Health Information Specialist

Duties and Responsibilities:  Health Information Specialists obtain, post, and analyze medical, workload, finance, and insurance data.  They ensure that this information is properly recorded into medical records so practitioners can plan and evaluate health care provided to patients. 

There are different types of Health Information Specialists you could be. Three of them include Record Administrators, Record Technicians, and Coding Specialists. Administrators coordinate the various information management responsibilities and supervise record technicians and coding specialists.  Record technicians ensure medical records are accurate, coordinate reimbursement, and maintain disease registries for research.  Coding specialists assign and post correct diagnosis and procedure codes to records and report codes to insurance companies. 

They can work in hospitals, clinics, and other medical related places.

Salary: $20,000- $25,000 for Coding Specialists

              $23,000- $30,000 for Record Technicians

              $30,000- $40,000 for Record Administrators

Education: Students should take high school courses in business, information management, science, math, and English. Coding specialists must have a high school diploma or GED certificate. To become certified, specialists must pass an examination. Record technicians must earn an associate's degree from an accredited college program. They must pass a credentialing examination. Record administrators must complete a bachelor's degree program in the field and pass a certification examination

Reflection: I would not like to be a Record Technician because the career does not interest me and it doesn’t seem like something I would like to be.