In Demand: Registered Health Information Administrators

Perspectives, AHIMA’s Online Journal, Highlights This Trend and More in Fall Issue

The monthly job numbers for much of this century typically lead to a slew of depressing headlines at the sluggish pace of job growth. One category that bucks that trend? Registered health information administrators, where demand outstrips supply.

The fall issue of AHIMA’s online journal, Perspectives in Health Information Management, showcases research that finds that a postbaccalureate certificate program is a viable way to increase the number of graduates and in turn increase the health information administration workforce.

The study, “Assessment of Success on the RHIA Certification Examination: A Comparison of Baccalaureate Program Graduates and Postbaccalaureate Certificate Program Graduates,” examined a health information administrative department at an academic health sciences center, which added a postbaccalaureate certificate program in health information administration in 2001. The analysis showed that the postbaccalaureate certificate program also would increase program enrollment and the number of RHIAs in the workforce.

Other featured stories in the fall issue include:

• Medication errors are more prevalent among elderly patients, so obtaining accurate medication histories at the time of hospital admission is critical. A study, “Enhance the Accuracy of Medication Histories for the Elderly by Using an Electronic Medication Checklist,” at a central Texas hospital demonstrated that medication errors were significantly reduced by using an electronic medication checklist at the time of admission.
• Health literacy describes a patient’s ability to understand materials provided by physicians or other providers. Factors such as education level, income and age all play a role in health literacy. “The Impact of Health Literacy on a Patient’s Decision to Adopt a Personal Health Record,” a study drawing from research at a medical practice in Florida where the patients had a relatively low education level, found that the majority indicated a broad acceptance of personal health record technology. Adoption and use rates may also depend on the availability of office staff for hands-on training and interpretation of medical information.
•  Can a mobile phone support system be used as a basis to continuously document patients’ health information in real time and provide conditions for optimal individual pain management after cholecystectomy and hysterectomy procedures? That was the aim of a pilot study, “Health Information: What Can Mobile Phone Assessments Add?” The mobile phone system was found to provide a fast and safe basis for reporting pain postoperatively in real time.
•  Results of the study, “Gaps in the Existing Public Health Informatics Training Programs: A Challenge to the Development of a Skilled Global Workforce,” suggest that a need exists for online contextual and cost-effective public health informatics training programs. These programs could address the professionals worldwide who are using technology to improve public health in their respective countries.
• Telemedicine is the practice of healthcare using audio, video and data communications. The study, “Successes and Challenges in the Implementation and Application of Telemedicine in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia,” was conducted at one hospital not adopting telemedicine and three hospitals adopting telemedicine. The study concluded that despite telemedicine’s promise and the large budget allocated for e-health, the telemedicine modalities used were limited.

About Perspectives

Perspectives in Health Information Management is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal, referred to by professors, professionals, public officials, industry leaders, and policy-makers. Since 2004, it has been one of the most credible and respected journals of the HIM industry, and is referenced in notable indices such as PubMed Central (PMC), the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health (CINAHL), and Google Scholar. Learn more about the submission guidelines and the manuscript review process.

About AHIMA

Representing more than 64,000 specially educated Health Information Management professionals in the United States and around the world, the American Health Information Management Association is committed to promoting and advocating for high quality research, best practices and effective standards in health information and to actively contributing to the development and advancement of health information professionals worldwide. AHIMA’s enduring goal is quality healthcare through quality information. www.ahima.org.