Registered Health Information Administrators (RHIAs) collect and analyze health data to ensure efficient, ethical, and lawful patient care. They need specialist skills in computer work, data preparation, and coding. RHIAs work in various settings and require a bachelor’s degree from an accredited program and certification.
An RHIA, or Registered Health Information Administrator, works with health care providers, patients, payers, and other organizations to collect and analyze comprehensive health data. By analyzing and managing health care information, including medical records, RHIAs compile the information necessary to ensure that patient care is managed efficiently, ethically, and lawfully.
In addition to collecting and analyzing patient data, RHIAs need to have a range of specialist skills. RHIAs are typically very comfortable working on computers, preparing health data for accreditation surveys, and coding information for reimbursement and research. While RHIAs are required to provide comprehensive health information to legitimate participants, they are also required to protect the privacy and security of confidential medical records and patient data. It is therefore necessary for RHIAs to have experience of ethical standards and legal requirements within the healthcare sector.
RHIA skills are useful in a variety of positions, including Director of the Department of Health Information Management (HIM), Data Quality Officer, and Privacy Officer. Many of these positions also require employee management skills. Typically, an RHIA’s job involves interacting with a diverse range of departments within an organization.
RHIAs work in a variety of settings. Those most closely related to patient care may work in hospitals, long-term care facilities or private doctors’ offices. Employment opportunities for RHIAs also exist in non-patient care settings, including insurance, pharmaceutical, and government offices. In the United States, managed care is a growing industry and as a result, employment opportunities for RHIAs continue to grow as well.
In the United States, RHIAs typically must have a bachelor’s degree from a health information management program. This degree must be earned from a program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education. After completing this fully accredited program, you must pass a certification exam to begin working as an RHIA.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
