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Medical records and health information technicians held about 170,000 jobs in 2006. About 2 out of 5 jobs were in hospitals. The rest were mostly in offices of physicians, nursing care facilities, outpatient care centers, and home health care services. Insurance firms that deal in health matters employ a small number of health information technicians to tabulate and analyze health information. Public health departments also employ technicians to supervise data collection from health care institutions and to assist in research.
Job Outlook
Employment is expected to grow faster than average. Job prospects should be very good; technicians with a strong background in medical coding will be in particularly high demand.
Employment change. Employment of medical records and health information technicians is expected to increase by 18 percent through 2016 faster than the average for all occupations—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 medical records.
New jobs are expected in offices of physicians as a result of increasing demand for detailed records, especially in large group practices. New jobs also are expected in home health care services, outpatient care centers, and nursing and residential care facilities. Although employment growth in hospitals will not keep pace with growth in other health care industries, many new jobs will, nevertheless, be created.
Cancer registrars should experience job growth. As the population continues to age, the incidence of cancer may increase.
Job prospects. Job prospects should be very good. In addition to job growth, 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. Additionally, health care facilities are
having some difficulty attracting qualified workers, primarily because
employers prefer trained and experienced technicians prepared to work
in an increasingly electronic environment with the integration of
electronic health records. Job opportunities may be especially good for
coders employed through temporary help agencies or by professional
services firms.
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