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Health Information Specialist
| Duties and Responsibilities: |
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Health Information Specialists obtain, post, and analyze medical, workload,
finance, and insurance data. They ensure that this information is
properly recorded into medical records so practitioners can plan and evaluate
health care provided to patients.
There are a variety of job specialties within this field including Registered
Record Administrators, Accredited Record Technicians, and Certified Coding
Specialists. Administrators coordinate the various information management
responsibilities and supervise record technicians and coding specialists.
Record technicians ensure medical records are accurate, coordinate reimbursement,
and maintain disease registries for research. Coding specialists
assign and post correct diagnosis and procedure codes to records and report
codes to insurance companies.
Health information specialists work in hospitals, clinics, insurance
companies, physician offices, and many other medical settings. |
Average Salary:
$20,000 - $25,000 (Coding Specialists)
$23,000 - $30,000 (Record Technicians)
$30,000 - $40,000 (Record Administrators) |
| Educational Requirements: |
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Students should take high school courses in business, information management,
science, math, and English.
Coding specialists must have a high school diploma or GED certificate.
Training is usually conducted on the job, but classes are offered at technical
schools and community colleges. To become certified, specialists
must pass an examination.
Accredited record technicians must earn an associate's degree from an
accredited college program or from the American Health Information Management
Association Independent Study Program. Additionally, they must pass
a credentialing examination.
Record administrators must complete a bachelor's degree program in the
field and pass a certification examination. |
| For More Information: |
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American Health Information Management
Association
919 N. Michigan Ave. Suite 1400
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 787-2672
info@ahima.org |
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