This book is designed to meet the needs of students at the beginning of their course of study in health information technology - both as a work-based task-oriented function and as a part of a larger profession of health information management. Individuals who wish to acquire basic knowledge of health information technology and how it fits into the health care arena will find this text useful.

Chapter learning objectives are tied to the American Health Information Management Association's (AHIMA) domains and sub-domains of the Health Information Technology (HIT) curriculum to allow instructors to teach to the credentialing exam and to help students prepare for the exam. Provides job descriptions in every chapter to give students a broader view of the field and show them they many options they have upon graduation. Includes application-oriented exercises and activities in each chapter to make learning more interactive for students and to also fulfill the AHIMA HIT curriculum requirements. Each chapter builds on the previous chapter and encourages the application of key concepts to support comprehensive learning of the material. A clear writing style and easy reading level is appropriate for two-year postsecondary students to make their reading and studying more time-efficient. A comprehensive Instructor's Resource Manual with CD-ROM makes it easier for instructors to develop and teach the course. Evolve provides an interactive learning environment instructors can utilize to work with the text.

Workbook exercises are incorporated into the text to keep the core content and review material close together. Material on statistics have been broken out into a new, separate chapter to give new students a better foundation for learning. New Special Health Records chapter includes information on accreditation and major Health Information Management (HIM) issues. Includes a computer-based health systems chapter to address how HIM is moving to an increasingly electronic environment. A new Confidentiality and Compliance chapter covers HIPAA Privacy regulations.