How to Become a Health Information Manager: A Quick Guide to Help Practice the Career of Your Dreams

Does the idea of pursuing a career as a Health Information Manager intrigue you? Well, then you're in for a treat. Here's a quick guide that will assist you and provide you with all the information you need to know about this career. Educational pre-requisites In order to pursue this career, you must take classes in math, health, biology, chemistry and computers during your high school. After completing high school, you must enroll in a two-year associate's degree program in a health information technology school. There, your main emphasis of studies will be on medical vocabulary, data analysis and database management, anatomy, physiology, coding and classification, and methods of reimbursement. Aside from this, you must also pass an exam made by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) in order to certify as a Registered Health Information Manager. Such credentials will not only be appealing to your potential employers, but also have a positive impact on your remuneration package. Skills Required Training alone is not enough for you to become an efficient professional. You must have the basic skills required for the job as well. Some of the key skills required for this job include: * Effective decision making * Flexibility * Tactfulness and diplomacy * Strong leadership skills * Excellent communication skills Responsibilities Some of the primary responsibilities which you will be required to carry out include: * Designing and managing information systems in the healthcare system * Directing the Health Information and department * Collecting and safekeeping patients' personal data * Undertaking compliance responsibility * Checking into patients' medical history for any treatment that they might have received or different tests that they might have undergone * Using and updating computerized healthcare information management systems such as EHR * Recording different disease patterns, their treatment and outcome * Translating different services and treatments into proper standardized codes to assist in the billing process * Coordinating medical and pharmacology research Career Outlook Employment as a Health Information Manager is expected to grow faster as compared to any other medical fields. The main reason behind this is decrease in old people's mortality rate, which directly leads to an expansion in the healthcare industry. Moreover, this field also offers a lot of exciting and lucrative benefits. Some of these include: * Employment prospects in a fast growing field * Specializing in computing and health services management * Working in the computer industry or health industry * Working in the public or private sectors * An average income of at least $40,000 annually