Example Career: Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars

Career Description

Apply knowledge of healthcare and information systems to assist in the design, development, and continued modification and analysis of computerized healthcare systems. Abstract, collect, and analyze treatment and followup information of patients. May educate staff and assist in problem solving to promote the implementation of the healthcare information system. May design, develop, test, and implement databases with complete history, diagnosis, treatment, and health status to help monitor diseases.

What Job Titles Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars Might Have

• Medical Records Analyst

What Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars Do

• Assign the patient to diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), using appropriate computer software.
• Compile medical care and census data for statistical reports on diseases treated, surgery performed, or use of hospital beds.
• Design databases to support healthcare applications, ensuring security, performance and reliability.
• Develop in-service educational materials.
• Evaluate and recommend upgrades or improvements to existing computerized healthcare systems.
• Facilitate and promote activities, such as lunches, seminars, or tours, to foster healthcare information privacy or security awareness within the organization.
• Identify, compile, abstract, and code patient data, using standard classification systems.
• Manage the department or supervise clerical workers, directing or controlling activities of personnel in the medical records department.
• Monitor changes in legislation and accreditation standards that affect information security or privacy in the computerized healthcare system.
• Plan, develop, maintain, or operate a variety of health record indexes or storage and retrieval systems to collect, classify, store, or analyze information.
• Prepare statistical reports, narrative reports, or graphic presentations of information, such as tumor registry data for use by hospital staff, researchers, or other users.
• Protect the security of medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
• Related occupations Resolve or clarify codes or diagnoses with conflicting, missing, or unclear information by consulting with doctors or others or by participating in the coding team's regular meetings.
• Retrieve patient medical records for physicians, technicians, or other medical personnel.
• Train medical records staff.
• Write or maintain archived procedures, procedural codes, or queries for applications.