Certificate Accreditation

Certificate Types

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.

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.

Step 1: CAHIIM Accreditation Application Requirements

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 Publication Requirements

Public Disclosure Policy (see CAHIIM Accreditation Manual)

CAHIIM Accreditation Standards require that all accredited programs make available to the public

• Their location and accreditation status.
• Admissions policies and procedures.
• Policies on advanced placement, transfer of credits, and credits for experiential learning.
• Number of credits required for completion of the program.
• Tuition/fees and other costs required to complete the program.
• Policies and procedures for withdrawal and for refunds of tuition/fees.
• Academic calendar.
• Student grievance procedure.
• Criteria for successful completion of each segment of the curriculum and graduation.

The program and its sponsoring educational institution must accurately represent this information and ensure that the information is published and accessible to all applicants and enrolled students.

Programs accredited by CAHIIM must also use the prescribed CAHIIM Accreditation Statement in all materials and online resources that refer to the program’s accreditation status:

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. The Accreditation Statement must also include the CAHIIM Seal graphic in the form provided by CAHIIM.

The CAHIIM Seal is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The Seal is for accredited program use only and is to be used for announcements and published statements of accredited status. Use by programs in Candidacy status or non-accredited status is prohibited. It must be used in its entirety and not modified other than in size. Use of any other CAHIIM logo is prohibited. Use of the seal must be in conjunction with the required Accreditation Statement for Maintaining Accreditation. Accredited programs must document the specific recognized campus in all published media. The Seal is available for all accredited programs in the “Resources” tab of the Annual Program Assessment Report (APAR) system. The login permission for the program director in the system allows the Program Directors to access the information. For CAHIIM-accredited programs, the Seal is available in the following formats: png, tif, eps, jpg.

Program and Student Outcome Data

On an annual basis, the program must post the previous year’s program graduation 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)

Outcome data must be as recent as the academic year reported in the most recent Annual Performance and Accountability Report (APAR). The data must specify the year it represents and be posted within one click of the program’s landing page.

Noncompliance

Yearly, CAHIIM conducts a review of all active accredited programs to confirm compliance with the Public Disclosure policy. If the program is noncompliant with the policy, it is granted 14 days to come into compliance without incurring an administrative fee. If the program remains noncompliant after 14 days, an administrative fee will be charged in accordance with the fee schedule.

If, after 65 days, the program’s website remains noncompliant or incomplete, the program is referred to the programmatic Council for deliberation, who may recommend a written report demonstrating corrective actions, or place the program on show cause for pending accreditation actions.