Associate of Science in Healthcare Administration

The Associate of Science in Healthcare Administration degree program provides students with the foundational skills required for healthcare administration using up-to-date information and technology. Students will gain experience using the practice management software, Medisoft, to learn how to manage patient billing, apply ICD-10, CPT, and HCPCS codes, and use electronic health records software to learn how to manage patient health records.

After students complete the core courses, they can focus on professional tracks in billing and coding, pharmacy technician, and surgical instrument processing to further develop their skills. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment in several healthcare occupations is projected to grow between 7 – 23% between 2018 to 2028. There is expected to be an increase of 23% in need for Medical Office Assistants, which is much faster than the average for other occupations. The demand for Pharmacy Technicians and Medical Records, and Health Information Technicians is expected to be faster than the average for other occupations. This growth is expected due to an ageing population and because federal health insurance reform should increase the number of individuals who have access to health insurance.

After completing the core courses, students are expected to be able to:

Name the parts of the various body systems and discuss the function of each;

Accurately and professionally perform the duties of a medical office professional;

Explain federal and state laws and regulations that affect the health care industry.

Depending on the professional concentration and elective courses chosen, students are expected to be able to:

Professional Concentration: Medical Records, Billing and Coding:

Look up and apply ICD-10, CPT, and HCPCS codes;

Use MediSoft for patient billing;

Process insurance claims;

Use an Electronic Health Record (EHR) program to manage patient health records.

Professional Concentration: Pharmacy Practice:

Identify the knowledge, skills, and job responsibilities of a pharmacy technician;

List the uses and side effects of medications;

Use standard pharmacy reference sources;

Identify the top 200 drugs;

Carry out dosage calculations;

Identify the information contained on medication orders, prescriptions, and drug labels.

Professional Concentration: Central Service/Surgical Instrument Processing:

List the steps to clean, disinfect, sterilize, and package surgical instruments and equipment to prepare for use;

Identify how instruments, equipment, and utensils are transported to prepare for cleaning and reprocessing;

List systems used to track inventory of reusable and disposable supplies, equipment, and instruments for distribution.