Certificate Accreditation
In addition to degree programs at the associate, baccalaureate, and master’s levels, CAHIIM accredits certificates, which can be offered in a variety of ways, such as tracks, focuses, or concentrations.
The length of certificate accreditation is currently 7 years, after which programs will have to undergo re-evaluation.
If your program is interested in CAHIIM accreditation, but is not listed here, please reach out to info@cahiim.org to discuss accreditation options.
Certificate Types
Certificate Types
CAHIIM accredits certificate programs in the following areas:
- Change Management
- Clinical Documentation Improvement
- Consumer Health Informatics
- Emergency and Disaster Recovery
- Employee Management and Supervision
- Health Data Science
- Health Informatics
- Health Information Technology
- Health Insurance Customer Service
- Healthcare Data Analytics
- Healthcare Financial Management
- Healthcare Operations Management
- Healthcare Privacy
- Healthcare Release of Information
- Healthcare Security
- Higher Education Administration
- Leadership in Healthcare Industry
- Nomenclature, Classification, and Medical Coding
- Physician Practice Management
- Project Management
- Provider Credentialing Specialist
- Public Health Informatics
- Quality Improvement
- Revenue Cycle Integrity
- Rural Health Administration
- Strategic Leadership
- Telehealth Administration
- …and more.
This is not an exhaustive list of certificates that CAHIIM accredits. If a certificate program not listed here would like to seek CAHIIM accreditation, please reach out to CAHIIM at certificates@cahiim.org for more information or click on the button to apply below.
Digital Health
Digital Health
The Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) worked with the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) to develop Digital Health Standards and Competencies for two new certificates:
Digital Health Professional (undergraduate level)
Digital Health Leader (graduate level)
Competencies for both certificates were developed by CHIME.
Initial Accreditation
Certificate Initial Accreditation
Candidacy Status Application Process
Timing: Program assesses readiness for application for accreditation.
Digital Health Professional/Leader (DHP/DHL) Only:
Program Leadership: Have hired a permanent Program Director that meets the minimum qualifications in the Standards for program leadership. The position must be full time throughout the application process.
Institutional requirements: The sponsoring institution is accredited by a regional or national accrediting institutional organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) to offer a degree or the sponsoring institution accredited by a national accreditor with USDE provisions their Grant for Accreditation for establishing eligibility to participate in Title IV programs. Upon request, the applying campus program must provide the OPEID number assigned by the U.S. Department of Education as proof of participation for financial aid. State Board of Education approvals must also be completed.
Certificate Accreditation Timeline
- Self-assessment (2 months)
- CAHIIM initial review (2 weeks)
- Programs response to CAHIIM’s initial review (2 weeks)
- Industry Reviewers (1 month)
- Program’s response to industry review (2 weeks)
- Industry review of response (1 month)
- Board approval (next meeting)
Step 1: CAHIIM Accreditation Application Requirements
1. Syllabus (1)
Programs must submit a sample syllabus for one of the courses in the certificate program.
2. Synopsis of Curriculum
List all required courses in the certificate curriculum (general education and the professional course) for each specific quarter/trimester/semester within the total curriculum sequence. Please use the Certificate Synopsis of Curriculum Form, found below.
3. Profile Page
The profile page is an Excel document which provides CAHIIM with general information about the program.
Digital Health Professional/Leader (DHP/DHL) Only
4. Curriculum Vitae for the Program Director
Current employment must be up-to-date.
Step 2: Staff Review of Application
The application will be reviewed upon receipt of all application requirements.
CAHIIM senior staff reserves the right to make final administrative decisions of a program’s application status with CAHIIM.
Step 3: Candidacy Status Decision and Description
Denied: An application may be rejected if it does not meet the conditions for application or there are documented issues of non compliance with the Standards at anytime.
Accepted: Accepted into CAHIIM Candidacy Status.
CAHIIM Candidacy Status Description – An application stage while the Candidate program is allowed to complete the Self Assessment information and documentation in the online system.
An applicant program allowed into Candidacy Status is:
1. assigned a CAHIIM Educational Program Code (EPC)
2. assigned a Self Assessment Due Date
3. assigned a Candidacy Status expiration date
4. Sent Invoice for the Candidacy Status Fee
Step 4: Self-Assessment Stage: Program Submits information based on the Standards
During this stage, candidate certificate programs will complete a self-assessment in the CAHIIM Accreditation System (CAS), designed to evaluate program compliance with the required standards.
