Medical Records Jobs Exploding In Popularity

In July 2010, the Obama administration released a five-year plan to convert healthcare providers and hospitals from paper to electronic medical records. Benefits include lower costs, streamlined service, and increased safety. Under the plan, providers who do not comply by 2015 face fines and reduction in Medicare payments. This paved the way for medical records jobs to take off in popularity, which they definitely have.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that jobs in this field will grow by 20 percent from 2008 to 2018. Providers and hospitals who do not make the conversion to electronic medical records will find it more difficult, and more expensive, to get claims approved. This fact alone puts the career of the medical record technician in the spotlight. Skilled professionals are needed to tailor and install software, map the conversion process, and train medical staff to use the new systems.

Technicians bear the responsibility of organizing patient health records in an electronic format. This includes details regarding demographics, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, testing, exams, and prescriptions. They oversee entry of this information into software and ensure that it is accessible, complete, accurate, and secure. Doing this requires excellent organization skills, knowledge of electronic medical records software, and familiarity with medical terminology.

These individuals are finding jobs in primary care and specialist practices, hospitals, health departments, and clinics. Ultimately, they are responsible for making sure that the electronic health records are accurate and complete and that medical staff and providers know how to use the software. Communication with healthcare providers and medical staff is required for clarification regarding diagnosis, conditions, treatment, tests, medication, and related aspects.

Obtaining a certificate in health information technology is the most common way to obtain the fundamental knowledge required to perform this job. Community colleges offer this and are now beginning to offer associate’s degrees in the field. As electronic medical records software evolves due to new technology, so will the role of the technician. This requires that individuals in this role keep abreast of technology and regulatory requirements within the healthcare industry. Continued learning is expected, as this career is relatively new and is expected to change as we near the deadline for compliance. 

At this point, certification is not mandatory for medical record technicians but many employers prefer candidates who have it. The American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) offers the certification considered the most relevant, the RHIT- Registered Health Information Technician. Individuals must have graduated from a two-year education program that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM). They also must pass an exam administered by AHIMA.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that medical records jobs pay an average of $30,610 annually, with the typical range being $20,440 to over $50,000 annually. Individuals performing a relevant role for the federal government command the highest annual salary but hospitals and nursing homes are other top payers. This career is one that allows individuals to work within the healthcare industry without having direct exposure to patients.

By: Conrad Wysor

Should You Consider Switching To Electronic Health Records?

If you make a living in the healthcare industry, chances are that you have been hearing the term electronic health records thrown around a lot lately. Many practices are currently moving to this advanced record keeping software, but you will need to carefully consider whether or not this system works for you.

Those that have already used it will swear by this advanced system while others will say that there are a lot of issues still to be corrected with the software. Before you make a decision as to whether or not electronic health records can provide real benefits to your practice, recognize that knowledge is king, and you should seek it whenever possible.

There are many advantages to going to electronic health records. For instance, many systems include automation features that correctly code procedures. This may decrease the number of errors in your documentation, while speeding up the documentation process. Additionally, since electronic medical records are simpler to manage and fully access, if there is ever any question about your billing practices or patient care, an auditor will be able to easily go through your documentation.

Benefits for Practices with Multiple Locations

Frequently, patients may need to visit satellite offices or various outside medical providers that are at a different location. The adoption and use of electronic health records enables easy transmission from one office to the next. The ability to have this information so easily available will prove to be extremely beneficial not only to providers but also to the patients that are seeking care or diagnosis from a physician, dentist or surgeon.

Despite the fact that benefits abound when it comes to installing an EMR system, this decision is key. Know how it will change the functionality of your practice and what it will take to implement the new system. At the same time, also remember that there are real benefits, such as decreased costs and improved use of office space.

Additionally, if you have a smaller practice a good EHR system could end up saving you money on everything from transcription services to part time staff and overall office supplies. Depending on the kinds of care that you offer in your office, you could also find that electronic health records applications can be very helpful as a way to safeguard patient privacy.

Make It Easy On Yourself

When choosing a system for your medical office, ensure you have a product that is easy enough for your staff to really work with. Maintenance of the program should never seem unwieldy and upgrading should be very simple. If you choose the right software, everything from billing, to reporting and invoicing will be easier to do, and will greatly improve your productivity.

Once your staff has been effectively trained, you should also see that your staff takes well to the simplicity of such an electronic records application. By running a potentially paperless practice, you can help to improve functionality in terms of billing, accounts, scheduling and much more. Many doctors who have already switched over to an electronic health records system will say that it was the best choice they could have made and that they can't imagine working without it.

