Health Care Administration Program Accreditation There are many things to think about as you look at health care administration programs. Does the school you're considering offer a class schedule that fits your lifestyle? Is the campus close by? Does the program allow you to specialize in your area of interest? These are important questions that you'll need to answer in order to find the best health care administration program for you. In addition to all the standard criteria that you'll use to determine whether a health care administration school is a good match, you should also pay attention to whether their program is accredited. Accreditation is important for several reasons: - It gives you (and your future employers) the assurance that your health care administration program meets rigorous academic requirements and that the skills you'll learn meet industry standards.
- If you want to transfer to a different school during your program, attending an accredited school ensures that you won't lose any credits if you transfer to another accredited health care administration program.
- If you choose to pursue higher education after the completion of your degree, accreditation will ensure that all your credits will transfer.
- Attending an accredited health care administration program will also smooth the way to applying for federal financial aid programs.
 Health Care Administration Program Accrediting Bodies As you investigate the accreditation status of health care administration programs that interest you, look for approval from one of the following agencies: Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) CAHIIM is the accrediting organization for degree-granting programs in health informatics and information management.
http://www.cahiim.org/ Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME) CAHME is the only organization recognized to grant accreditation to individual academic programs offering a professional master's degree in health care management education in the United States and Canada.
http://www.cahmeweb.org Health Care Administration Professional Organizations It's important to be aware of professional organizations in any career field you choose, and health care administration is no exception. You will find opportunities to meet and learn from your peers, establish contacts with potential future employers, and maintain your knowledge of industry news and changing standards. Here are some organizations to be aware of as you prepare to enter the health care administration field: Association of University Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA) AUPHA is a not-for-profit association of university-based bachelor's and master's level educational programs, faculty, practitioners and provider organizations.
http://www.aupha.org American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) ACHE is an international professional society of 30,000 health care executives who lead our nation's hospitals, health care systems and other health care organizations.
http://www.ache.org/ American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA) ACHCA is a non-profit membership organization which provides superior educational programming, certification in a variety of positions, and career development for its members.
http://www.achca.org/ American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) AHIMA is the premier association of health information management (HIM) professionals.
http://www.ahima.org |
