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Health information technology is one of the few health occupations in which there is little or no direct contact with patients. The health information technology courses you will be taking at health information technology colleges will help you to assemble patients’ health information by first making sure their initial medical charts are complete. With a health information technology degree you will ensure that all forms are completed and properly identified and signed, and that all necessary information is in the computer. A school of health information technology will teach you skills to regularly communicate with physicians or other healthcare professionals to clarify diagnoses or to obtain additional information. Links and directories about health information technology schools will help you in your search for degree criteria.
Medical records and health information technicians usually work a 40-hour week. Some overtime may be required. In hospitals—where health information departments often are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—technicians may work day, evening, and night shifts.
Medical records and health information technicians work in pleasant and comfortable offices. This is one of the few health occupations in which there is little or no direct contact with patients. Because accuracy is essential in their jobs, technicians must pay close attention to detail. Technicians who work at computer monitors for prolonged periods must guard against eyestrain and muscle pain.
Medical records and health information technicians held about 147,000 jobs in 2002. Thirty-seven percent of all jobs were in hospitals. The rest were mostly in offices of physicians, nursing care facilities, outpatient care centers, and home healthcare services. Insurance firms that deal in health matters employ a small number of health information technicians to tabulate and analyze health information. Public health departments also hire technicians to supervise data collection from healthcare institutions and to assist in research.
Taken in part from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos103.htm