About Us: Accreditation / Faculty
Awards
Diane Premeau received the 2011 California Health Information Association (CHIA) Professional Achievement Award.
Janet Robertson received the 2011 California Health Information Association (CHIA) Educator Award.
Lynette M. Williamson has been awarded Fellowship status from the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
SBCC HIT/CIM Program was one of two 2011 California Health Information Association HIA/HIT Program Grant Recipients.
Accreditation
The Health Information Technology (HIT) associate degree program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). Graduates of the HIT program are eligible to apply to AHIMA to write the national examination for certification as a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).
The Medical Coding Specialist Certificate program is approved by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Students earning the Medical Coding Specialist Certificate are prepared to write the Certified Coding Associate (CCA) examination offered by the AHIMA.
The Cancer Information Management (CIM) associate degree and certificate programs have been accredited by the National Cancer Registrars Association (NCRA). Students successfully completing the associate degree or the certificate program are eligible to apply to write the national examination for certification as a Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR).
Say Hello to the HIT/CIM Department Faculty!
Erik Bailey, Pharm.D.
Adjunct instructor in the HIT and Coding programs at Santa Barbara City College. Erik has been in the field of pharmacology and addiction medicine for almost twenty years and has worked at various clinical, hospital and teaching positions. Erik enjoys working in the field of pyschopharmacology, loves teaching, and is an active member of the American Pharmacist's Association (APHA) and the California Pharmacist's Association (CPHA).
Darla Branda
Adjunct faculty member of the department. She has been in the HIM field for 18 years and holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Health Care Management from Park College, Parkville, MO and Medical Record Administration (now called HIM) from Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO; and a Master of Arts degree in Higher Education from St. Louis University. She has worked in several acute care hospitals in a variety of roles, including coding, quality improvement and management. In the past, she served as the HIT Program Director at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, and most recently as HIA Program Director for Stephens College in Columbia, MO, a completely online 4-year program. Darla has served on many HIM professional committees at the state and local level. She was extremely honored to receive the Outstanding Educator from the Missouri Health Information Management Association in 2008.
Kathleen Davidson-Allen, CTR
Adjunct instructor in the CIM program at Santa Barbara City College, and has taught Cancer Patient Follow-Up since 2002. Kathleen has been in the cancer registry field for over 25 years with experience in hospital-based, regional and state cancer registries. She is currently the Director of Registry Operations for the Greater Bay Area Cancer Registry at the Northern California Cancer Center. Kathleen actively supports local, state, and national cancer registry organizations.
Lynda L. Hampton, RN, BSN
Adjunct instructor in HIT and Coding and is in her third year at the college. She is currently a Clinical Document Management Specialist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She has worked in several hospital settings throughout the country, all in Critical Care settings (Cardiology). She has ACLS credentials and is a BCLS Instructor at Cedars. Lynda spends time as a Youth Director in her Church.
Denise Harrison, BS, CTR
HIT CIM Department Chair and Director of the CIM Program. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of West Florida in Pensacola, and did post-graduate studies in microbiology and immunology at Texas A & M University in Kingsville, Texas. She had a teaching fellowship at Texas A & M, then taught various biology courses at Midland College (Midland, Texas) and Western Wyoming Community College (Rock Springs, Wyoming). In addition to teaching, she directed a federal grant aimed at training economically disadvantaged women for careers in non-traditional fields (Rock Springs, Wyoming), and also worked as the technical supervisor for the breath-alcohol testing program in Ector County, Texas. She has been a CTR since 2005, and continues to work for a Commission on Cancer Accredited hospital-based program in the Houston Medical Center. She serves on the Alternative Methods committee of the NCRA, has been writing the CE quizzes for the Journal of Registry Management for several years now and is a trainer for Collaborative Stage Version 2 (CSv2).
Jeanie Heck
Adjunct instructor in the HIT/Medical Coding Specialist certificate program. Ms. Heck graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration. She has more than 20 years experience in the healthcare field with the majority of this time as a medical coder. She holds four coding certifications – a CCS from AHIMA, a CPC from AAPC, and a FCS and PCS from ACMCS. She has worked as a Health Information Management (HIM) consultant providing both inpatient coding and audit support. Her medical coding experience includes inpatient, outpatient, emergency department, and same day surgical. She is also an instructor in the HIM department at a local community college near her home in southern New Jersey. Jeanie is an AHIMA approved ICD-10-CM/PCS trainer and ICD-10 Ambassador. In addition to teaching, she also manages two family practice offices where her responsibilities include medical coding, medical billing, and accounting.
