Dakota State University is migrating to  Microsoft Office 2007, which has the capability of converting 2003 Microsoft Office documents. Homework will be done using Microsoft software such as Word, Excel, Access, and PowerPoint. At a minimum, you will need access to a Microsoft Office product for the programs and compatibility with the course work. 

If you elect to not participate in the migration to Office 2007 at this time and use Office 2003 for now, you should run this update so that your old Office programs can properly read the files of the people who do choose to upgrade to Office 2007.

http://homepages.dsu.edu/boldtj/filez/FileFormatConverters.exe 

You are encouraged to update to Office 2007.  You can do that by purchasing a copy of it from DSU at a minimal charge.  Please contact me if you wish to purchase a copy.  DSU has a licensing agreement with Microsoft to provide students the copy.

Below is an URL, which you might find helpful in answering your computing questions. The link provides links to answer general DSU computing questions and many other “tech” and policy questions.

http://support.dsu.edu/

Computer Skills Used:
WebCT is the course management software used on the DSU campus.  The entire class will be taught within WebCT.  We will use the email, discussion board, assignments, gradebook, and other functions.

As stated above, we will use Microsoft Office products; for the most part, Word.  Excel,  PowerPoint, or Access could be used minimally.

Instructional Methodologies:
Written lecture notes, assignments/projects, discussions, and any other information will be obtained from the class Web site.  Independent reading assignments are required from the adopted course text book and any other publications the instructor deems valuable to the learning experience.

The instructor reserves the right to make adjustments in this course to better meet the needs of students or the intent of the course.

Students are expected to complete every class by reading the posted materials and completing assignments and/or projects due at the time designated. If an assignment/project is completed late without prior arrangements or a legitimate reason, it will be scored at a lesser rate.   Unless advance arrangements have been made, there will be no make-up tests.   There will not be grade penalties for pre-approved make-up tests.  Any missed tests will constitute a zero for that test.

Discussion boards will be utilized at the course web site for the purpose of having a class discussion. Students will attend "class" at their leisure from home, school, or work on a weekly basis. Class participation will be based on comments made to the class discussion board pertaining to the topic assigned.  Comments must be written clearly and grammatically correct in order to receive all of the discussion points.  All students must participate in the discussion weekly unless otherwise directed.  The instructor will post the discussion question, but will not participate in the discussion, as not to influence students' points of view.  Any comment I have about your comments will be posted the week following.

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Professionalism:

Your university experience is developed in order to prepare you for the professional world that you will be embarking upon once completing the required course work. In order to assist with this preparation, your class work will be treated as work assignments delegated to you in a professional setting. The instructor will be treated as though she is your boss/supervisor/team leader at work and appropriate behavior is expected.

Academic Honesty Policy: 

 Ethical conduct is a requirement.  Cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty including the acquisition without permission of tests or other academic material belonging to a member of the University faculty or staff, or the providing of one’s own work in hard copy or on disk to another student for the purpose of copying any portion is not allowed.

Disciplinary action as deemed appropriate by the instructor will result as a consequence to unethical conduct regarding completion of this course.  All the students are required to work independently in this class.  Any forms of cheating will result in a grade of 'F'.  The following is a link to the University policy concerning academic honesty:  http://www.departments.dsu.edu/hr/newsite/policies/040500.htm

 I will follow the recommendations stated in DSU's academic dishonesty policy.

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ADA Statement: 

If you have a documented disability and/or anticipate needing accommodations (e.g., non-standard note taking, test modifications) in this course, please contact the me. Also, please contact Dakota State University’s ADA coordinator, Keith Bundy in the Student Development Office located in the Trojan Center Underground or at 256-5121, as soon as possible. The DSU website containing additional information, along with the form to request accommodations is http://www.departments.dsu.edu/disability_services/. You will need to provide documentation of your disability. The ADA coordinator must confirm the need for accommodations before officially authorizing them.  

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Learning Objectives :

It is essential that the students gain factual knowledge; learn fundamental principles, generalizations, or theories; learn to apply course material; and acquire an interest in learning more by asking questions and seeking answers.  It is also important that the students develop specific skills, competencies, and points of view needed by professionals in the health information profession; acquire skills in working with others as a member of a team; develop skills in expressing oneself orally or in writing; and learn to analyze and critically evaluate ideas, arguments, and points of view.

