Healthcare Information Management

  Career in Health Information Management

According to the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA) health information management professionals contribute to health outcomes and the healthcare system through best practice health information management.

Health information management professionals work in a variety of roles in all areas of the healthcare system.

While many people work in health information related roles, there are two specialist occupations for health information management professionals: 

1. Health Information Managers (HIMs)

Health Information Managers plan, develop and manage health information systems for patient, clinical and administrative data necessary for patient care, healthcare planning and funding.  They play a key role in the secure, confidential, and legal use of patient information.  Health Information Managers are degree qualified through a HIMAA accredited or recognised course.

1. Clinical Coders

Clinical Coders are responsible for translating clinical information gathered during a patient’s hospital stay into codes according to a recognised health classification system.  Clinical coding information is utilised for planning, resourcing, benchmarking and funding purposes at local, regional and national level. Clinical Coders are either qualified HIMs or are qualified through a VET course accredited by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA).

In Victoria, La Trobe University offers a HIMAA- accredited Bachelor of Health Information Management.   

Students keen on studying to be a Clinical Coder can study the Diploma of Clinical Coding at Victoria University, or the diploma offered by the HIMAA itself -  Diploma of Clinical Coding.

Students are invited to browse the HIMAA link provided above which is a great source of information.