Why is Health Information Management Important to Medicine?
The health care field continues to grow, and with it, opportunities in emerging fields. Perhaps you are drawn to working in the health care field, but you just don't see yourself on the front lines as a nurse, physician, or other kind of hands-on professional. If so, take heart -- there are myriad opportunities in a variety of healthcare-related fields.
If you have a knack for details and enjoy the process of gathering and analyzing healthcare information, then a future in Health Information Management (HIM) might be for you. Let's take a look at this exciting medical profession.
HIM: A Long History
HIM isn't really a new field. The organization that represents HIM professionals, AHIMA, the American Health Information Management Association, was founded in 1928. In those days when a clerk recorded information on patients they used a pen and ink or a typewriter, filing it away in a folder in a file cabinet.
The health record keepers' basic duties were to acquire and organize medical information the physician required to provide patient care, and though the technology and methods have changed, the basic mission remains the same.
Today the health information manager's role has been expanded beyond mere record keeping and includes analysis of data and, increasingly, protecting digital information and guarding patient privacy.
What Is Health Information Management?
Health information, as the name suggests, is a person's medical history. Records include symptoms, diagnoses, procedures, and outcomes. In each person's file, be it paper or digital, health care personnel will find patient histories, x-rays, lab results, clinical information, and notes by the physician, nurse, nurse practitioner, or others. Most often the information is viewed to understand the patient's health and how it has changed, but it may also be analyzed to understand the health of a population so that medical interventions may be prescribed to improve outcomes.
HIM combines practices in business, science, and information technology to improve patient care. HIM professionals should be well-trained in the latest information management technology applications. They should also have a good grasp of the workflow in any health care providing organization. The manager's goal should be maintaining patient records that are thorough, complete, accurate, and protected.
Where HIM Professionals Work
HIM professionals may work in a wide variety of settings. Health information managers could be found in hospitals, clinics, physician's offices, nursing homes, physical therapy clinics, as well as these settings:
- Government agencies
- Technology companies
- Educational institutions
- Insurance companies
- HMOs
- Consulting firms
- Hospice
- Military and industry
- Home health care
Some job specializations that HIM professionals might work in are these:
- Clinical data quality oversight
- Data and information policy development
- Document specialist
- Data mining and analytics
- Clinical coding
- Information access/disclosure specialist
As you can see from these job titles, the traditional role of health information managers has expanded significantly in recent years. HIM employers and health care providers have pushed that expansion by finding new ways to incorporate health information into decision-making, research, and analysis. While HIM professionals still must master certain core skills, they are also finding opportunities in some new roles such as these:
- Consumer advocacy
- Data expertise and analysis
- Education
- Patient record expertise
- Information brokering and expertise on limits of usage (including privacy and security issues)
- Business analysis
Breaking Into the HIM Field
The best way to break into the HIM field is to enroll in a degree program and obtain formal training so you'll have the basics to get your foot in the door and gain experience. You could start by earning an associate degree. Once you have your degree, you may want to get an entry-level job in the field and while working, enroll in a bachelor's degree program in HIM. To advance even further, perhaps as a manager, you can pursue a master's degree.
But to get started on your associate degree, here are some of the classes you might want to look for in an accredited program:
- Health Information Technology
- Pathophysiology
- Pharmacology
- Healthcare Delivery Systems
- Reimbursement Methodology
- Clinical Classification System
- Healthcare Statistics
- Quality Assessment/Improvement
You will also want to pick up courses that will give you a broad understanding of medicine such as anatomy and physiology, as well as courses that broaden your business, communication, and information technology skills.
While digital technology has revolutionized the health information management profession, health care organizations are benefiting from the greater efficiency and better access to information that these changes have brought about.
Does the field of health information management fascinate you? If you want to earn an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Health Science with a Concentration in Health Information Management, ECPI University offers these programs at an accelerated pace. Making it faster for students to earn their degrees and start looking for work. For more information about this exciting field, connect with a friendly admissions counselor today.
It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!
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