At the end of this course the students will be able to:

  1.  plan and organize health information service operations.
  2.  identify/write mission statements, goals, plans and objectives.
  3.  develop, apply, and evaluate policies and procedures for health information services/functions
       incorporating applicable legal, ethical, accrediting, licensing and institutional requirements.
  4.  analyze health information services and construct a systematic flow of information.
  5.  determine staffing needs for a Health Information Department.
  6.   identify and describe employee responsibilities.
  7.  design an appropriate Health Information Department organizational chart.
  8.  design schedules and staffing patterns to meet the needs of a Health Information Department.
  9.  understand principles of job analysis.
10.  write criteria based job descriptions.
11.  recruit, interview, hire, orient and train personnel for a Health Information Department.
12.  construct and interpret project planning tools (i.e., GANTT and PERT charts).
13.  apply principles of space management through design of a Health Information Department floor plan.
14.  apply implementation principles to a new/revised system.
15.  determine Health Information Department equipment and supply needs.

After successfully completing HIM 360 Management of Health Information Centers I , the student will be able to master the following tasks  and knowledge clusters identified by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) accreditation organization.

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Course Outline:

Posted Weekly each Thursday:

• written lectures with assignments and quizzes
• discussion (web) board
• periodic testing

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Evaluation Procedures:

Four tests are scheduled for this course; three of these will be administered throughout the semester and the fourth one during the final examination period. These tests may consist of multiple-choice, true/false, matching, short answer, situational and/or essay questions. Tests will be administered utilizing a proctor, or at the DSU site.

Information regarding expectations, point value and due date of assignments/projects will be provided at the time the assignment is made.  Grades will be posted to the web site and updated after each test. 

Evaluation components include:

• Tests (4) 60%

• Quizzes 15%

• Assignments/Quizzes/Discussion Board 25%

The weighted evaluation components will be combined to receive one final grade. The following fixed-percentage scale is used to determine final grades:

The mid-term grade will be reflective of all evaluation components scheduled for completion up to and through mid-term week.

Should a student's cumulative grade calculation fall near or on the borderline of two letter grades, the instructor will give consideration to that student's discussion board participation, effort, and attitude in determining the final grade assignment for the course.

Students are reminded that they must earn at least a "C" in this course to fulfill HIA graduation requirements. If a student receives less than a "C" as a final grade, he/she may not complete HIM 485 or write the national certification exam.

Formula for calculating your final grade:

((Total Test Points Earned/Total Test Points Available) * .60) + (Quiz Points Earned/Quiz Points Available) * .15) + (Total Assignment Points Earned/Total Assignment Points Available) * .25)) *100

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Freedom in Learning Statement:  Students are responsible for learning the content of any course of study in which they are enrolled. Under Board of Regents and University policy, student academic performance shall be evaluated solely on an academic basis and students should be free to take reasoned exception to the data or views offered in any course of study.  It has always been the policy of Dakota State University to allow students to appeal the decisions of faculty, administrative, and staff members and the decisions of institutional committees.  Students who believe that an academic evaluation is unrelated to academic standards but is related instead to judgment of their personal opinion or conduct should contact the dean of the college which offers the class to initiate a review of the evaluation.

Early Alert:  We have an early alert system at DSU.  If you do not attend class, have a disruptive class behavior, or are not performing well, your instructor will 'alert' student services.  The staff in student services will contact you to advise you on methodologies that will improve your classroom status.

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Minimum Course Bibliography:

Office Systems Management, ninth edition, by John Stallard and George R. Terry.
Case Study Manual, 1998 update
Productivity, A Handbook for Health Record Departments, by Margret Amatayakul and Lou Ann Schraffenberger.
The Effective Health Care Supervisor, second edition, by Charles R. McConnell.
Managing Health Records, Administrative Principles, by Joan Liebler.
Professional Practice Guideline references published by AHIMA.
Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals, 2007, Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
Administrative Office Management, tenth edition, by Kallaus and Keeling.

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Tentative Course Schedule (Please Note:  Refer to the Course Schedule from the 'Course Schedule' link on the course home page for current updates and assignments.)