Interact with medical, financial, and administrative staff to interpret data for patient care, research, statistical reporting, and planning. Protect the privacy of patients' health information. Report patient data for reimbursement. Create disease registries for researchers. Assign a code to each diagnosis and procedure found in a patient's record.
Report codes to insurance companies to pay for a patient's medical expenses.
Health information personnel may work in hospitals, clinics, HMOs, insurance companies, law firms, physician offices, nursing homes, health data organizations, and other settings. Students interested in health information careers should take high school courses in business, computer science, physiology, math, biology, English, and chemistry. Registered Record Administrators must earn a bachelor's degree from an accredited college program, and pass a certification exam. Accredited Record Technicians must complete an associate's degree from an accredited college program or through the American Health Information Management Association's Independent Study Program and by passing a credentialing exam.