Lehigh Carbon Community College (Inactive)

8/15/2024: This program is Inactive and not accepting new enrollments.

November 2021 Accreditation Action: Accept the Progress Report.

Rationale: The program is compliant with all Standards.

Accreditation Award: Continuing Accreditation.

April 2021 Accreditation Action: Grant seven years of Continuing Accreditation with a Progress Report. The program remains non-compliant with the following Standards:

The following Standards are Partially Met:

Standard 4. Program Goals. As stated in the revised PEP, the goal and target outcome for Faculty focus on participation in college-sponsored development activity. Not indicated is how faculty development relates to courses assigned to teach.

Target outcomes for Students & Graduates and Advisory Committee are not measurable, and require clarification.

Standard 6. Faculty Development Goal. As stated in the revised Program Evaluation Plan (PEP), the goal and target outcome for Faculty focuses on participation in college-sponsored development activity. Not indicated is how this faculty development relates to courses assigned to teach, as required by the Standard.

Standard 7. Students and Graduates Goal. As stated, the target outcome measure for graduates taking the RHIT exam is not clear. There is no determination on who this is based on as in all HIT graduates, those completing the exam or first-time test takers.

Standard 9. Target outcomes for Advisory Committee are not clearly measurable, require further clarification.

Standard 24. The Curriculum. The program’s curriculum was reviewed based on the 2014 AHIMA Curriculum Competencies. For the following remaining Partially Met competencies, new assignments submitted in response to deficiencies require further clarification or revision: I.B.3, I.B.4, I.C.1, III.A.2, VI.A.2, VI.D.2, VI.D.3. 

For the Supporting Body of Knowledge (Pathophysiology and Pharmacology), the program was asked to create or identify which course contains content for Pharmacology; no response was found.

Standard 26. Curriculum Syllabi and Competencies.  Some inconsistencies in syllabus format and content remain. Courses taught by Peters (HIT 110, 120, 130, 210) follow a somewhat different format. These syllabi indicate AHIMA competencies by number only and show textbook chapter objectives, not course objectives; evaluation methods are detailed. The same holds for HIT 220 although the instructor is not indicated. The program response indicated that students are given copy of the competencies. The document provided does not link the competencies to the courses.

Standard 28. Professional Practice Experiences. In the HIT 230 syllabus, the Course Description, Course Objectives/College-wide Competencies and Statement of Purpose refer to projects and simulation, not clearly to on-site placement and/or experiences.

The HIT 230 syllabus, and the Guidelines document, provide a start but do not fully address details as to how students will be placed on-site, who may serve as an HIM site supervisor, what students will be expected to do on-site. It is not clear how/when the on-site PPE requirements will be communicated to students.

Consistent with Site Visit Team recommendations, a clear plan is needed with steps and a realistic timeline for building relationships with the healthcare community and establishing contracts to host students. Indicate a date when on-site placement may begin/resume. Summer 2021 is noted on the syllabus.

Standard 29. Health and Safety. The plan for communicating the health and safety requirements to students in advance of the PPE is not clear.