IHRIM

Certificate Examination Syllabus and Regulations [UK]

Examination Regulations

1. The Examining and Awarding Body is the Institute of Health Records and Information Management and the Examination is open to candidates in the UK.
2. Only candidates who have been officially accepted by the Institute for Student Membership and who meet all the regulations will be allowed to attempt the Examination. Examination candidates must be fully paid-up members of the Institute.
3. Application forms for student membership may be obtained from the IHRIM Office. Candidates would normally be expected to hold the Foundation Certificate but exemptions will be granted by the Director of Education under certain circumstances, in consultation with a second member of the Examination Board.
4. The Examination will normally be held on the fourth Monday and Tuesday of May each year.
5. The Examination will be held in designated centres throughout the UK. Every effort will be made to ensure the candidate attends an Examination Centre close to his/her home.
6. The Examination will consist of four [4] papers
   Health Records Management 2 ½ hours
   OR
   Information Management 2 ½ hours
   Human Resources 2 hours
   Medical Terminology 1 ½ hours
   OR
   IT Application & Development 1 ½ hours
   Information Governance 1 ½ hours
7. The pass mark for the papers is shown below but all modules must be passed at the first attempt in order to achieve a distinction for which the total pass mark is 80% of the overall total.
   Health Records Management 60%
   Information Management 60%
   Human Resources 50%
   Medical Terminology 50%
   IT Application & Development 50%
   Information Governance 50%
8. Candidates applying to take the Examination MUST lodge with the IHRIM Office a completed Examination Registration Form, together with payment for the appropriate amount by 15 February each year.
   NB: Late registrations will not be accepted and any completed registration forms received without a cheque will be returned.
9. Any candidate whose registration form is not acknowledged within ten working days of posting should advise the IHRIM Office immediately.
10. If a candidate withdraws his/her name before the last day of entry to the Examination the fee will either be returned or carried forward for one year, however an administration charge of £25.00 +VAT will apply. If a candidate fails to attend on the day of the Examination the fee will be carried forward for one year providing a medical certificate is submitted to the Associate Director of Education [Administration] within seven days of the date of the Examination. Otherwise fees are non-returnable unless exceptional circumstances exist and then only at the discretion of the Director of Education. The candidate will be responsible for any increase in fees which may occur between the initial payment and the date the Examination is taken.
11. Any amendments to the syllabus will be published 12 months before the Examination date.
12. The Examination paper will only be set on the current syllabus bearing the same date as these regulations.
13. Any representation that a candidate may wish to make regarding the conduct of the Examination must be made in writing to the Associate Director of Education [Administration] within seven days of the conclusion of the Examination, using the Complaints Procedure which is available on the IHRIM Web Site.
14. Candidates can expect to receive their results as a percentage mark. The Newsletter will only show a pass notification.
15. Candidates will be notified of the results of the Examination at the end of July of the year in which the Examination was taken. The names of successful candidates will be published in the Newstletter of the Institute.
16. The Examination Appeals Procedure is available from the Director of Education of IHRIM.
17. Candidates who fail to reach the pass standard in this paper may re-sit the paper on any two [2] subsequent occasions but within three years of the first attempt on payment of the appropriate fee and according to the syllabus which is in place at the time of the Examination.
18. Successful candidates who pass the Examination will be awarded the appropriate Certificate and adopt the title 'Certificated Member' and may use the designatory letters CHRIM.

Examination Framework and Timetable

DAY 1

Health Records Management 2 ½ hours - Question 1 and four others

[FIVE questions in total]

0930 – 0935 Reading time

0935 – 1205 Written Examination

Information Management 2 ½ hours - Question 1 and four others

[FIVE questions in total]

0930 – 0935 Reading time

0935 – 1205 Written Examination

Human Resources 2 hours - Four questions

1330 – 1335 Reading time

1335 – 1535 Written Examination

DAY 2

IT Application & Development 1 ½ hours - Three questions

0915 – 0920 Reading time

0920 – 1050 Written Examination

Medical Terminology 1 ½ hours - Question 1 and two others

[THREE questions in total]

0915 – 0920 Reading time

0920 – 1050 Written Examination

Information Governance 1 ½ hours - Question 1 and two others

[THREE questions in total]

1115 – 1120 Reading time

1120 – 1250 Written Examination

Syllabus

Where relevant answer the questions as they apply to your Home Country

Certificate of the Institute

The Certificate Examination is the next step in the qualification structure and is designed to assist Health Records Staff, Health Informatics and Information Staff to improve their overall knowledge of functions and services and gain a professional qualification.