Mary Jo Jenkins, MPH, RHIA
Adjunct instructor new to the SBCC program. She has been an instructor at another community college with an HIT program. Prior to this, she has been a Director of Health Information at several acute care hospitals in the Los Angeles area. She started out as a part time clerk in HIM while attending UCLA. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Public Health at UCLA and later returned to obtain her Master's Degree. She has been responsible for various functions such as coding, transcription, cancer registry, quality improvement, and safety. She has been responsible for the core HIM functions in both acute care and skilled nursing settings. She has also been active in her local HIM professional association. Mary Jo loves teaching and sharing real life experiences with her students.
Meryl Leventhal, MA, CTR, RHIT
Adjunct instructor in the CIM program at Santa Barbara City College since 2001. She
has worked in the Health Information field for more than 30 years. Meryl is currently
the Data Collection Supervisor for the Los Angeles Cancer Surveillance Program (CSP),
one of the 10 regional registries that comprise the California Cancer Registry and
a SEER registry. She is an instructor and assistant director of the CSP Cancer Registrars
Training Program (CRTP) since 1996. Meryl is an active member of the California Cancer
Registrars Association (CCRA) and the Southern California Cancer Registrars Association
(SCCRA).
Sharon Lewis, MBA, RHIA, CHPS, CPHQ
Owner of Preferred Quality Consulting Services, an independent health information management consulting company. Sharon has been in the field of Health Information Management for more than 30 years. Most recently she has provided HIPAA privacy security and guidance for several acute care hospitals and developed tools for both HIPAA privacy and security and meaningful use risk assessments. Sharon also teaches with Santa Barbara City College and is working with InfoGard Laboratories as an HIM Consultant. She has served in leadership roles throughout her career functioning as the Director of Health Information Management for three acute care hospitals, managing client support for CPR Technologies, and providing expert level consulting services. Sharon is active with the California Health Information Association and recently elected a CHIA delegate to AHIMA.
Linda Maywood, MSN, CPNP
Instructor in the HIT Program at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) since 2009. She is a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP), Child Care Health Consultant (CCHC), and a Lactation Educator. She graduated from UCLA in 1978 with a B.A. in Bacteriology and in 1981 with a B.S. in Nursing. In 1988, she became a CPNP and in 1989, she graduated from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) with a M.S. in Nursing (MSN). She has worked in a variety of settings as a nurse. She began her career as a maternity and newborn nursery nurse at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, CA. After she became a CPNP, she worked at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in the newborn nursery, on Cedars-Sinai Medical Center mobile medical van for underserved children, COACH for Kids and Little Company of Mary Health Services, Partners for Healthy Kids mobile medical van. In 2001, she became the Program Coordinator and Child Care Health Consultant for Healthy Connections at The Children’s Clinic in Long Beach, CA, a First Five LA Grant program. Since 2005, she has worked at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach, CA as the CPNP and Case Manager for the Spina Bifida Clinic. She has won numerous awards and most recently, in 2008, The Nursing Excellence Award in Clinical Care from Miller Children’s Hospital and Long Beach Memorial Medical Center and was a Finalist for the California State NurseWeek 2008 Excellence Award in Clinical Care. She is a member and Fellow of the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Associates and Practitioners (NAPNAP). In every position she has held, she has played the role of teacher and mentor and now as adjunct professor for SBCC, she continues to share her knowledge and experience with HIT students.
Arti Parikh-Patel, PhD, MPH
Adjunct instructor in the HIT/CIM program who teaches the Cancer Statistics and Epidemiology Course. She is also a Research Scientist at the California Cancer Registry. Areas of interest in cancer research include racial and socioeconomic disparities in cancer incidence and survival, patterns of care in breast and colorectal cancer patients, and the relationship between cancer and autoimmune disease. Arti received her MPH from San Diego State University with an emphasis in health education, and her PhD in epidemiology from the University of California, Davis.
Diane Premeau, MBA RHIT RHIA CHP
Specialist in systems analysis, development of health information systems, and database management and is the Director of Health Information Management Services at Santa Clara Valley Hospital and Healthcare System in San Jose California. She has held a position as a Compliance Manager, HIM Administrator and Privacy Officer at EMQ Youth and Family Services in Campbell, CA. She continues as adjunct faculty at Chabot College, Hayward, California in Health Information Management, and Santa Barbara City College. She is President-elect for the California Health Information Association.
Janet Robertson, RHIA
Ms. Robertson is currently the HIT Program director and has been fulltime faculty
in the HIT/Medical Coding program at Santa Barbara City College since 2005. Prior
to this position, she was fulltime faculty and the HIT Program Director at East Los
Angeles College in Monterey Park. Before beginning her teaching career in 2000, she
worked in the areas of coding and reimbursement, HIM management, Patient Registration
management and regulatory compliance for more than 18 years and has worked in many
settings such as, acute care hospitals, managed care, and consulting firms. Janet
is active in the state association and serves on the CHIA Academics Committee and
the Candidates Committee. She is also a Past President of the local SCHIA organization,
served as a CHIA Delegate and recipient of the 2011 CHIA Educator Award. In addition
to her RHIA credential, Janet is an AHIMA Approved ICD10 Trainer.
