Medical records and health information professionals with training in coding and insurance billing procedures are in high demand. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the employment of medical records personnel is expected to grow much faster than the average growth for all occupations in the country over the next decade. Applicants with associates degrees or certifications from medical training programs will find the best prospects for employment.
It's easy to see why so many medical records personnel are needed. Every patient in the country that visits hospitals, physicians' offices, outpatient clinics, vision and dental offices has a record of consultation, diagnosis and treatment. Records are required by law, and most health care providers must provide comprehensive medical records order to receive insurance company payments.
There are medical trade colleges, community colleges, and private schools that offer career training programs in medical records and coding. Coursework for an associate's degree in medical records can include an introduction to insurance processes along with classes in diagnosis and treatment coding, abstraction of data, medical terminology, statistics, database software, legal requirements for medical reporting, anatomy, and physiology.
Students with a prior background in some computer science, biology, chemistry, or basic anatomy will have the inside edge in receiving admissions to medical records training programs, the BLS reports.
Of the 159,000 medical records and health information professionals that held jobs in 2004, about one third worked in hospitals. The majority of new jobs, the BLS predicts, will be in the offices of private physicians.
