HIM 200 Introduction to Health Information Technology sample papers, module by module

Reviewed by Delia Ravenscroft, MSN, RN

HIM 200 introduces the systems that hold, move and protect patient information, and the policies that shape them. The samples below follow one composite health information technician in the release-of-information office of a 96-bed community hospital, where outside records still arrive by fax and fewer than a third of patients use the portal, with published research behind each explanation.

HIM 200 is SNHU’s Introduction to Health Information Technology course. It centers on introductory health information technology: electronic health records and their history, the HITECH Act and certified technology, interoperability, health information exchange and FHIR, information blocking rules, patient portals and the digital divide, usability and patient safety, sociotechnical models, HIPAA privacy and security and data breaches. Every module below opens a full sample paper or takes a free request for one; searches like "him 200 module 3", "HIM200 sample paper" and "HIM 200 milestone example" land on this page.

What HIM 200 is really about

HIM 200 is an introductory course in the SNHU BS Health Information Management program, and its rubrics reward accurate explanations tied to real settings. Graders look for technologies and policies described correctly, research used to explain why systems succeed or fail, attention to the people and workflows around the software, awareness of privacy and equity and recommendations that a hospital could actually carry out.

Each sample on this shelf is written by a composite health information technician at Brennan County Medical Center, a 96-bed community hospital that adopted its electronic health record in 2013. The hospital connects to the state health information exchange but still receives about 40% of outside records by fax, only 31% of patients have activated the portal and a recent phishing attempt reached staff inboxes. Across the term, the technician studies how the hospital got here and what it could do next. The technician and hospital are illustrative.

What HIM 200’s modules ask for

Across eight modules, HIM 200 typically asks for discussions of health IT's role, short papers on EHR adoption, interoperability, usability and security, two projects that evaluate a system and plan an improvement and a closing reflection.

Where students lose points in HIM 200

The most common HIM 200 deduction is describing technology as if software alone determines results, ignoring workflow, training and the people using it. The second is inaccurate policy description, such as confusing HIPAA with the information blocking rules. Graders also mark down portal or exchange recommendations that ignore patients with limited internet access or health literacy, and security sections that list threats without practical safeguards. The fix is to pair each technology with its people, policies and measures.

The HIM 200 drawers

Module 1

HIM 200 Module 1 Discussion example

A first-week post by a composite health information technician at a 96-bed community hospital whose electronic record is thirteen years old yet whose fax machine still receives 40% of outside records. It uses Adler-Milstein and Jha's study of HITECH, Holmgren and colleagues' interoperability measures and Sittig and Singh's sociotechnical model to explain why digital records have not ended paper. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 2

HIM 200 Module 2 EHR Adoption Short Paper example

A short paper by a composite health information technician tracing how the HITECH Act's incentives and penalties moved hospitals from paper to electronic records, what meaningful use required at each stage, how one community hospital's 2013 go-live unfolded for its HIM department and what the move left unfinished, using Adler-Milstein and Jha, Holmgren and colleagues, Howe and colleagues and Black and colleagues' account of the Cures Act. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 3

HIM 200 Module 3 Interoperability Short Paper example

A short paper by a composite health information technician explaining why a community hospital still receives 40% of outside records by fax: the levels of interoperability, the ways data move, evidence that exchange improves care from Menachemi and colleagues, reasons exchange lags from Holmgren, Everson and Vest, the promise of FHIR, information blocking rules and HIM's role in matching patients and reconciling documents. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 4

HIM 200 Module 4 Project One example

A project by a composite health information technician that evaluates a community hospital's patient portal with activation, use and response data, a registration audit and a patient survey, organizes findings with Sittig and Singh's sociotechnical model, compares disparities with Ancker and colleagues' and Goel and colleagues' studies and draws on Irizarry and colleagues' review to identify what drives engagement. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 5

HIM 200 Module 5 Usability and Safety Short Paper example

A short paper by a composite health information technician that examines three near misses at a community hospital, a note written in the wrong chart, a copied-forward medication list and a buried imaging result, and explains them with research on unintended consequences, order entry errors, usability variation, safety reports and copy-and-paste practices, then sets out HIM safeguards. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 6

HIM 200 Module 6 Privacy and Security Short Paper example

A short paper by a composite health information technician that uses a compromised email account at a community hospital to explain the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules, reviews breach and ransomware trends from McCoy and Perlis and Neprash and colleagues, phishing susceptibility from Gordon and colleagues and regional ransomware effects from Dameff and colleagues and proposes layered safeguards with HIM's role. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 7

HIM 200 Module 7 Project Two example

An improvement plan by a composite health information technician for a community hospital: measurable goals for portal activation and fax reduction, portal changes aimed at older, publicly insured and Spanish-speaking patients, exchange steps with high-volume clinics and the state exchange, equity safeguards, a sociotechnical check, a timeline, roles, a modest budget, measures and risks, grounded in research on portals, disparities, exchange benefits and FHIR. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Module 8

HIM 200 Module 8 Discussion example

A final post by a composite health information technician looking ahead from a term spent studying a community hospital's records, portal and fax tray: ambient AI documentation described by Tierney and colleagues, patient access under information blocking rules explained by Black and colleagues and Sittig and Singh's reminder that people and workflow decide results, with a view of where HIM work is heading. Full sample paper, read it free.

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Southern New Hampshire University revises courses; module counts and deliverables shift between terms. Send what your classroom shows and the desk matches it exactly.

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Using a HIM 200 sample the right way

Read an HIM 200 sample by checking whether each technology is explained with the people and workflow around it, whether policies are named precisely and whether recommendations consider patients with limited access. For HIM 200, send the assignment wording, the setting you are writing about and the rubric; a first custom sample is returned free in 24-48h.

HIM 200 questions, answered

What does HIM 200 cover?

Electronic health records, federal health IT policy, interoperability, patient portals, usability and safety, privacy and security and health IT planning.

Do I need technical experience for HIM 200?

No. The course explains systems and policies in plain terms and asks you to apply them to a healthcare setting.

What makes a strong HIM 200 paper?

Accurate policy and technology descriptions, research that explains results, attention to people and workflow and practical recommendations.