MIT Orientation Handout

Medical Information Technology (MIT) graduates prepare medical records and reports, maintain paper and electronic files, order supplies, perform accounting procedures, work with medical insurance and coding, and receive patients in a variety of health care settings. Some of the degree tracks include Medical Administrative, Medical Coding, Electronic Medical Records, Medical Office Management, and Medical Transcription. Students enrolled in the degree or diploma programs are required to complete an internship or capstone course.

Although MIT students can complete more than one degree track, only one track can be applied for in PeopleSoft through the Student Self-Service Center and only one AAS degree will be awarded with the different tracks listed on the student’s diploma and/or student transcript. Once a track is completed, a student must go to the ECTC Records Office to apply for a second track. The student also needs to contact the Financial Aid Office.

Students are assigned an advisor by the ECTC Advising Center. Lisa Cantrell will be the advisor for all MIT students whose home campus is ECTC; if your home campus is located at Ft. Knox, Springfield, or Leitchfield, you will be assigned an advisor from those campuses. Ms. Cantrell’s email address is lisa.cantrell@kctcs.edu and her office is located in Room 151E, Academic Technical Building.

Curriculum is determined by a state-wide committee. Curriculum sheets that list the course requirements for each certificate, diploma, and degree are available from your advisor.

The current KCTCS catalog (in the Academic Curricula section for Medical Information Technology) states: “progression in the Medical Information Technology program is contingent upon achievement of a grade of “C” or better in all required general education and technical courses and maintenance of a 2.0 cumulative grade point average or better (on a 4.0 scale).”

Students majoring in Medical Information Technology who entered Elizabethtown Community and Technical College January of 2007 or after are expected to have a “C” or better in all of the general education and technical courses in the MIT program to graduate with the Associate in Applied Science Degree in Medical Information Technology or receive diplomas or certificates in the program.

The Medical Information Technology program does not accept non-general education courses older than 5 years from returning or transfer students without the consent from the program coordinator (Lisa Cantrell).

The grading scale for all MIT courses is: 92-100% = A; 91-82% = B; 81-72% = C; 71-62% = D; Below 62% = E

The entire MIT program is offered online. All general education classes (e.g. English, quantitative reasoning (math), natural science, heritage/humanities, oral communications, social and behavioral science, and digital literacy) can be taken on campus.

A student wishing to test out of a class (receive credit by passing a comprehensive exam) should do so prior to registration to register for the correct classes. A student must pass a special exam to test out of a class that is a prerequisite for an advanced class before enrolling in the advanced class. Discuss the possibility with your advisor. See the student handbook for details regarding taking special exams. For a specific schedule of test dates, see your program advisor or personnel in the Assessment Center.

Students in the MIT program are expected to always act in a professional manner. Your instructors may be asked to provide references for you prior to employment. Part of becoming a professional involves developing and maintaining a good work ethic, which involves honesty. With the technology of the workplace, employees have more opportunities to access information that does not belong to them. In a work environment, an employee caught “cheating” or “stealing” would usually be dismissed. Students should view their school experience just as they would their job. Anyone who enters the medical profession is expected to be ethical (trustworthy) employees.

Students are expected to complete assignments on their own. Sharing work between students and at online sites is strictly prohibited. If a student is suspected of cheating, the instructor will follow the procedure detailed in the Code of Student Conduct.

Students who are pursuing an AAS degree and/or diploma in MIT are to take the NOCTI (Health Informatics National Exam) their last semester at the beginning of the semester (January or August). Please contact Lisa Cantrell, MIT Program Coordinator, so she can contact the ECTC Assessment Center to order the exam. The exam must be taken through the ECTC Assessment Center.

Equipment is for school business only. Computers and printers are not to be used for personal business. When using printers, please print efficiently to save paper; for example, when printing PowerPoints, print six (6) slides per page. Friends and family members are not allowed to accompany students into the computer labs/classrooms. Students must abide by the terms and conditions of the Computer Acceptable Use Policy for Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.

Students are provided with a KCTCS email address. Students will be expected to check their email regularly for messages from instructors and/or administrative offices, to include KCTCS. Examples of such information may include grades, schedule information, billings, etc. This address is now required to log on to any computer in the classrooms and labs. Personal email accounts should be used only for school business while in school computer labs. No student should check email during a scheduled class unless it is part of the instruction for that class meeting.

Students who purchase books in advance should not remove the cellophane or write in the books until the class has met and you are completely sure it is the correct book. Otherwise, you may not be able to return the books for a refund. Students may return books the first week of classes.

The bookstore is located on the first floor of the Regional Post Secondary building. A limited number of used books may also be available at the bookstore. A schedule of bookstore hours was included in your overall school orientation. Please advise your professor if a required text is not available at the bookstore.

Students are expected to comply with the Code of Student Conduct referred to in the Student Handbook. Complete copies of the Code of Student Conduct are available in Student Affairs and at the ECTC website.

Effective January 2015 ECTC will be a tobacco-free campus.

