Registered Health Information Administrator / Technician (RHIA / RHIT) HIM Management, Leadership, and Operations Syllabus

What is benchmarking in the context of strategic planning?

Comparing an organization's processes, performance, and metrics against best-practice standards or competitors to identify improvement opportunities.

What is a job analysis and what two documents does it produce?

A systematic study of a job's duties and requirements; it produces a job description (duties, responsibilities, reporting) and a job specification (required skills, education, experience, qualifications).

What is the formula for calculating Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs)?

FTE = total hours worked (or budgeted) divided by the hours in a full-time schedule (e.g., 2,080 hours/year, or 40 hours/week); one full-time employee = 1.0 FTE.

What is the difference between productive and nonproductive hours in workforce planning?

Productive hours are hours actually worked on the job; nonproductive (benefit) hours are paid time not worked, such as vacation, holidays, sick leave, and PTO.

How is employee turnover rate calculated?

Turnover rate = (number of employees who left during a period / average number of employees during that period) x 100.

What is the difference between recruitment and selection in staffing?

Recruitment is attracting and generating a pool of qualified applicants; selection is the process of evaluating and choosing the best candidate from that pool.

What is a work distribution chart used for in HIM operations?

To analyze tasks performed in a department—who does what, how long it takes, and time allocation—to identify duplication, imbalance, and opportunities for improved workflow.

What is the purpose of a performance appraisal (performance evaluation)?

To formally assess an employee's job performance against established standards, provide feedback, support development, and inform decisions on pay, promotion, or corrective action.

What is a 360-degree feedback evaluation?

A multi-rater performance appraisal that collects feedback from supervisors, peers, subordinates, and sometimes customers, plus self-assessment, for a well-rounded view.

What is the 'halo effect' as a performance appraisal rating error?

When a rater allows one positive trait or aspect of an employee to unduly influence the overall rating, inflating scores in unrelated areas (the opposite is the 'horn effect').

What is progressive discipline?

A structured corrective process with escalating steps—typically verbal warning, written warning, suspension, and termination—giving the employee opportunity to correct behavior.

What does the central tendency error refer to in performance appraisals?

A rating error in which the evaluator rates all employees as average/middle of the scale, avoiding high or low ratings and failing to differentiate performance.

What does Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibit?

Employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; enforced by the EEOC.

What does the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulate?

Minimum wage, overtime pay (1.5x for hours over 40/week for nonexempt employees), recordkeeping, and child labor; it also defines exempt vs. nonexempt status.

What protection does the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provide?

Up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for eligible employees for specified family and medical reasons, with continuation of group health benefits.

What does the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) require of employers?

Prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities and requires reasonable accommodations unless doing so causes undue hardship.

What is the difference between exempt and nonexempt employees under FLSA?

Exempt employees (typically salaried executive, administrative, or professional) are not entitled to overtime pay; nonexempt employees must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 per week.

What are the four levels of Kirkpatrick's training evaluation model?

Reaction (did trainees like it), Learning (knowledge/skills gained), Behavior (on-the-job application), and Results (organizational impact/outcomes).

What is the difference between a fixed cost and a variable cost?

Fixed costs remain constant regardless of volume (e.g., rent, salaries); variable costs change in proportion to volume of activity (e.g., supplies, transcription per line).

What distinguishes a capital budget from an operating budget?

A capital budget covers major long-term asset purchases (equipment, buildings) typically above a dollar threshold and used multiple years; an operating budget covers day-to-day expenses (salaries, supplies) for the fiscal year.

What is a budget variance and how is it classified?

The difference between budgeted and actual amounts; a favorable variance means actual results are better than budget (lower cost/higher revenue), an unfavorable variance is worse than budget.

What is zero-based budgeting?

A budgeting method in which every expense must be justified from a 'zero base' each new period, rather than basing the budget on the prior year's amounts.

How is return on investment (ROI) calculated?

ROI = (net gain from investment / cost of investment) x 100, expressing the profitability of an investment as a percentage.

What is depreciation in financial management?

The allocation of the cost of a tangible capital asset over its useful life, spreading the expense across the years the asset provides value.

What core functions are traditionally performed in an HIM department?

Record assembly and analysis, coding, transcription, release of information (ROI), chart/data integrity, record retention and destruction, and registry/data management.

What is a deficiency analysis (record/chart analysis) in HIM operations?

Review of health records for missing signatures, reports, or documentation to ensure completeness and compliance, identifying delinquent records for completion.

What is the difference between quantitative and qualitative record analysis?

Quantitative analysis checks for presence/completeness of required elements (signatures, reports); qualitative analysis reviews documentation quality, consistency, and clinical accuracy.

What is a master patient index (MPI) and why is it critical to HIM operations?

A database that uniquely identifies every patient and links their records across encounters; it is the key to accurate record retrieval and preventing duplicate or overlaid records.

In project management, what are the five process groups defined by the PMBOK?

Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & Controlling, and Closing.

What is a Gantt chart used for in project management?

A horizontal bar chart that displays project tasks against a timeline, showing start/end dates, durations, and overlap to track scheduling and progress.

What is the critical path in project management?

The longest sequence of dependent tasks that determines the minimum project duration; any delay in a critical-path task delays the entire project.

What is the difference between an RFI, RFP, and RFQ in vendor management?

An RFI (Request for Information) gathers general vendor capabilities; an RFP (Request for Proposal) solicits detailed solutions and pricing for a defined need; an RFQ (Request for Quotation) requests specific pricing for clearly defined goods/services.

What is a Service Level Agreement (SLA) in vendor and contract management?

A contractual agreement defining the expected level of service, performance metrics, responsibilities, and remedies/penalties between an organization and a vendor.