OUTSIDE THE TRADITIONAL ROLES HIM CAREERS

PROFESSIONAL DEFINITION Definition : Health Information Management (HIM) is an allied health profession that is responsible for ensuring the availability, accuracy, and protection of the clinical information that is needed to deliver healthcare services and to make appropriate healthcare-related decisions. “Where there is health information, there is HIM” AHIMA, 2012

STUDENT COMMENTS I enjoyed reading chapter three. It gave a great overview of the profession as a whole, and then a more detailed breakdown. The one thing that I found that surprised me was how much HIM adapted with the adoption of EHR. I noticed how many roles that were historically considered IT roles are now being shared with HIM. I am continually amazed at the broad spectrum of roles and responsibilities in HIM that I was not aware of. I thought my colleagues in the HIM department were more like librarians, and keepers of the paper records, but had no idea how much they did with those records, or how many responsibilities they had. I finished the chapter thinking that I have made a good choice in degrees, and can see where this path has the potential to breathe new life into a tired IT career. …..Michelle

I agree the evolution of the HIM profession is a big takeaway from this chapter. With HIM professions evolving they can work in many different areas of an organization. HIM professionals hold 125 different job titles in 40 different work settings according to recent information. I have also read that it is projected that 6,000 HIM professionals will be needed each year to fill new positions and replace vacant positions, and currently only 2,000 new graduates enter the HIM field each year....Carlotta

Hello everyone, HIM has various roles. HIM profession combines the fields of medicine, management, information systems, and technology, finance, and health law. HIM professionals collect, maintain, analyze, and protect personal health information within a variety of settings. The HIM profession is continually evolving, opening the door for expanding roles. Traditional positions have included coding professionals, health information technicians and specialists, trauma and cancer registrars, compliance officers, information security officers, health information mangers, and health information directors. Another area within HIM that is rapidly expanding, creating more job opportunities is information technology. As information technology. As information technology becomes a more significant part of the HIM field, positions are becoming available for information systems analysts, application analysts, terminology analysts, clinical mapping analysts, data analysts, database administrators, as well as other roles within information technology. I knew HIM professionals had various roles, but I didn't know it was that many. There are so many directions you can go in with this profession. Researching HIM has improved my understanding of this profession...Valencia

AHIMA CAREER MAP Positions listed by type: - Entry - Mid - Advanced - Master Compliance/Risk Management (11) Education/Communication (5) Informatics/Data Analytics (10) IT/Infrastructure (7) Operations, Medical Record Administration (15) Revenue Cycle Management/Coding & Billing (14)

SETTINGS OF HIM PRACTICE Healthcare provider organizations Healthcare data organizations Healthcare payer organizations Healthcare supplier organizations Planning organizations, regulators, and industry support Educational institutions Research institutions Third party compliance organizations Consumer organizations

WORKING TOGETHER Compliance/Risk Management Best practice with front end identification Interaction with PCPs, providers and payers Opportunities and challenges

Informatics/Data Analysis Data Quality Experience through the years E.H.R. Implementation/Understanding data needs

IT/Infrastructure Importance of our profession being involved Challenges in connectivity between departments Overcoming a silo approach

Operations, Medical Record Administration Working outside the department Connections with upfront and concurrent processes Day to day experiences

Revenue Cycle Management Why we’re integral to success Best practices for HIM professionals in this area of responsibility Connections with other professionals for success