Health Information Management

HIM Professionals

Are you searching for a major that will give you many excellent job opportunities after graduation? A career that will allow you to work at many different employment sites in the health care system? The Health Information Management (HIM) degree allows you to combine your interests in health care, business, and information technology.

Health Information Management (HIM) professionals have expertise in information technology; clinical medicine; the computer-based patient record; healthcare database administration; computerized clinical information systems; coding and classification systems; quality and human resource management; the legal aspects of health information systems, including the laws and regulations governing the release of health information to health care providers, researchers, educators, third party payers and regulatory and accrediting agencies. The health information system supports the needs of patients, health care professionals, administrators, the community, and those involved in research and education.

Health information management professionals are responsible for maintaining systems which afford patients privacy (the right to be let alone, to have control over one’s health information) and confidentiality (protection of information derived from a clinical relationship between patients and health-care professionals). The HIM professional works closely with all other health professionals to collect and disseminate the information needed to provide high-quality patient care and is guided by the professional Code of Ethics.

Career opportunities for the HIM professional include: Information Security Officer, Director of Integrated Health Information Systems, Research and Decision-Support Analyst, Clinical Data Specialist, Data Resource Administrator, Patient Information Coordinator, Director of Medical Records and Clinical Coding Specialist. Job opportunities include positions with hospitals and other health care institutions, research and pharmaceutical firms, and governmental agencies. The HIM graduate must be able to accept multifaceted roles as a member of the health care team in a variety of settings-- as administrator, planner, consultant, educator, researcher and practitioner. The educational program is designed to develop the skills and professional qualities needed to fulfill these roles. There are over 400 work settings and over 200 job titles in the HIM profession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 49% increase of growth of HIM employees by 2014.

A recent workforce study undertaken by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) in 2008 indicated the following work settings and salaries for health information management professionals:

Education and certification are also important factors that drive salary levels. Graphic 5 shows that the overall average salary for directors varies by the highest level of education attained. While the average salary of directors in the sample with an associate degree is $59K, that figure grows to $68K for the baccalaureate degree group and to nearly $82K for those with a master’s degree.

The full study is available Click here to view

To learn more about Health Information Management, visit the American Health Information Management Association’s (AHIMA) career links.
1. Wing, P., et al. (2003). Who we are: Findings from the 2002 member survey. Journal of AHIMA, 74(5), 22-30.