Lynda A. Russell, EdD, JD, RHIA, CHP
Adjunct instructor in the HIT Program, is the privacy manager at Cedars-Sinai Medical
Center in Los Angeles, California. Other positions held by Dr. Russell include associate
professor and Director of Health Information Administration Program at the University
of Central Florida, risk manager, practicing attorney and health information department
director. She has been a Health Information Management professional for over thirty
years and has been active professionally on national, state and local levels. She
was the CHIA President for 2005-2006. Dr. Russell serves as a frequent speaker and
has numerous publications on a variety of health information and related topics and
on HIPAA.
Debra A. Slusarczyk, RHIT
Adjunct instructor in the HIT/Coding Certificate Program. Debra is also a full time instructor at another community college for their HIT/Coding programs. She has been in the field for over 25 years, and has a diversified background. Debra has been teaching in the field both part time and full time for over 12 years. She has worked in a variety of care settings and has done many of the functions in a health information management department. She was a Director of HIM and Quality departments for several years in both acute care and rehabilitation settings. Debra worked for the federal government monitoring both quality of care and reimbursement issues for acute care facilities in the Philadelphia area. She has done private consulting for nursing homes also. Debra has been teaching in the field both part time and full time for over 12 years. She earned her associates and bachelor degrees from Gwynedd Mercy College in Pennsylvania. Debra is a member of AHIMA and component state PA. She also is active in attending the NJ chapter. Debra is also active on several committees with her full time employer. Professional interests are innovation and technology both in HIM and education, and quality service provided in healthcare. Debra is also active in her community and involved with her 2 high school age children.
Shawna Sweeney, RHIT
Shawna Sweeney has been in the Health Information Management and Coding field for
over 16 years. She has a Master of Science in Health Informatics from Dakota State
University, a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Information Management from The
College of St. Scholastica, and an Associate of Applied Science degree in Health Information
Technology. She also holds a diploma in Medical Transcription. She is a Certified
Coding Specialist and a Registered Health Information Administrator, and was a
Registered Health Information Technician for several years before obtaining the RHIA
credential. Shawna is an active member of the Iowa Health Information Management Association
(IaHIMA) having held state positions. She is an active member of the American Health
Information Management Association (AHIMA). Shawna has been an instructor in Health
Information Technology (HIT), coding and electronic health records for the past 7 years.
She has developed online classes for medical terminology, legal aspects, quality management,
and healthcare reimbursement. Shawna also has many years of industry experience in
coding, billing and development of the electronic medical record. Currently, Shawna
resides in Iowa.
Donna Thompson, MBA, CISM, RHIT
Instructor for the SBCC HIT program and the Workforce Development Training Program covering the EHR courses. Prior to SBCC, she has instructed many of the HIT courses including medical coding and reimbursement at other major universities. As a HIM Consultant, she provides professional expertise for the advancement of health informatics including computer-assisted-coding (CAC). She has recently completed the ICD10 Coding Training Program through AHIMA and is an official AHIMA Approved ICD10 Coding Trainer.
Vicky Turner-Howe, RHIT, CCS
Adjunct instructor in the HIT/Coding program at Santa Barbara City College. She is currently employed for a managed healthcare organization in the Quality Data Management Department specializing in healthcare information monitoring and education. She is very active in the implementation system-wide of the electronic health record. She has been a volunteer for California Health Information Management (CHIA). Vicky currently serves on the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) Expert Coding Panel.
Lynette M. Williamson, MBA, RHIA, CCS, CPC, FAHIMA
Fulltime instructor in the HIT and Medical Specialist Certificate program since 2008
at Santa Barbara City College. Prior to this position, she was the HIT department
program director and instructor at a large community college in Southern New Jersey.
Most of her professional career has been in the area of medical coding in various
types of settings including acute care hospital, rehabilitation facilities, and coding
companies. Lynette is an active member of both AHIMA and AAPC. Professional areas
of interest include ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and the Electronic Health Record (EHR).
Mary Wilkinson, MPH, RHIA
Adjunct instructor in the HIT/Coding Program and has been teaching for SBCC since Spring 2004. Mary is also an instructor at Kirkwood Community College in the Health Science Department, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was previously an instructor and member of the advisory board for Trocaire College, Buffalo, NY. Mary has held management positions in the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs facilities and various staff positions in the civilian sector. She has volunteered for local and state associations both in Hawaii and Michigan.
Administrative Support:
Steve Ota, Online Student Support Specialist
(805) 965-0581 x 2851
ota@sbcc.edu
Monique Trotter
Online Student Support Specialist
hitcim@sbcc.edu
HIT/CIM Counseling:
Gwyer Schuyler, MA, Ph.D
Academic Counselor
(805) 965-0581 x 2569
schuyler@sbcc.edu
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