Medical Records And Health Information Technicians Career Opportunities
edical records and health health matters. In public health
information technicians departments technicians supervise
handle and organize data collection.
patient records, and evaluate
these records for completeness Medical records and health
and accuracy. information technicians usually
have an associate degree from a
They may specialize in coding community or junior college.
patients' medical information for Besides a general education,
insurance purposes. They will coursework should include medical
tabulate and analyze data to terminology, anatomy and
improve patient care, control physiology, legal aspects of
costs, provide documentation for health information, coding and
use in legal actions and respond abstraction of data, statistics,
to surveys for use in research database management, quality
studies. They conduct annual improvement methods and computer
follow-ups on all patients to science.
track their treatment, survival,
and recovery. They may supervise Many job openings require
health information clerks and Registered Health Information
transcriptionists. Technicians (RHIT). They pass a
written exam from the American
In 2004 there were about 159,000 Health Information Management
technicians in the U.S. About 40% Association (AHIMA). To take the
worked in hospitals. The rest exam, one must graduate from a
were mostly in physician's 2-year associate degree program.
offices, nursing care facilities, This should be accredited by the
outpatient care centers, and home Commission on Accreditation for
health care services. Some worked Health Informatics and
in insurance firms that deal in Information Management Education
(CAHIIM). In 2005, there were 184
CAHIIM-accredited programs. Job opportunities for medical
records and health information
Medical records and health technicians will grow much faster
information technicians must be than average for all occupations.
able to: Most new jobs are expected to be
in physician's offices because of
• organize and evaluate patient increasing demand for detailed
records for completeness and records. Rapid growth also is
accuracy, using modern record expected in home health care
keeping procedures and computer services, outpatient care
programs, centers, and nursing and
• make sure that patients' residential care facilities.
initial medical charts are
complete, How much do medical records and
• communicate clearly with health information technicians
physicians and other health care earn?
professionals, In 2004 median annual earnings
• manage a department, if they were $25,590. Fifty percent
have the training and experience, earned between $20,650 and
• work a 40-hour week with some $32,990. The lowest salaries were
overtime, less than $17,720, and the
• be prepared to work day, highest more than $41,760.
evening, and night shifts if
working in hospitals, A Day in a Medical Records
• pay close attention to detail. Technician's Life:
Job Growth for Medical Records On a typical day a medical
and Health Information records technician will:
Technicians:
•organize and evaluate patient •tabulate and analyze data,
records for completeness and •review patient records and
accuracy, pathology reports,
•make sure that patients' initial •conduct annual follow-ups on all
medical charts are complete and patients in the registry.
entered in the computer,
•communicate with physicians to I hope this article gives you a
clarify diagnoses or to obtain good idea of what is involved in
additional information, the career of a Medical Records
•assign a code to each diagnosis Technician. Health care is the
and procedure, largest industry in the world. In
•consult classification manuals the U.S. about 14 million people
concerning disease processes, work in the health care field.
•use computer software to assign More new wage and salary jobs are
the patient to one of several in health care than in any other
hundred "diagnosis-related industry. (Some figures from
groups," or DRGs, Bureau of Labor Statistics.)
About the Author:
Mike Clark is the director of Health Care Hiring (http://www.healthcarehiring.com) an online portal to the health care and medical community. Check out this website to find out more about career & training opportunities, and nationwide employer contact information, in the health care and medical sector.
Read more articles by: Mike Clark
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