Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is located in Springfield, a suburb of Washington, D.C. It is the second largest school in the United States with more than 78,000 students. NOVA offers two professional certificates and an associate degree in HIT. The Clinical Data Coding two-semester program teaches students to code in the standard classification systems. The Medical Transcription program teaches students to transcribe medical dictations. Courses for both programs include biology, medical terminology, pathology, pharmacology and on-site training. The AAS in Health Information Management combines the coding and transcription programs and teaches students to retrieve, classify and analyze medical data. Health statistics and electronic health record application courses are also required for this degree. Online options are also offered.
Tidewater Community College is in Norfolk and is the second fastest growing two-year college in the United States. With over 40,000 students, TCC offers over 150 degrees and 15 programs for health professions including an Associate of Applied Science in Health Information Technology degree and two Coding Certificates. The AAS program is five semesters and includes coding, classifying, maintaining and analyzing health data which qualifies the graduate for professions like performance improvement specialists and tumor registrars.
DeVry University's Health Information Technology degree can be earned through a mix of in-class and online courses. DeVry requires four full-time semesters, 67 credit hours, and two practicum for the associate degree and qualifying credits can be applied to a bachelor's degree in Technical Management. The online coding and chart management lab is available 24 hours a day. Advanced courses focus on international classification and coding of disease and legal and regulatory issues.
Northwestern is a two-year college that offers its students associate degrees entirely online. The Health Information Technology AAS degree requires 106 credit hours including 40 program-specific, 25 health-related and four credits of computer classes. Courses include medical coding, data modeling and medical information management. Northwestern prepares students to sit for the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) certification exam. Financial aid is available to qualifying students.