With healthcare needs ever on the rise, the requirement for confidentiality and building patient trust more essential than ever, health information management (HIM) professionals are in increasingly high demand. But what exactly is this HIM professional career option, what are the responsibilities? What does a health information management program cover and what are the job prospects? If you’re going to explore this rewarding and expanding healthcare information management career as an option, you’ll want answers.
You’ve found yourself in precisely the right place.
What Is HIM?
HIM is the collection, storage, and protection of patient health information. This can be in paper or digital form, a combination of the two, or as is more often the case now, an electronic health record (EHR). A health information management professional uses advanced technology to perform their duties and must have a strict sense of professionalism and a broad range of knowledge and skills, including an in depth understanding of healthcare laws and regulations.
Your Role As A HIM professional
In an HIM career you are part of a dynamic healthcare profession that is currently in high demand across the continuum of care. You are trained to manage health information services, work with confidential records, use technology to capture, manage and analyze data and present health information for use in healthcare delivery and financial and management planning. You interact with medical staff, healthcare providers, and management. You may specialize in areas such as research, management, quality improvement, risk analysis, clinical trials, and clinical financial resource integration and are required to maintain skills, knowledge, and expertise through mandatory Continuing Professional Education (CPE).
In addition to technical understanding and ability, to excel in this career, you will also need superior skills in the areas of communication, problem solving, critical thinking, analysis, attention to detail, organization and leadership.
Your HIM Career Outlook
A career in HIM receives the highest job-prospect ranking in Ontario, and many other provinces, by Job Bank Canada. Selecting a leading-edge HIM program will equip you with in-demand skills required and needed within a variety of healthcare settings. As an adaptation of electronic health records systems, and the practical use of this vital data, continue to grow, so too will HIM job positions and career opportunities.
What Careers Can You Expect As An HIM Graduate?
There are myriad exciting opportunities within the provincial and federal government sectors for you, a well as within education, community clinics and private businesses, to name a few.
HIM professionals can select careers within hospitals, a variety of medical facilities, pharmaceutical companies, social service organizations, or in insurance companies, consulting agencies, healthcare software companies or government agencies, and many more.
What Training Do You Need To Succeed?
You’ll want to select a program that has a reputation for excellence and success. One that includes a blend of theoretical and practical training, delivered by industry experts.
At Anderson College, our Health Information Management program is 60 weeks, including 420 hours of practicum with on-the-job training, offsite with potential employers. It covers the areas of study that will ensure you are highly skilled upon graduation. Educational content includes areas such as healthcare laws and ethics in Canada, health information analysis, systems and technology, electronic health records, database management, statistics for health sciences, project management, workplace communications and more.
This program is accredited through Canadian Health Information Management Association (CHIMA). Graduates are encouraged to sit for the certification exam, offered through the Canadian College of Health Information Management (CHIM). Candidates who successfully write the CHIM national certification examination (NCE) earn a CHIM professional designation.
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There has never been a better time to explore your career in healthcare. In this advancing sector, as a health information management professional you’ll have the opportunity to fundamentally support patients from behind the scenes. If you are tech savvy, enjoy administration and are passionate about building a thriving career, this may be the perfect fit for you.
Still wondering if this career aligns with your interests? Take the “Anderson College Health Information Management Career Discovery Quiz”.
If you’re ready to begin your first, or next, successful career, book a virtual appointment with an Admissions Advisor today to start exploring our Health Information Management program and let’s get you started!
Quick Links to Fuel Your Success!
We want to make sure you have what you need to succeed! Check out these reference links:
- Anderson College’s Health Information Management program
- Canadian Health Information Management Association
- Canadian College of Health Information Management
- Job Bank Canada – HIM Career
