Health Data Management

A career in health information management puts you at the center of the exploding fields of health care and technology. As a health information management professional, you are the expert on patient data that doctors, nurses and other health-care providers rely on to perform their jobs. By maintaining, collecting and analyzing health information, your work makes an important contribution to the delivery of high quality care. Only a handful of occupations, most requiring much more extensive training, will put you in higher demand.

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Health information managers design and manage health information systems to ensure they meet medical, legal and ethical standards. Depending on their title or work setting, specific job responsibilities vary. Some typical responsibilities include the following:

• Collecting and analyzing patient data
• Ensuring that patients' medical records are complete and accurate
• Ensuring records are only available to those directly involved with a patient's care
• Managing and maintaining databases
• Designing, generating and analyzing reports for administrators and physicians

Based on their skills, level of education and interests, health information managers may hold a variety of titles. With a bachelor's degree, these include department director, system manager, data quality manager or chief privacy officer. They may also work as consultants or teachers. With an associate's degree, titles may include health data analyst, insurance claims analyst, records technician specialist, clinical coding specialist, physician practice manager or patient information coordinator.

Accredited health information managers enjoy a broad selection of job opportunities and options for professional growth. According to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), health information managers hold jobs in one of the 20 fastest growing fields in the US.

Workplace

Health information managers work in a multitude of settings throughout the health-care industry, including hospitals, physicians' offices, home health agencies, nursing homes, public health offices and insurance companies. According to the BLS, about 30 percent of all health information managers work in hospitals and another 16 percent work in physicians' offices, with the remaining 54 percent working in other health care settings.

Education and Training

Accredited health information management programs are offered at more than 200 colleges and universities across the US, and many programs offer online health information management degrees. Health information managers must complete either an associate's or bachelor's degree program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education. High school students should prepare for a health information management career by taking courses in business, computer science, English, math, biology and chemistry.

Licensing and Certification

After completing a two- or four-year program, candidates for employment will need to successfully complete a certification exam to validate their competence. Depending on education level, candidates can seek one of two credentials in the field.

Those who have completed a bachelor's degree program typically pursue the Registered Health Information Administrator or RHIA credential. In addition to a four-year degree, this certification requires successful performance on the RHIA certification exam. RHIAs also receive training to assume managerial positions and to interact with professionals at all levels of an organization who employ patient data in decision making and everyday operations.

Those who have completed an associate's degree program pursue the Registered Health Information Technician or RHIT credential, which also requires passing an exam. RHITs are health information technicians who ensure the quality of medical records by verifying their completeness, accuracy and proper entry into computer systems. They may also use computer applications to assemble and analyze patient data for the purpose of improving patient care or controlling costs. RHITs often specialize in coding diagnoses and procedures in patient records for reimbursement and research.