By: Carl J Hardy

President Obama And Electronic Health Records - 7 Reasons Why He Is Right

A central component of President Obama's health policy is investment in electronic health records so all medical records are digitized within five years. This will include plans to strengthen the security and privacy governance arrangements for health information currently in place, ensure that health information cannot be sold or passed on without patient consent, and increase the range of penalties for those who do not protect health data appropriately. Many are already calling for serious reconsideration of introducing a national patient identifier for healthcare as part of this initiative. The President's healthcare initiative is essential to move the American healthcare system of care into the Information Age, and has the potential to dramatically improve the way all Americans are treated whether they are in or out of hospital for years to come.

We need to examine the many positive reasons why electronic health record implementation is so important for Americans, and not get lost in detailed philosophical or technical arguments that so often muddy this topic. Americans will receive gains in seven main areas through the introduction of a national electronic health record system:

1. We are in the Information Age, and healthcare, which is an Information Industry, needs to be modernized just like the banking, communications and media industries, and made more efficient, through the more effective use of health information. Electronic health records have been extensively studied and have been show to increase the overall quality of care, and to reduce medical errors. 

2.The Internet and its associated multimedia environments are here to stay. Their existence will facilitate the development of an entirely new information infrastructure for healthcare, incorporating electronic health records, and numerous other multimedia environments and analytic tools. Investments in health are likely to continuously move away from bricks and mortar to bits and bytes, and the Obama plans will kick start this approach. 

3. The Internet is already widely used by consumers for healthcare. 10 million Americans search online for health information about themselves or a loved one every single day - a total of 140 million Americans have already undertaken such searches. People trust their doctors and like to discuss information they have found on the internet with them. Health consumers are increasingly accustomed to the idea of their personal information being maintained online, and currently assume that much of their health information is already electronic. Major companies, such as Google and Microsoft, have illustrated this change in attitude by introducing their own personal health record systems. 

4. A well introduced national health electronic information infrastructure will lead to better security and privacy than we have with our current paper records. Our present records have minimal capacity to be audited for inappropriate access by those who should not be seeing them, and are probably accessed much more than we realize. 

5. Electronic health records will allow us to leverage new technologies such as virtual reality environments, telemedicine programs, multimedia applications, genetic databases and increasingly sophisticated search and decision support tools. We currently only use these tools sporadically, but in future, as we move to an increasingly personalized consumer focussed health system, they will be used routinely. 

6. With the simultaneous move to some kind a national health insurance initiative, another goal of President Obama, the existence of electronic health records is simply essential to be able to provide care to the current 47 million Americans who are estimated to be uninsured. 

7. Among the most essential solutions to the American healthcare crisis is the need to promote and enhance disease prevention, health promotion and chronic disease management. These approaches to care are much more effective if good quality information on both individuals and communities is already available electronically.

The need for national electronic health records is essential to allow us to improve the American healthcare system, and to make our healthcare services more personalized and consumer focused as we move increasingly into delivering healthcare in today's information age. We need to support President Obama in this important initiative.

By: Peter Yellowlees

Personal Health Records: What Are Your Options

Most of you have probably seen your chart when you visit your doctor's office. In fact, you may need to visit several doctors' offices and may have charts at all these offices. To keep track and maintain all this information it makes sense keeping your own records. So what kind of information goes into personal health records? Here's a list of possible information that could go into these records.

1. Your name, blood type, date of birth and emergency contact details.

2. The date you had your last physical.

3. The dates you had some tests and screenings on, as well as the results.

4. Major illnesses you have suffered with dates.

5. Any surgeries you may have had, with dates.

6. A list of medication you are on along with the duration you have taken them.

7. Any allergies that you may have.

8. Any chronic disease that you may have.

9. Medical history of your family members. 

One factor that distinguishes personal health records is the platform used to deliver it. There are various platforms such as paper, portable devices, the internet and personal computers. Let's look at some of these platforms.

Paper-based PHRs

Paper format is used to record and store your personal health information. This could be your printed laboratory records, any health history you may have created, and photo copies of notes provided by your clinic. The advantages of this method are that it is reliable, low cost and can be accessed without a computer. The disadvantage of using this method is that records may sometimes be difficult to update, share and locate. These records could get lost or damaged especially in times of a natural disaster.

PC-based PHRs

Personal computer- based software is used to record personal health information. This allows one to easily print, encrypt, and import data. Creating a backup also becomes easier as compared to paper-based records. Some PHR products can be easily copied on to mass-storage devices such as smart cards, USB flash drive and CD-ROMs. Data stored here could be lost if the personal computer is damaged.

Internet-based PHRs

A web browser can be used to access and edit health information. The advantage of using an internet-based system is that it can be accessed from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection. The PHR system can be interactive and data in such a system is not on the user's local machine but on a remote server. Backup becomes easier. However personal health records stored in this manner makes it easier for unauthorized people to access it.

By: david hess