The modules are as follows:-

Health Records Management

i. Candidates must be able to demonstrate a knowledge of the following pieces of legislation:

· Access to Health Records Act 1990 – application of the Act

· Data Protection Act 1998 – the principles of Data Protection and arrangements for Subject Access Requests

· Freedom of Information Act 2000/Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 – the principles

· Caldicott Report

· NHS Code of Practice Records Management or Retention Schedules as they apply in your own Home Country

· Clinical Standards of record keeping

· Current reports relating to healthcare and e-Health strategy which are relevant to Personal Health Records practice in your Home Country

· Information Governance/Assurance Standards as they apply

ii. Release of information as a statutory requirement e.g. births and deaths

iii. Dealing with requests for information from outside bodies e.g. solicitors, police, coroners, insurance companies

iv. Physical security issues [closed libraries, logging off PCs, placing of computer screens]

v. Integrated Care records - GP records, Community, Social Care Records, Mental Health Recods

vi. The organisation of Health Records Services

vii. The role of Health Records Committees

viii. Monitoring of Performance Standards for Personal Health Records

ix. Critical success factors for effective patient waiting time management

x. Systems review and improvement

OR

Information Management

i. Sources of Clinical Coding Data

ii. The uses of Clinical Coded Data

iii. Data Quality and accuracy – auditing, rectification of errors, validation, unique number uptake

iv. Classifications currently in use

v. The purpose of Cancer Registries

vi. Application and uses of epidemiological information

vii. Knowledge of NHS Data Standards and Definitions as they apply in your own Home Country

viii. Awareness of common hospital statistics

ix. The alternative methods of presenting data

x. Form design for effective data capture

xi. A sound knowledge of the role of information in supporting clinical processes

Human Resources

i. The recruitment and selection process

ii. Deployment of staff to meet the departmental objectives, teambuilding, managing workloads, problem solving

iii. Staff appraisal and performance review including training needs analysis

iv. Training and development process

v. Dealing with poor performance

vi. Relevant Personnel policies (grievance, disciplinary, absence management, performance management/capability, dignity at work, health and safety, equality and diversity, disability)

vii. Communication (verbal, written, use of templates with written correspondence, electronic communication)

viii. Dealing with Violence and Aggression

ix. Concept of Service efficiency, improvement and transformation

IT Application & Development [Practical]

i. The range of IT systems in use in the NHS e.g. Patient Administration Systems (PAS), Patient Management Systems (PMS), Departmental Systems, Clinical Systems, Audit Systems, Order Communications and Results Reporting Systems (OCS), Decision Support Systems, Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS)

ii. Development of Electronic Patient Records [EPR] and Electronic Health Records [EHR] in your Home Country

iii. Development of Clinical and Patient Portals in your Home Country

iv. Hardware Definitions e.g. personal computer, mainframe computer, monitor, printer, modem, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, floppy disk, Rapid Access Memory [RAM], Read Only Memory [ROM], Central Processing Unit [CPU], Surge Protector, UPS, Ports, Scanner, digital camera, WORM technology, NHS net, LAN, WAN

v. Software definitions e.g. installation, word processors, spreadsheets, databases, desktop publishing, application suite, utility software, games software, programmes, system analysis

vi. File and management structure on a PC

vii. Secure transportation of personal health data

viii. Use of the internet and intranet

ix. Data input methods

x. Data Integrity

xi. Backups and recovery strategies

OR

Medical Terminology

i. Demonstrate an understanding of the component parts of medical terms and be able to give meaning to these by constructing or explaining medical terms: knowledge of roots, suffixes, prefixes and combining vowels, plurals of terms

ii. Have a basic understanding of the meaning and purpose of pathological and radiological tests and other diagnostic tests, procedures e.g. bronchoscopy, endoscopy, MRI Scan, Heaf Test, ESR

Information Governance/Assurance

i. What is Information Governance/Assurance?

ii. Awareness of personal responsibility for Information Governance/Assurance

iii. Awareness of HORUS principles (Holding, Obtaining, Recording and Using Information)

iv. Sharing Information across Organisations (principles of Caldicott 2)

v. The Information Governance/Assurance Framework and its impact on Health Records Services

vi. Legal aspects of confidentiality

vii. Application of Information Governance/Assurance Framework across the NHS

viii. Information Governance/Assurance Standards as they apply in your Home Country

Accessibility

There are 2 laptops available to ensure IHRIM's examinations are accessible. Allocation will be subject to meeting certain health criteria and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

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Certificate Syllabus [UK] - 2017