 
+Students intending to pursue the medical coding certification should take HINS 2140 and BIOL 1404.

An A.A.S. degree requires a minimum of 15 credits selected from at least three of the ten goal areas of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC).

GRADUATION REQUIREMENT – 60 CREDITS

Program Instructors

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