Activities	According to the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA), registered health information technicians (RHITs) ensure the quality of medical records by verifying their completeness, accuracy, and proper entry into computer systems.
Outlook	Faster-than-average-job growth
Median Income	$30,600 per year 2008
Work Context & Conditions	RHITs generally work in hospitals and other healthcare settings including physician practices, long term care, specialty hospitals and other healthcare organizationsre settings
Minimum Education Requirements	Associate's Degree
Skills	Active Listening, Writing, Time Management, Reading Comprehension, Speaking
Abilities	Oral Expression, Written Comprehension, Information Ordering, Oral Comprehension

Job Category		Office & Administrative Support
Job Description		According to the American Medical Association (AMA), "graduates of associate degree programs are known as health information technicians and conduct health data collection, monitoring, maintenance, and reporting activities in accordance with established data quality principles, legal and regulatory standards, and professional best practice guidelines. These functions encompass, among other areas, monitoring electronic and paper-based documentation and processing and using health data for billing and reporting purposes through use of various electronic systems. Common job titles held by health information technicians in today's job market include reimbursement specialist, information access and disclosure specialist, coder, medical record technician, data quality coordinator, supervisor, etc. It is anticipated that job titles will change as health care enterprises expand their reliance on information systems and technology. Health information technicians have, and will continue to assume, roles that support efforts toward the development of computer-based patient record systems and a national health information infrastructure. In general, these individuals perform tasks related to the use, analysis, validation, presentation, data abstracting, analysis, coding, release of information, data privacy and security, retrieval, quality measurement, and control of health care data regardless of the physical medium in which information is maintained. Their task responsibilities may also include supervising personnel."
Working Conditions		According to AHIMA, most RHITs work in hospitals, They are also found in a variety of other healthcare settings including office-based physician practices, nursing homes, home health agencies, mental health facilities, and public health agencies. In fact employment opportunities exist for RHITs in any organization that uses patient data or health information such as pharmaceutical companies, law and insurance firms, and health product vendors.
Salary Range		The median annual earning for medical records and health information technicians were $30,600 in 2008. The middle 50 percent earned between $24,300 and $39,500. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $20,400, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $50,100.

Education Required		According to the AMA, RHIT associate degree programs generally last two years, In addition to general education courses, the professional component of the technician program requires biomedical sciences (anatomy, physiology, language of medicine, disease processes, and pharmacology); information technology (microcomputer applications and computers in healthcare); health- data content and structure; healthcare delivery systems, organization and supervision, healthcare statistics, and data literacy; clinical quality assessment and performance improvement; clinical classification systems; reimbursement methodologies; legal and ethical issues; and supervised professional practice experiences in health information departments of healthcare facilities and agencies.
Recommended High School Courses		Computers and Electronics, Biology, Mathematics, English, Health, Foreign Language, Government, Sociology and Anthropology
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		English Language, Customer and Personal Service, Computers and Electronics, Clerical
Certification and Licensing		According to AHIMA,Candidates must meet one of the following eligibility requirements for the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) examination: a. Have successfully met the academic requirements of a health information management (HIM) program at the associate degree level accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education CAHIIM) or the qualifications of such a program at the candidate’s graduation must have met the requirements of the designated accrediting authority for an accredited program; OR b. Have graduated from a program for health information management approved by a foreign association with which there is an agreement of reciprocity; OR c. Have a certificate of completion in health information technology from the AHIMA Independent Study Program (ISP) and an associate’s degree from an accredited college or university. Please Note: Although AHIMA no longer offers an ISP, the certificate of completion refers to those candidates who had previously graduated from this program. The academic eligibility of all candidates must be verified before they take the examination. The RHIT examination takes 3.5 hours and contains a 150-question examination consisting of 130 scored questions and 20 pretest questions. The certification examination is based on an explicit set of competencies: - Health Data Management - Health Statistics, Biomedical Research and Quality Management - Health Services Organization and Delivery - Information Technology and Systems - Organizational Resources The passing score for the RHIT examination is 81 questions out of 130 scored questions as of January, 2007.

Interest Area		Conventional Involves following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. There's usually a clear line of authority to follow.
Work Values		Moral Values Never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong. Security Have steady employment. Working Conditions Good working conditions. Activity Busy all the time.
Skills		Active Listening Listen to what other people are saying and ask questions as appropriate. Writing Communicate effectively with others in writing as indicated by the needs of the audience. Time Management Manage one's own time and the time of others. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Speaking Talk to others to effectively convey information.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Written Comprehension Able to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. Information Ordering Able to correctly follow rules for arranging things or actions in a certain order, including numbers, words, pictures, procedures, and logical operations. Oral Comprehension Able to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Related Jobs		Technician, Medical Records and Health Information, Medical Transcriptionist
Job Outlook		According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, "Job prospects should be very good. Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to grow much faster than average for all occupations 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 patient records. Although employment growth in hospitals will not keep pace with growth in other health care industries, many new jobs will, nevertheless, be created. The majority of new jobs is expected in offices of physicians as a result of increasing demand for detailed records, especially in large group practices. Rapid growth also is expected in home health care services, outpatient care centers, and nursing and residential care facilities. Additional job openings will result from the need to replace technicians who retire or leave the occupation permanently. Technicians with a strong background in medical coding will be in particularly high demand. Changing government regulations and the growth of managed care have increased the amount of paperwork involved in filing insurance claims. Job opportunities may be especially good for coders employed through temporary help agencies or by professional services firms."
More Information		American Health Information Management Association, American Medical Association - Health Care Careers, Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM)
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Medical Records and Health Information Technicians, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos103.htm Medical Records and Health InformationTechnicians (29-2071.00) at O*NET Online: http://online.onetcenter.org/link/details/29-2071.00 RHIA/RHIT Candidate Handbook, 2007. Online at http://www.ahima.org/certification/documents/RHIA-RHIT-2007_002.pdf American Medical Association Health Care Career Directory. Online at http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/16038.html