It’s near impossible to find any part of the
world that hasn’t been
affected by the latest advances in information technology. As the World
Wide Web is being transformed into what’s roughly being called an
information “cloud”, every industry is being dramatically altered. The
medical industry is not immune and in fact is benefiting as more and
more people are entering through online degree programs.
One of the key areas being revolutionized is medical records. This is a
critical area, as the information stored helps doctors make life and
death decisions treatment. The person responsible for those records,
and thus on the front line of the changes going on in the back room, is
the Medical Records and Health Information Technician. After all, they
are the ones who are the keepers of those records.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these people maintain the
medical history, symptoms, examination results, diagnostic tests,
treatments and all other services of the patients who walk through
their facility’s doors. They must also ensure the quality, accuracy,
accessibility and security of those records as well as communicate with
physicians and other healthcare professionals in regards to making
proper diagnoses.
The main cause of this change is called electronic health records. All
records were once stored on paper, but no more. These days paper is
only as final backups. All data is stored electronically. Thus the
tech’s job includes a highly sophisticated knowledge of applications
and data bases. It should also be noted that, depending on the size of
the institution, the pool of data being generated and stored is forcing
the techs to end up specializing in the kind of information they are
responsible for.
A hospital can have one group just doing cancer,
another handling insurance reimbursements, and then another on child
care.
Entry into the field requires at least two years in a degree program
and then certification. Courses should have information technology,
medical terminology, clinical classification and coding, database
security and management as part of their core. It has been noted a high
school student who wants a leg up in the field should take secondary
school classes in biology, math, chemistry, health and computer science
courses before they enroll.
As for the certification, this happens after getting one’s degree and
getting one to two years of clinical work. They also require regular
recertification and continuing education because of all the advances in
the technical field or such changes of federal regulations like Obama’s
recent health care reform act.
Many health technicians are getting their degrees and/or staying
up-to-date thanks to online colleges as the classes can be done around
a busy student’s or pro’s schedule. E-learning also has simulation
subroutines for the newest applications out there, thus giving
practical experience.
One thing that’s interesting is there’s a very wide difference in
salaries, depending on who hires you. A private practice tends to
average $26,000 a year. In contrast, the federal government averages
over $42,000. All come with excellent benefits packages. One thing that
should be noted is the profession also has Bachelor’s and Master’s
degree programs, and earning those degrees can increase one’s income
tremendously.
An online degree program tends to make the most sense in fields such as
this where practical experience is also required. This is even more
true as one advances into aspects of the field where masters degree
healthcare requirements are mandatory.
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