There will be absolutely no food or drinks allowed in the computer labs/classrooms on campus. This includes candy, chips, water, sodas, etc. If a student is caught with these items, they may be asked to leave the lab/classroom.

The Medical Information Technology Capstone Internship course (MIT 295) is completed during the student’s last semester of study (fall or spring semester—MIT 295 is not offered in the summer). Elizabethtown Community & Technical College students must meet with their advisor during priority registration in the fall or spring semester prior to the semester in which they wish to take MIT 295. This is essential in order to determine enrollment eligibility and allow time for placement of the students.

Since hands-on or practical work experience makes skills more marketable, students in the diploma and degree areas must participate in the internship program. Students are required to complete 120 hours of office work. Internship sites must be approved by the internship instructor, Ms. Lisa Cantrell., CMAA. Internship positions may be paid or unpaid, depending on the employer’s discretion. There is paperwork that the student must sign and have signed by their supervisor and returned to be filed with the instructor.

Students entering the MIT program need to realize that many of the positions where they will be completing their Internship or other employment positions may require a criminal background check, drug testing, a current immunization record, etc. It will generally be the student’s responsibility to take care of those and there may be associated fees.

Each student enrolling in MIT 295 may be required to have a state background check. Instructions regarding this will be covered in the course syllabus. In addition, each student will have an $11 fee assessed to their student account for professional liability insurance.

*If an internship work site is not available, a MOSS Medical Office Simulation access code must be purchased from the ECTC Barnes and Noble Bookstore and the student will be required to shadow someone in their field of study (e.g. medical coding, medical transcription, medical administrative, etc.) for at least 10 hours. (Refer to the MIT 295 course syllabus for more details.)

Graduates completing any of the MIT tracks may be interested in taking one of the national certification exams listed below. Study guides, exam fees, and testing sites are available at their websites.

CEHRS (Certified Electronic Health Record Specialist) through NHA (National Healthcareer Association)
CMAA (Certified Medical Administrative Assistant) through NHA (National Healthcareer Association)
CPC (Certified Professional Coder) through the AAPC (American Association of Professional Coders)
CBCS (Certified Billing and Coding Specialist) through NHA (National Healthcareer Association)

*Students planning to take the CPC certification may choose to take MIT 219 (Coding Exam Preparation) as a program approved course in the curriculum, but this is not a requirement of the program.

Identify a professional association for your health-related career such as coding specialist, medical office manager, medical transcriptionist/scribe, medical administrative assistant, electronic health records specialist, etc. Contact the professional association for these careers and request a membership application. Most applications are available at the professional association’s website (go online to locate the websites for these organizations listed above).

*Joining a professional organization will enhance your resume and is strongly encouraged by the MIT program coordinator

AAPC’s CPC certification is the gold standard in medical coding and represents world-class expertise that is highly sought and well compensated by medical organizations across the country. To take the CPC (Certified Professional Coder) national exam, you must become a member of the AAPC. The cost for membership is approximately $170. I encourage all medical coding students to become a member of the AAPC after completing the medical coding degree or certificate programs. Please go to the following website for more information about the AAPC membership (https://www.aapc.com).

I encourage all MIT students completing the degree, diploma, or certificate programs to take the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) national exam through the National Healthcareer Association and this exam can be taken through the ECTC Assessment Center. For more information about this certification exam go to https://www.nhanow.com. See Lisa Cantrell for CMAA Study Guides.

If school must close for all or part of a day due to inclement weather, students may choose to either check the ECTC website for information or sign up for SNAP alerts on your cell and/or home phone.

Students seeking employment (current as well as graduates) should go to the ECTC website and search for Career Services. Career Services aids with building a professional resume, providing tips for a successful interview, and providing resources for full-time and part-time employment. One of the main services includes assisting students with their career pathway and helping them declare a major. Please contact Ms. Kali Buchanan, ECTC career counselor, at (270) 706-8587.

The Medical Information Technology program is an approved program for the Work Ready Scholarship. You can earn up to 60 credit hours (FREE TUITION) in an Associate of Applied Science degree plan for 4 semesters! Just fill out the FAFSA form. The FAFSA is required, even if you do not receive federal financial aid. A completed FAFSA takes 7-10 days to fully process. Please contact the Financial Aid Office for further details.

Each semester the ECTC Records Office will send out an email announcement to ALL students about graduation. It is crucial that you fill out the appropriate paperwork with the ECTC Records Office or you will NOT receive your degree. As you complete certain MIT certificates, the Records Office will automatically issue these to you in your Student Self-Service Center and you will NOT need to apply for them. Please check your Student Self-Service Center weekly for important messages coming from various ECTC offices.

All MIT advisees should receive a program of study from their advisor, and they are responsible for checking off the classes they have taken and notifying their advisor when they fail a course. Students are required to keep the program of study up to date by marking off completed classes then emailing this list to their advisor at advanced registration as verification that they are aware of the courses they have left to complete the program.