Health Information Technology FAQs

Why Should You Start a Career in Healthcare IT?

A career in Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) ensures that you will be an essential and valued member of the healthcare system. You will have an always current knowledge base of in-demand skills at your disposal. For objectively good reasons, HIT is one of the fastest-growing careers. As technology continues to improve the way we provide healthcare, increased technical prowess and understanding are required of all caregivers. That’s where your future role comes in. There is an ever-evolving list of positions and facilities that benefit from a HIT background education. But you may have some questions before you submit your application for ASA College. We’ve comprised a list of the most frequently asked questions to help you in your search for education. If you have any additional questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out. When you’re ready, start your application process.

What will be the most in-demand jobs in 2027?

The healthcare field is always growing, adapting, and evolving. With this comes employment opportunities. Healthcare jobs are as hot as ever and show no signs of slowing down. From home health aides and nurse practitioners to physical therapists and phlebotomists, the world can always use more healthcare professionals. One of the most important aspects and in-demand category of healthcare jobs in Healthcare Information Technology. These jobs include analytics consultants, chief security officers (CSO), clinical informaticists, health information technicians, and more.

What Does a Health Information Technician Do?

A Health Information Technician manages and organizes data to meet the appropriate standards. This is in terms of quality, accessibility, security, and other important aspects. It’s vital to have a well-organized system to maintain accurate information in the world of healthcare. Technicians categorize data such as patient information and records to make an easily-accessible registry. They understand the release of information laws and HIPPA guidelines and how to build a network of information critical to helping patients and medical personnel alike.

Health Information Technology job outlook

There’s no need to be concerned about the employment outlook for HIT graduates. The demand for health services has skyrocketed over the years and is projected to grow even more. It is developing significantly faster than all other occupations. As healthcare in all types of organizations and sizes continue to move towards a digital workflow, the demand for information technicians rises. There is a large shortage of healthcare IT professionals. In fact, information technology specialists are in higher demand than any other position in healthcare at the moment. Organizations cannot move forward without a specialist’s input and skills. Plenty of healthcare companies have had to put projects on hold simply because they had too many vacancies for IT positions.

Careers with Health Information Technology degrees

There are many different careers that stem from Health Information Technology degrees. They vary quite a bit depending on your experience, the work setting, demand, and organization. Some of the different career opportunities in this field include:

• Health Information Department Director – responsible for the traditional managerial functions associated with running a department, such as planning, organizing, directing, controlling, and leading, along with addressing the human resources, budgeting, and information technology concerns of the development
• Data Analyst – analyzes records and data quantitively and qualitatively
• Document and Repository Manager – ensures long-term data integrity and access through the development of retention policies and procedures. This position also determines the appropriate media for data and record storage and maintains the data control inventories
• Medical Transcriptionist – transcribes prerecorded dictation to create medical reports, correspondence, and other administrative material
• Tumor Registrar – identifies, collects, and maintains information about benign and malignant tumors (including cancer) that are initially diagnosed or treated by an organization. The tumor registrar uses computer databases and generates statistics and graphs
• Hybrid Records Manager – responsible for the transition to and operation of an electronic health record (EHR). Once the EHR is implemented fully, they will work to plan and manage system-wide changes and innovations, ensure operational standards are met and adjust operating programs, instructional guides, training aids, policies, and procedures as needed
• Utilization Review Coordinator – compares pre-established criteria against the healthcare provided to the patient to determine whether that care is necessary and communicates those results through narrative and graphical reports
• Quality Assurance Coordinators – measures and assess the quality of clinical and patient-care services and offers recommendations for improvement
• Admissions Coordinator – directs patient registration functions, setting guidelines for pre-registration and registration for patients and manages the computerized registration process
• Medical Staff Coordinator – directs the credentialing process of physicians and allied health staff of an organization
• Risk Manager – reduces the medical, financial, and legal risk for an organization through investigation, analysis, and recommendations for corrective action
• Health Insurance Specialists OR Claims Examiners/Analyst – reviews healthcare claims for medical necessity and reasonableness of costs
• Charge Description Master (CDM) Coordinator – oversee the coding and claims processing functions associated with revenue cycle management
• Health Services Manager – coordinates the delivery of healthcare on a departmental or organization-wide basis
• Medical Office Manager – coordinates the activities of a healthcare provider’s office. This includes the health information, personnel, finance, insurance, and risk management functions
• Consumer Advocate – helps consumers understand the meaning and use of their Protected Health Information (PHI)

