HIT Reaccreditation Propels Program Chair to National Stage

Health Information Technology instructors at Edgecombe Community College are (from left) Jean Foster, Carla Gray, Christine Keel, and Nacole Everette, program chair. Because of an outstanding program reaccreditation site visit, Everette was invited to speak on ECC best practices at a national workshop for HIT educators in May.

For 18 months, Edgecombe Community College submitted mounds of data during its Health Information Technology (HIT) department reaccreditation process. When word came down last year, the College had hit the benchmark in all 33 standards except one, which was partially met.

“I was humbled to hear so many positive comments,” says HIT Program Director Nacole Everette. “I was beyond excited that the program had done so well through the process.

“I think it reaffirmed that what we do in the classroom benefits our students.”

The Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM), is the independent organization that accredits health information programs across the country to ensure schools are meeting necessary standards.

Everette says that after months of providing documents to CAHIIM, the December site visit to the Tarboro campus was the final piece of the puzzle. The CAHIIM representative told ECC officials that she had never participated in a smoother, more well-organized site visit.

It went so well that Everette was invited to speak at the CAHIIM national workshop in May in Chicago.

“I was humbled to go to Chicago and talk about our best practices,” Everette says. “I’ve been in this profession for 20 years, and I love working at Edgecombe Community College. It enables me to mentor our future health care professionals. But going to Chicago enabled me to mentor my colleagues.”

Everette is quick to point out though that she directs the Health Information Technology program at the College, the program’s success is a team effort. Everette, along with the rest of the HIT faculty – Jean Foster, Carla Gray, and Christine Keel – have more than 50 years of combined health information management experience.

According to Everette, reaccreditation of the HIT program by CAHIIM enables ECC students to continue to be eligible for health information certification exams, including those for the Registered Health Information Technician certification, or RHIT.

“That credential is what makes our students marketable in the profession,” she explains.

Through its Health Information Technology curriculum, Edgecombe offers a two-year associate in applied science degree, a one-year coding diploma, a coding certificate, a protected health information certificate, an ambulatory billing/coding certificate, and a hospital ambulatory coding certificate.

The most common job after college for HIT graduates is in medical coding and billing. Another popular job is information analyst, who is in charge of releasing medical records to the appropriate individual or facility.

“A Health Information Technology degree provides students with the knowledge and skills to process, analyze, abstract, compile, manage, and report health information,” Everette says.

She has been with Edgecombe Community College since 2011, after leaving a health information management position at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. Currently, the program has 107 students enrolled full time and another 69 pre-HIT students.

“I am honored to serve our students at Edgecombe Community College,” Everette says. “They encourage me daily through their hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and determination.”

And that half-point deduction in one of 33 standards scrutinized by CAHIIM? It was related to Everette’s workload. CAHIIM said she teaches too many HIT classes in addition to her administrative duties.

Everette’s impact on the health information technology profession will continue to grow through her impact on ECC students and HIT professionals. CAHIIM also recommended that Everette become a CAHIIM Accreditation Peer Reviewer.