Health Information Manager
Job Description
Health information managers are the personnel tasked with managing, organizing, and analyzing the medical data collected by healthcare providers when they treat a patient.
This includes patient input about symptoms and medical history, plus all the information collected thereafter, such as x-rays, examination reports, lab findings, diagnosis, and plans of treatment.
Electronic healthcare information systems are very common today and managing them successfully is the health information manager's responsibility.
They need to build and maintain effective classification systems that make patient records accessible, support high quality clinical and business decisions, provide all data needed for insurance reimbursement, disclose information properly both in paper and electronic formats, and ensure the information is both impeccably accurate and secure.
Responsibilities
A health information manager needs to be adaptable and proactive in understanding and implementing changes in data technology, payment, medical laws, service delivery models, regulations, and reporting as these matters continue to evolve.
Common responsibilities of health information managers include:
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Analyzing health records for accuracy and completeness
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Releasing patient information and protections for drug treatment, closed-adoption, alcohol treatment, sexual and behavior health issues
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Reviewing the quality of scanned documents
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Coding for research, reimbursement, and healthcare provider reports
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Transcription and distribution of histories, discharge summaries, progress reports, consultations, and other medical records
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Analyzing current medical records to ensure diagnoses are accurately documented.
Skills
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Communication |
Must effectively communicate with your co-workers to ensure the best care and the proper procedures. Must be able to communicate in high-stress environments. |
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Active Listening |
Offering your full attention to an individual person or group in order to fully understand problems and their nature. |
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Critical Thinking |
Must use logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. |
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Judgment and Decision Making |
Needs to be able to act autonomously and make difficult decisions that would benefit the patient or make corrections. Must consider all benefits and repercussions of potential actions and choose the appropriate one. |
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Complex Problem Solving |
Must be able to identify complex problems and develop and evaluate corrective options and implement solutions. |
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Stress Management |
Must be able to endure intense situations and handle pressure that comes with extreme situations you may encounter. |
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Trustworthiness |
Must be trustworthy because you have people's lives in your hands and what you do could help or hurt them. They are entrusted with a great responsibility and must live up to it. |
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Perceptiveness |
Gauging how people react and read their body language to decipher their feelings and predict their actions. They must be able to determine if people could be a risk to themselves or others and to distinguish truths from lies. |
Working Conditions
Health information managers typically work a standard 40-hour workweek with occasional overtime.
A medical or healthcare service manager can potentially work at various levels of an organization, from managing the medical practice of a group of doctors, to handling the records of a single department or administrative area, to serving an entire healthcare facility.
Scale of responsibilities and pay vary widely based on these factors.
Some health information managers work from home or on night shifts or evening schedules.
Their work location may be a hospital, long-term care facility, insurance company, pharmaceutical company, public health organization, group practice, or one of many other medical venues.
Demand for health information managers is mushrooming and expected to continue to outpace supply into the future.
Salary Outlook
| Estimated Annual Salary | Average Hourly Wage | Positions Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| $71,596.00 | $34.42 | 568,000 |