How Health Information Professionals work with and protect the traditional and digital medical information that is a vital part of providing patient care.
In a healthcare industry dominated by ever-increasing technology usage, the humans behind secure health data are more crucial than ever for utilizing and safeguarding patient’s personal health information.
These individuals, known as Health Information Professionals (HIPs), work behind the scenes in healthcare every day to advance health information systems and transform the industry through technological solutions.
The expertise and skills of HIPs are essential to the healthcare industry for improving patient outcomes, making administrative and organizational processes easier and more streamlined, and looking after patient’s sensitive health information and data.
HIPs are responsible for certifying that patient health information is accurate, complete, and protected, according to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). HIPs also ensure that facilities adhere to HIPPA rules to protect patient information, provide clinicians with the most up-to-date information for healthcare decision-making, and work on the classification of diseases to verify that they are standardized for clinical, financial, and legal uses.
HIPs are experts on both workflow processes in healthcare provider organizations and electronic health records (EHRs), serving to link clinical staff and physicians to the health data that they work with each day.
Employed in hospitals, private physician practices, nursing homes, government agencies, and more, HIPs have a wide variety of career focuses within healthcare. The profession is expected to be in high demand as the health sector continues to expand. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) cites medical records and health information technicians as one of the fastest growing occupations in the U.S., with an anticipated growth of 11% between 2018-2028.
Bridging clinical and administrative processes
Health information technology advancement is largely being sought by hospitals and health systems as a major component to streamlining the process of providing healthcare, improving care quality, and harnessing costs to lead to a more cost-efficient healthcare system.
Health Information Professionals specifically work at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and business, as the “business managers and custodians of data and information” in healthcare, according to the National Library of Medicine’s “Redefining the Roles of Health Information Management Professionals in Health Information Technology” report and provide a “bridge” between clinical decision-making and efficient administrative processes.
According to the report, health information technology is the basis for more patient-centered, value-based healthcare, as these technologies provide high-quality, on-demand virtual health and medical information. As healthcare becomes increasingly digital, more Health Information Professionals will be needed to provide their extensive technical knowledge within the sector.
AHIMA supports professionals
AHIMA is a global nonprofit association that represents and supports career health information professionals. HIPs connect people, systems, and processes to help make sure that sensitive health data remains accurate, accessible, protected, and complete. As healthcare technology continues to grow, AHIMA asserts that career opportunities for HIPs in healthcare will increase and that the number of people employed in the profession will continue to grow.
According to AHIMA, a career as an HI professional may be a good fit if you:
- Like diverse opportunities
- Enjoy working in healthcare but not directly with patients
- Have an aptitude for science and management, law, and technology
- Enjoy working with physicians, nurses, lawyers, administrators, and executives
Typical job titles for HIPs include Medical Records Specialist, Technician and Registrar, Clinical Data Manager, Data Scientist, and Medical and Health Service Manager, and much more, according to AHIMA.
Educational programs for the career path incorporate the disciplines of medicine, management, finance, information technology, records management, and more, according to AHIMA. As a result of this extensive knowledge base, graduates of health information management programs can choose from a wide range of career opportunities across many types of healthcare settings.
Industries that currently have a demand for health information professionals include healthcare organizations, academic institutions, consulting agencies, government agencies, and healthcare software companies. Health information practitioners also continue to be critical component of the electronic health record (EHR) workforce.
Driving the industry forward
The Health Information Professional career has grown and evolved alongside healthcare, and it is set to evolve and change further, welcoming new career possibilities as healthcare tech develops.
AHIMA’s main HIP recognition event, Health Information Professionals Week, occurs in April annually (in 2025, it will be held April 15-19) to highlight healthcare technology careers and call attention to the work of the healthcare industry’s decisive data professionals.
Health Information Professionals week highlights the importance of the HIP career to the industry overall and seeks to disseminate information about the career path, recognize current HIPs’ contribution to the industry, and encourages staff that are already employed in healthcare to reach out to the professionals in their organizations to discuss how teams can work together on their common goals, according to AHIMA.
The healthcare industry is currently undergoing great structural changes by aligning health information technology with the delivery of care to enhance the efficiency of the system, according to the National Library of Medicine. This process of change and development will require the continued behind-the-scenes data and technology work of Health Information Professionals to support an ever-growing industry.
According to AHIMA, highlighting the careers of Health Information Professionals (HIPs) Week across the nation advances the profession and “keeps our health information human,” while serving to emphasize the influence of HIPs in driving the healthcare technology industry forward.