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View Full Version : Question for Workers in Health Information Mgmt
carolinagirl553
01-22-2008, 08:04 PM
Hi guys... I will be starting the HIM program at a nearby college starting this summer. It is an associates degree program in HIM and then I plan to get my bachelors after. I do not know a lot about this field yet so figured some of you may be able to help me understand it a little better. Why did you pick to go into this type of field? In my opinion, I started college off majoring in nursing, I went through one clinical and decided that nursing was not for me and that I would like HIM better because I like this type of work- more of the business side. Do you see HIM changing over the upcoming years, like do you see this career interest rising? These are just things Im curious to see how other people that work in this field feel about. Your responses would be greatly appreciated!
d1carrion
01-28-2008, 11:14 AM
Hi I have been a member of this board for a while but have just read the post, but I would like some info on this also. I am 4 months away from getting my Associates in Medical billing and coding, and thinking of continuing to get my bachelors in HIM or Health Care Management, I too would like some input from thosewith knowledge in either field.
JoyousVA
01-28-2008, 07:09 PM
Good Evening Ladies,
I actually found HIM quite by a lucky draw- I fainted after trying to draw blood as a Medical Technologist. I love the HIM field so many different avenues one can branch out into Risk Management, Continous Quality Improvement, Director of HIM, Coder- outpatient, inpatient, emergency room, physician office, Pre-certifications,working closely with medical billing, Tumor Registrar, Project Manager, Transcriptionist all specialities, Release of Information, assessing records for attorney's, Computer Technology specialist in the sense of knowing what one needs either in a department or a physician's practicefor an Electronic Medical Record/Electronic Health Record EMR/EHR, Actuarial services, etc. I'm particularly drawn to the detail side of any kind of work as well as helping patients while assisting their physicians to get the paperwork done in a timely manner with the least "pain" as possible. I do say that tongue and cheek- most physicians will run when they see you coming because they know you need something signed or something dictated and all they want to do is see their patients. With the new technology that will help greatly in slaying the paper tiger, that is when individuals in HIM will be even more important and in greater demand than before because everyone will be looking to us to assist them in bringing them into the electronic age in healthcare as far as patient's records and all of the components that go into making that record.
I'm a RHIA and did sit for that 8 hour exam with AHIMA and yes it was definitely challenging. I graduated from Ferris State University in Medical Record Sciences. When I graduated from Ferris State I went right into an Associate Director of Medical Records- Technology Division at a 640 bed Medical Center unfortunately times got tough in the economy and last one in first on out so I joined the United States Air Force as a Medical Service Corp Officer (Hospital Administrator) and enjoyed my time from taking care of clinic records, outpatient and inpatient records to establishing a paperless concurrent review system Wright Patterson Medical Center- Dayton, OH., an electronic patient record retrieval system- Elmendorf Medical Center- Anchorage, AKto assisting in the design of the hospital at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas Nevada- my next assignment was to be at the Pentagon and me not wanting to be a coffee jockey or a policy wonk I became a civilian again in which I was hired as a Director of Health Information Management with most of the components written above either in my job description or in a management role assisting those individuals, I was promoted to a Vice President of Information Services and now I have come full circle and work from home performing many of the tasks and jobs I did previously. The only reason I mention my long-winded explanation is to show how diverse the field is and all kinds of possibilities await- it all depends on what one loves to do within the field. Once one finds their niche- HIM is ever so rewarding.
Please PM me if you have any additional questions or thoughts that you would like answered. If I can help I certainly will.
I actually found HIM quite by a lucky draw- I fainted after trying to draw blood as a Medical Technologist. I love the HIM field so many different avenues one can branch out into Risk Management, Continous Quality Improvement, Director of HIM, Coder- outpatient, inpatient, emergency room, physician office, Pre-certifications,working closely with medical billing, Tumor Registrar, Project Manager, Transcriptionist all specialities, Release of Information, assessing records for attorney's, Computer Technology specialist in the sense of knowing what one needs either in a department or a physician's practicefor an Electronic Medical Record/Electronic Health Record EMR/EHR, Actuarial services, etc. I'm particularly drawn to the detail side of any kind of work as well as helping patients while assisting their physicians to get the paperwork done in a timely manner with the least "pain" as possible. I do say that tongue and cheek- most physicians will run when they see you coming because they know you need something signed or something dictated and all they want to do is see their patients. With the new technology that will help greatly in slaying the paper tiger, that is when individuals in HIM will be even more important and in greater demand than before because everyone will be looking to us to assist them in bringing them into the electronic age in healthcare as far as patient's records and all of the components that go into making that record.
I'm a RHIA and did sit for that 8 hour exam with AHIMA and yes it was definitely challenging. I graduated from Ferris State University in Medical Record Sciences. When I graduated from Ferris State I went right into an Associate Director of Medical Records- Technology Division at a 640 bed Medical Center unfortunately times got tough in the economy and last one in first on out so I joined the United States Air Force as a Medical Service Corp Officer (Hospital Administrator) and enjoyed my time from taking care of clinic records, outpatient and inpatient records to establishing a paperless concurrent review system Wright Patterson Medical Center- Dayton, OH., an electronic patient record retrieval system- Elmendorf Medical Center- Anchorage, AKto assisting in the design of the hospital at Nellis AFB, Las Vegas Nevada- my next assignment was to be at the Pentagon and me not wanting to be a coffee jockey or a policy wonk I became a civilian again in which I was hired as a Director of Health Information Management with most of the components written above either in my job description or in a management role assisting those individuals, I was promoted to a Vice President of Information Services and now I have come full circle and work from home performing many of the tasks and jobs I did previously. The only reason I mention my long-winded explanation is to show how diverse the field is and all kinds of possibilities await- it all depends on what one loves to do within the field. Once one finds their niche- HIM is ever so rewarding.
Please PM me if you have any additional questions or thoughts that you would like answered. If I can help I certainly will.
