Your Guide to Healthcare Technology Degrees

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hands documenting health information in chart

Written and reported by:
All Allied Health Schools Staff

If you’re a tech whiz, there’s an emerging field of study that combines information technology, clinical practice and business management that might interest you. It’s called health informatics, and it’s all about how technology can improve the way health data are collected, stored, processed and communicated.

Health informatics programs are outnumbered by related programs that have been around longer, such as health information technology or health information management. Those tend to focus more on day-to-day management of patient and health systems data.

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What Are the Differences?

Here’s a breakdown of some other key differences among these fields, which are in high demand as health care providers scramble to modernize the way they track the care patients receive:

Health Information Technology

Typical Degree

Associate degree

Common Courses

Basic medical terminology
Introduction to health services and information systems
Health insurance and reimbursement

Jobs You Might Get

Health records specialist
Clinical coder
Data analyst
Patient information coordinator or clinical coder
Data analyst
Patient information coordinator
Health record technician

Job Duties

Process and maintain medical records
Track patient outcomes
Assign clinical codes for reimbursement and data analysis

Health Information Management

Typical Degree

Associate degree or bachelor’s degree

Common Courses

Information technology (medical records, coding, disease classification)
Health care systems (medical terminology, anatomy and physiology)
People and processes (speech, communications, project management)

Jobs You Might Get

Medical records manager
Compliance officer
Data quality manager
Health information management director

Job Duties

Organize and manage patient data
Code information for reimbursement and research
Ensure compliance with governmental regulations

Health Informatics

Typical Degree

Bachelor’s degree or master’s degree

Common Courses

Information technology (network architecture, hardware-software integration)
Health care systems (informatics, health care organization, health care finance)

Jobs You Might Get

Director of clinical informatics
Health care chief information officer
Health information systems manager
Database analyst
Systems analyst
Nursing or pharmacy informatics specialist

Job Duties

Organize and manage patient data
Code information for reimbursement and research
Ensure compliance with governmental regulations