Step 5: CAHIIM Review
A formal staff review and assessment of the information submitted. An assessment will be provided, and a request for clarification or additional information may be requested.
Step 6: Peer Review
The peer review of the program verifies the accuracy of documentation submitted by the program. After the peer review is concluded, the program will receive a Peer Review report.
Step 7: Program Response
A formal response to the peer review results is requested from the program director.
Step 8: Board Review
An accreditation recommendation and accreditation decision is provided to the program at the next available meeting.
Website Requirements
Website Publication Requirements
CAHIIM is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). As part of that recognition, accredited programs are required to publish student outcomes, in addition to our other public disclosure requirements.
The following items must be located on the main “landing page” for the academic program, rather than on sub-pages which require clicking a link from the landing page. It is, however, acceptable for this information to exist on expandable/collapsible sections of the landing page.
Programs submit the link to their landing page as part of their Annual Program Assessment Report (APAR).
For questions about these requirements, please contact info@cahiim.org.
Required Items
1. CAHIIM Seal
To obtain a copy of this image file, log into the APAR system and clicking “Resources”, then “CAHIIM accredited Logo graphic files.zip”
2. Accreditation Statement
The [HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT/HEALTH INFORMATICS] accreditor of [COLLEGE NAME] is the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). The College’s accreditation for [ASSOCIATE/BACCALAUREATE/MASTER] degree in [HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT/HEALTH INFORMATICS] has been reaffirmed through [YEAR OF NEXT ACCREDITATON CYCLE]. All inquiries about the program’s accreditation status should be directed by mail to CAHIIM, 200 East Randolph Street, Suite 5100, Chicago, IL, 60601; by phone at (312) 235-3255; or by email at info@cahiim.org.
3. Student achievement/outcomes
Program must post program graduation rate AND employment rate, as well as at least one (1) of the following:
i. retention rate
ii. academic transfer
iii. graduate school entry
iv. 4-year undergraduate program entry/ Academic progression rate
v. student satisfaction rate
vi. certification exam pass rate (if applicable)
These outcomes must list the date and can be no older than the last full academic year.
Program can post as many more outcomes as desired; these are minimum requirements.
Definitions
CAHIIM does not require programs to use the following definitions, as these will not be applicable to all programs. If a program’s institution defines a particular rate in a different way, the program may use their institutional definition. The following definitions serve as examples.
Graduation rate – the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who complete their program within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, for a four-year degree program, entering students who complete within six years are counted as graduates (Definition from FAFSA). This cannot simply be a total number of graduates; it must be a rate.
Employment rate – the percentage of graduates from a program who are employed within a specified time frame. Program must specify the time frame (Ex. Within 6 months of graduation). Generally, graduates pursuing further education are not included in the total. For example: A program with 4 graduates, where 2 gained employment and 2 entered a graduate program would report a 100% (2/2) employment rate. Programs may choose to differentiate employment rate within a related field (healthcare) from the overall employment rate.
Retention rate – the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who continue at that school the next year. For example, a student who studies full-time in the fall semester and keeps on studying in the program in the next fall semester is counted in this rate (Definition from FAFSA).
Academic transfer – the percentage of a school’s first-time, first-year undergraduate students who transfer to another college within 150% of the published time for the program. For example, a student who is in a four-year degree program is counted as a transfer if the student goes to another college within six years (Definition from FAFSA).
Graduate school entry rate/4-yr undergraduate program entry – the percentage of a school’s graduates who enter a graduate program upon completion of the program.
4-year undergraduate program entry rate/Academic progression rate – the percentage of a school’s graduates who progress to a 4-year undergraduate program upon completion.
Student satisfaction rate – the percentage of students who have acknowledged satisfaction with their educational experience in the program, based on a student satisfaction survey.
Certification exam pass rate – the percentage of students who tested and passed the applicable certification exam for the program. For example, the pass rate for RHIT (Associate HIM programs) or RHIA (Baccalaureate HIM programs). NOTE: There is currently no applicable certification exam for Health Informatics programs.