Tell me About HIT

What Prospective Students Should Know

Employment of health information technicians is expected to increase by 20 percent through 2018, in part, due to electronic medical record implementation mandates.   Median annual earnings of health information technicians was $31,290 in May 2009. The middle 50 percent earned between $24,290 and $39,490.   Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of medical records and health information technicians in May 2006:

General medical and surgical hospitals Nursing care facilities Outpatient care centers Offices of physicians

$35,870 33,100 30,650 30,650

 

 

Source:   U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Office – May 2010

 

  What Graduates Do

• Graduates of the program are eligible to write the RHIT (Registered Health Information Technology) certification exam which is offered by the American Health Information Management Association
• 240 hour internship in a hospital setting is completed during the last semester of the program
•  Program is offered on Big Rapids campus during the day and Grand Rapids campus in the evening

 

Registered Health Information Technicians ensure the quality of medical records by verifying their completeness, accuracy, and proper entry into computer systems. They may also use computer applications to assemble and analyze patient data for the purpose of improving patient care or controlling costs. They consult classification manuals and computer software to assign the patient to a diagnosis-related group, which will determine the amount that the hospital will be reimbursed by the government or insurance company.    RHITs often specialize in coding diagnoses and procedures in patient records for reimbursement and research.

Health Information professionals work in hospitals, clinics, physician private practices and health departments and insurance companies. They typically work in an office setting, Monday-Friday, 40 hours per week.

 

Related Occupations

Related health care occupations include insurance claims clerk, medical secretary, medical transcriptionist, tumor registrar.

Employment Prospects

Employment of health information technicians is expected to increase by 20 percent through 2018 because of rapid growth in the number of medical tests, treatments, and procedures that will be increasingly scrutinized by health insurance companies, regulators, courts, and consumers. Also, technicians will be needed to enter patient information into computer databases to comply with Federal legislation mandating the use of electronic medical records.   ( U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2010)

New jobs are expected in offices of physicians as a result of increasing demand for detailed records, especially in large group practices. New jobs also are expected in home health care services, outpatient care centers, and nursing and residential care facilities. Although employment growth in hospitals will not keep pace with growth in other health care industries, many new jobs will, nevertheless, be created.