The Health Information Management (HIM) bachelor’s degree program at William Carey University has been ranked No. 5 nationwide by Healthcare Management Degree Guide.
“This is another example of the pre-eminence of WCU health education in South Mississippi and the Gulf Coast region. Dr. Haney and his Health Information Management team are to be commended for this national recognition,” said WCU President Dr. Tommy King.
In choosing the country’s Top HIM programs, Healthcare Management Degree Guide considered only those accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education.
Healthcare Management Degree Guide: “WCU’s innovative health information management program prepares students to manage health care data and maintain complex information systems. Students complete a professional practice experience to gain competency in areas like problem-solving and management in healthcare or a closely related setting. A professional development seminar course provides students with the skills and strategies needed for networking and career development.”
HIM programs were also evaluated on student-faculty ratio, graduation rate and net tuition rate.
William Carey University HIM program’s 15:1 student-faculty ratio, 47 percent graduation rate, and $10,397 tuition earned it the No. 5 spot – and all five top finishers received the same number of points.
What HIM graduates say“When William Carey’s program launched in 2016, it had a face-to-face format. We transitioned to a hybrid model in 2018, and finally decided to go all-online in 2019. It makes more accessible for students and enrollment is growing steadily,” said Dr. Jude Haney, director of the HIM program.
“We’ve got HIM graduates at hospitals and clinics all over Mississippi. It’s rewarding to have that kind of impact in students’ lives, to help them develop the skills to get good, stable jobs and provide for their families.”
HIM alumni Devoskiea Poole and Ketyra Clayton work for Forrest General Hospital’s Health Information Management Department.
Devoskiea Poole is originally from Prentiss. His family moved to Hattiesburg after Hurricane Katrina, and he attended Oak Grove High School. His mother is a William Carey alum, and Poole graduated from WCU in 2021.
“William Carey was a great option for me. The connection between students and teachers is so important. Carey professors did a great job of explaining things to me so I could understand. They prepared me to go further in my career than I even expected for myself,” Poole said.
Today, Poole is an inpatient certified coder – he gets the records of a patient’s stay ready for billing.
Ketyra Clayton graduated in 2016, part of the inaugural class of WCU’s Health Information Management program. Clayton is the hospital’s commercial denials coordinator, which means she reviews and investigates in-patient denials for commercial insurance payers and Medicare Advantage plans.
“Since I was a child, I’ve loved the way the campus seemed so quiet and peaceful. I had a great experience when I toured the campus. It’s Christian-oriented, and that’s a big factor in my life. The faculty and staff are encouraging, always open to questions, they’ll do anything they can to help their students,” Clayton said.
How to find out moreWCU’s Health Information Management program is part of the College of Health Sciences.
“Dr. Haney has worked with devotion to create a program of the highest quality. We are extremely proud of both the program and the graduates it creates,” said Dr. Janet Williams, associate vice president for health programs.
For more information about WCU’s Health Information Management program, email Dr. Jude Haney at
jhaney@wmcarey.edu or call (601) 318-6147.
In the photo:
Dr. Jude Haney, right, director of WCU Health Information Management, visits two program alumni who work at Forrest General Hospital, Devoskiea Poole and Ketyra Clayton.
