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Question: What is a Health-Care Information Technology specialist and what do they do? — Jennifer
Answer: One of the fastest growing healthcare fields right now Jennifer, is information technology (IT). This career field involves setting up computer network systems, configuring software and converting paper medical charts and records to electronic digitized copies. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, employment is expected to grow by at least 20% between now and the year 2018, meaning an additional 50,000 jobs.
What Is It?
The Health-Care Information Technology (IT) position is an amalgamation of skills between a health-care specialist, medical coder and a computer science technician. Typical work can include:
- workflow design
- software/hardware selection and installation
- system maintenance
- training other employees
To successfully work this field, you have to be able to talk medical terms and lingo with doctors, nurses, and know what you are reading on medical charts, but also you have to know computer lingo and have the technical skills to make the whole information technology system work.
What Is the Education Requirement?
Many schools have an experience requirement that must be met before accepting students into a program. Generally speaking, they prefer you have worked for at least six months in:
- information technology or
- a clinical environment or
- a medical office setting
Training programs usually last for about four months although it is possible to complete it sooner as many programs are self-paced. Students can usually specialize by choosing one of six available concentrations and at the end of the program, earn a Certificate of Completion. Completing all six concentrations results in an Associates of Applied Science (AAS) degree.
Where Will I Work?
Because there is no direct patient care involved with this job, most Health-Care IT Technicians are hired by a clinic or hospital and work in an office somewhere on-site. But, some are hired by companies subcontracted to digitize medical records and work in an office off-site from a medical facility.
How Long Will the Demand Last?
The current demand is fueled by the industry wanting to convert to electronic medical records, however, it won’t end once the initial conversion is complete. Like all network systems, they must have routine maintenance and upgrades, so the work will continue. Those specializing in electronic medical coding must constantly update patient records as changes occur.
Procedure classifications must be entered so health-care facilities can get paid from insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid for provided health-care services. For patients having cancer, information must be entered into cancer registrars, so treatment methods, and survival and recovery progress can be tracked. This information is needed to track rates of survival, which treatments are the most effective, and to identify potential clinical trial participants.
And the population grows older, they require more medical treatment, thus increasing the workload of all health-care professionals.
What is the Pay Like?
The median pay is around $30,000 with the top 10% earning over $50,000. However, in this field, there is opportunity for advancement.
Some technologists will take the next step and get their credentials as a Registered Health Information Technician. Credentialing requires graduating from 2-year associate degree program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education and passing an American Health Information Management Association-administered written examination. Many health-care IT professionals go on to earn their bachelor’s degree in Health-Care Management. Of course, with credentialing and additional education, salary potential increases.
If you have a health-care or IT background and are job searching, this could be a field of interest to you as two out of three graduates are immediately hired. Currently, over 200 schools offer online and on-campus Health-Care Information Technology Technician courses and of course, it would be covered by your Post 9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill.
Tags: associates degree, bachelor's degree, career planning, Gi Bill, online education, Post 9-11 GI Bill
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