The Role of the HIM Manager - Essay Example

The health care industry was the largest industry in 2006 which provided 14 million jobs in addition to 438,000 jobs for the self employed (BLS, 2008). The health care industry delivers care round the clock to millions of people. This requires combining the medical technology with the human touch. The health care industry consists of nine different segments – hospitals, nursing and residential care facilities, office of physicians, office of dentists, home health care services, offices of other health care practitioners, outpatient care centers, other ambulatory health care services and medical and diagnostic laboratories.

The hospitals constitute only 1 percent of all healthcare establishments but they employ 35% of all workers. Workers in health care tend to be older than workers in other industries. Health occupations require high level of education and training due to which the health care workers are more likely to remain employed in the same occupation. Health Information Management (HIM) Professionals are vital to any health care organization. This paper will discuss their job description and responsibilities, the challenges they face in discharging their duties and their responsibility towards handling legal and regulatory issues.

The HIM professionals are also known by other designations such as Administrative Support Personnel, Health Care Technologist, Health Record Technician, Information Clerk, Information Specialist, Medical Technologist, Office Personnel (Alberta, 2007). The health records in any health care centre contain records about the patients’ history and courses of treatment. These may also include the physicians’ note, forms for prescribed medication, input from other members of the treatment team. While the health records departments are open for longer hours the HIM professionals work in shifts and generally work a standard work week.

Their work profile entails spending the better part of the day at the