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 a variety of job specialties with in this field including Registered Record Administrators, Accredited Record Technicians, and Certified Coding Specialties. 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 to insurance companies.

Average Salary:

$20,000-$25,000 (Coding Specialists)

$23,000-$30,000 (Record Technicians)

$30,000-$40,000 (Record Administrators)

Educational Requirements:

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. Training is usually conducted on the job, but classes are offered at technical schools and community colleges. To become certified, specialists must pass an examination.

Accredited record technicians must earn an associate’s degree from an accredited college program or from the American Health Information Management Association Independent Study Program. Additionally, they must pass a credentialing examination.

Record administrators must complete a bachelor’s degree program in the field and pass a certification examination.

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