How will IT affect the healthcare industry?

Where do we start? Every year, as technology grows and evolves, we’re able to adapt it to help the healthcare industry. It brings on exciting new features and streamlines otherwise complicated and meticulous processes. Patients and healthcare professionals alike now have access to state-of-the-art diagnostic tools, new treatments, and especially minimally-invasive procedures that dramatically reduce recovery time. Additionally, technology has helped create intuitive apps and a network of information to improve both knowledge and treatments. Some other examples of how IT is paving the way to better healthcare are:

Creating Digitized Health Records – Endless stacks of paper files and folders in boxes in storage are quickly becoming a relic of the past. By creating digital health records networks, professionals in the industry have quick, reliable, and up-to-date information on their patients. Additionally, this helps to share information to otherwise inaccessible locations.

Mobile App Technology – Patients can keep track of appointments, financial information, reminders to take their medicine, and more with intuitive apps on their phones. On the professional side, this helps reduce time spent filing, maintaining, and searching for specific files and information. Medical professionals can instead bring u information quickly and efficiently, saving time and frustration.

Cloud-Based Data – Nowadays, everyone talks about “the cloud.” But in the medical field, this presents real results quickly. Healthcare comes with massive amounts of information and data that needs to not only be stored securely but easily accessible from many different users at the same time. Cloud storage helps streamline the process by being able to collaborate without walls. On top of that, it offers simplified backup and recovery without the need for dedicated digital or physical space.

Patient Care – All of this technology boils down to providing better care for our patients. RFID technology can give doctors real-time information about vital signs and conditions with easy communication, location, and identification. Electronic Health Records (EHR) are digital versions of patients’ charts. Doctors can now view a comprehensive medical history and condition status of patients without having to track down specific paperwork.

Improved Communication – New developments in communication streamline the way medical professionals share data. Doctors today have quick access to comprehensive research studies. They’re also able to compare data and information on patients with peers to help diagnose and treat their patients. This gives us quick access to diseases, outcomes, genetics, risk factors, preventative treatments, and more. Plus, remote communication allows patients to connect with medical professionals across the world rather than spend critical time traveling or waiting on paperwork to return.

What makes healthcare IT different?

Healthcare IT specialists are in higher demand than regular IT technicians due to the added knowledge of specific rules and regulations. Healthcare comes with strict and complex requirements to share and store medical data. This includes regulations on confidential and personal data. Because of this, HIT students spend longer studying and learning these professional rules to add to their position. This also gives students a leg up on the competition when job searching as they won’t require additional on-the-job training from prospective companies. Often, recruiters are required to look outside the healthcare industry world for IT help. That’s how highly in-demand HIT experts are. As part of the healthcare industry, you face no chance of your career crashing like those in other industries encountering disruption. There is always an aging population that needs proper healthcare. Additionally, since it is an Associate in Applied Science (AAS) degree, credits are transferred to Bachelors’ programs. This means that you can complete these courses in less than four years, saving you time and money.

Learn More at ASA College

The world of Healthcare Information Technology is always growing. As a result, the demand for additional professionals is always high. The HIT program at ASA College provides students the tools and background they need to succeed in the professional world. Students will engage in ethics, legislative issues, and regulatory conversations alongside day-to-day operations of IT work. They will learn real-world applications about how the ever-advancing world of technology can be used to further the healthcare field. Learn more today by contacting our admissions office.