What is Health Information Technology, and what will I learn?
Health Information Technology (Health IT) covers a variety of careers that keep patients’ medical records safe and secure. It is a highly ethical profession that requires you to have technical and social skills to manage electronic health records (EHR) while adhering to the federal privacy law known as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Health IT specialists work across several different healthcare settings that include hospitals, physician offices, mental health facilities, outpatient clinics and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. Health IT specialists are also hired to work in non-medical environments such as consulting firms, government agencies, software companies and insurance companies.
Future Health IT specialists can obtain short-term and long-term certificates, or an associate degree, to learn clinical documentation, medical coding, medical terminology, caregiver workflows, coding, and elements of prospective payment systems. You also learn the legal principles behind patient rights and advocacy issues.