Health Information Management Salary and Careers

Health Information Management - Career Paths

Individuals trained in Health Information Management can choose from many different career paths since they have knowledge in science, business and information technology. HIM professionals work in a variety of settings including: health care facilities, consulting firms, government agencies, insurance companies, health care IS/IT vendors, and pharmaceutical companies.

Associate Degree Graduates

Those entering the field with an associate degree will be eligible for employment in occupations such as:

• Quality Improvement Specialist
• Abstractor
• Medical Coder
• Health Information Technician
• Charge Master Auditor
• Documentation Specialist
• Cancer Registrar
• Information Access/Disclosure Specialist

Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management Graduates

Graduates of Herzing Online's Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management program will not only master the core coding, health sciences and general education requirements, they will also possess a solid understanding of business and management principles and how those are applied to the health care field, specifically in the area of medical records and health information documentation. Graduates will be eligible to sit for AHIMA’s Registered Health Information Associate (RHIA) credential.

Individuals with a bachelor's degree in Health Information Management may gain entry-level employment in one of the following areas:

Assistant HIM Director – Assist the HIM Director in daily duties and special projects. May include supervision of other department employees.

Coding Specialist – Assign codes to procedures and diagnosis performed on patients. Requires strong knowledge of medical science, medical terminology, and industry classification systems and coding languages.

Health Information Specialist or Technician – Verify patient records are complete and accurate. Compile and analyze patient data to help improve patient care and cost structures. Provide documentation for legal actions or research studies.

Patient Information Coordinator – A new role in this field, patient information coordinators help people manage their health information (such as health history, release of health information) and understand their health care provider options.

HIM Project Manager – Coordinate, implement and supervise projects related to the management of patient data. Example of projects include: transition from paper to electronic filing, change of HIM software, compile and analyze patient data for a clinical trial.

Consultant – Assist facilities with their HIM needs on a contract or temporary basis. The consultant may be self-employed or work for an HIM consulting agency. Smaller organizations may hire a consultant for basic /general HIM help, while larger organizations may require help to complete a special project or beat a deadline.

Clinical Data Analyst or Specialist – Perform data management or analyst functions is one or many areas such as medical coding, database research, and specialty registries.

Research and Decision Support Analyst – Gather data to assist executive management in decision making. Includes research on products, regulations, policies, pricing, and legal cases.

Career Advancement Opportunities

After receiving some experience in the field, career advancement opportunities include:

HIM Department Director – Manage all operations and personnel in the HIM department. Work with executive management from various departments to provide efficient and secure access to quality patient data. This position may also be called Health Information Administrator or Manager.

HIM Systems Manager – Guiding, directing and monitoring the day to day operations of patient medical records including: retrieval, assembly, delivery, abstracting/analyzing, coding, completion, transcriptions, release of information, and vital statistics registration. Assist with project planning, implementation, testing and maintenance of HIM applications. Oversee the auditing and correction of database errors as it relates to coding and abstracting.

Data Quality Manager – Provide continuous quality improvement (CQI) for information integrity through policy development, information audits, and quality monitoring.

Information Security Officer – Manage the security of all electronic data. Examples of duties: assign user security levels, audit security performance, comply with security regulations and policies. This is a new occupation and may require addition technology training.

Privacy Officer – Provide guidance, training, monitoring and evaluation for the employer’s privacy program to maintain privacy assurance and protection health care information in compliance with federal and state laws and the organization's information privacy practices.

Compliance Officer - Responsible for creating and/or maintaining a compliance program. Ensures development and implementation of auditing/monitoring programs to measure performance against compliance obligations. Identifies issues that may pose compliance risk.

Regional HIM Director – Oversee HIM managers and operations for a particular geographic region to ensure quality and accuracy of performance throughout an organization.