Minnesota Health Informatics

Health Info Tech Jobs Description – MN

In today’s challenging job market, versatility is often seen as the key to an individual’s success. Poised at the cutting edge of information science, computer science, and health care, perhaps no occupation better epitomizes this than Health Informatics. Offered through many of Minnesota’s numerous two-year Associate’s Degree programs, courses in Health Informatics produce some of the most highly sought after graduates in our nation’s every-expanding medical system. Known as Registers Health Information Technicians (RHIT’s), these individuals spend their time collecting, organizing, and cataloging data in all manner of locations, from hospitals and clinics to correctional facilities and educational institutions. Primarily, Health Informatics professionals will find themselves managing confidential medical data with an eye toward legal and ethical guidelines.

Minnesota Health Informatics Links – MN

Health Informatics Job Outlook & Certification in Minnesota

According to the job outlook for Health Information Technicians, Health Informatics is one of the fastest growing jobs in America and this rings true for Minnesota as well. Studies project that the industry will grow by a stunning 20% in the decade following 2008. Graduates can further increase their marketability by continuing their education following Associate level RHIT certification. Bachelor’s Degrees in the field will garner the title of RegisteredHealth Information Administrator, or RHIA.

Certification in both the RHIT and RHIA fields comes from the same source – the Commission on Health Informatics & Information Management, known more concisely as CAHIIM . Though many schools offer programs in Health Informatics, not all are approved by CAHIIM. This seeming disparity actually serves as an advantage to the selective student, who can vault themselves to the front of the pack by attending a CAHIIM-approved college. Only by choosing one of these accredited programs can a graduate receive certification as an RHIT or RHIA. All graduates who manage to earn CAHIIM certification are eligible for membership in the American Health Information Management Association, popularly shortened to AHIMA . There are several incentives for those who join, including regularly updated job postings and access to the latest news in the professional field. Additional data can be found at the organization’s website, www.ahima.org.

Health Informatics Degree Options in Minnesota

For the residents of Minnesota, there are several CAHIIM-approved colleges from which to choose as well as additional reputable non-CAHIIM approved programs. One such program can be found at the Rochester Community and Technical College, headed by Mary Jeunemann. Offering one of the most successful curricula in the state, Jeunemann boasts that the school’s RHIT studentshave enjoyed the luxury of a job placement rate “around 85% within six months of graduation.” It’s been said that it’s never too late to expand one’s horizons. This is certainly the case in the Health Informatics field, where “about 90% up of our students are of non traditional age, which is not directly out of high school – primarily over the age of thirty.”

Health Informatics Salary in Minnesota

Those who pass through their RHIT certification can look forward to a comfortable starting wage in the neighborhood of $17.92 an hour, which translates into around $37,300 per year. After garnering a sizable amount of career experience, the pay scale can slide up to $24.93 an hour, which puts the graduate into $51,600 territory. For those who attend Rochester Community and Technical College, employment opportunities are often found within close range.

*Salary Data: Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Earnings Statistics

“In Minnesota,” says Jeunemann, “primarily our students are employed in the Rochester area as well as the twin cities area.”
But due to the completely online nature of their CAHIIM-approved program, Jeunemann proudly points out that “We have students across the nation.”

Rochester, like many of the Health Informatics programs in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes however, does not offer a Bachelor’s Degree in the field. This is due to their status as a community college, and not as a result of lack of demand for higher learning. Students with a thirst to advance their career to the next level can find help through the Health Information Systems curriculum at the University of Phoenix online or the Health Informatics branch of Capella University online as well as at a number of other schools below.

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