Health Information Management

by Renee Tonquest

Cluster Speciaist Health Science

 

Health information management professionals are the caretakers and guardians of patient health information. They represent the patient’s interests in matters of privacy and security, information release, issues and guidelines regarding record access, and general consumer education about personal health records.

 

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 21 percent from 2010 to 2020, faster than the average for all occupations. The widespread use of electronic health records by all types of healthcare providers, should lead to an increased need for technicians to organize and manage the associated information in all areas of the healthcare industry.

 

I have recently participated in a sub-committee of the Texas HIT Workforce Development Project. The Texas Health Information Technology (HIT) Workforce Development project, funded by a Wagner-Peyser grant and supported by the Texas Workforce Commission, will perform a state-wide workforce needs assessment from all industry stakeholders and an educational program inventory from all higher education institutions. 

 

The sub-committee has worked on the programs of study for HIT available online at

 http://achievetexas.org/Health.htm.

 

The committee has also developed excellent recruitment videos for HIT to share with your students. Below are the links for each video type: 

 

Flash:

http://camrelay-stream.its.txstate.edu/users/sf36/HIT_Presentation_2_-_Flash_%28Large%29_-_20121119_04.13.07PM.html 

iPod:

http://camrelay-stream.its.txstate.edu/users/sf36/HIT_Presentation_2_-_Flash_(Large)_-_20121119_04.13.07PM.mp4 

iPhone/iPod:

http://camrelay-stream.its.txstate.edu/users/sf36/HIT_Presentation_2_-_iPod_and_iPhone_-_20121119_04.13.07PM.mp4 

 

Resources

 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition, Medical Records and Health Information Technicians, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/medical-records-and-health-information-technicians.htm (visited February 18, 2013).

myPHR, Glossary of Terms, on the Internet at http://www.myphr.com/HealthLiteracy/glossary.aspx (visited February 18, 2013). 

Texas HIT Workforce Development, What is HIT?, on the Internet at http://www.health.txstate.edu/him/TxHIT-workforce.html (visited February 18, 2013).