Fields that blend nursing with IT?

agldragonRN · Jan 5, 2011

thanks tdchim!!!

TDCHIM · Jan 8, 2011

Hello! I happened upon this web site and conversation stream recently and wanted to help those who are wanting to learn more about health information management. As information to contribute to this discussion, there is a free resource available called HICareers.com where you can see case studies of people working in HIM, look through a directory of universities, colleges, and organizations with HIM programs, learn about HIM career paths, etc.

The AHIMA site link I gave earlier actually directs users to this site. The Careers in HIM tab on the main AHIMA page (www.ahima.org) offers links to several career and job-related sites; the HIcareers.com site is one of them.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jan 8, 2011

Check out AN's Nursing Informatics forum for ideas on blending nursing and IT roles.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Jan 9, 2011

Greetings Scrubbee,

Sounds like Nursing Informatics to me. Nursing informatics was recognized as a specialty in 1992 and a scope

of practice was developed through the American Nurses' Association in 1994.

The American Nurses Association defines Nursing Informatics as: "a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, knowledge and wisdom in nursing practice."

If you have additional questions check out such sites as

ANIA-CARING, AMIA-NIWG and AMIA.

I am currently a nursing student working in IT. I'm just curious, are there any specialties out there that nurses with IT backgrounds are particularly suited for, or where they could use both skillsets?
I want to do bedside nursing but want to further my education into possibly NP or something that would blend IT with nursing, but I don't know if anything like that exists.

rninformatics, DNP, RN · Jan 9, 2011

Greetings you might be interested in this post differentiating HIM from HIT:

Health Information Mgt or informatics - Nursing for Nurses

FYI, Nursing, Clinical and Healthcare Informatics should not to be confused with Health Information Management (HIM) which is also known as Medical Records. Although both HIM and NI/CI/HI/HIT professionals may practice in the same environments (acute, ambulatory care, physicians' offices, etc.) they are distinct and separate disciplines.

Nursing Informatics is NOT just about the management of the medical record. It is NOT about "working with computers." It is NOT about "programming." Clinical Informatics IS about utilizing best practices combined with technological tools such as EMRs, bar code medication administration systems, CPOE, data bases, decision support rules/alerts, etc., to transform data, into information into knowledge to improve patient care and clinical practice.

Hello all,
I'll be responding privately to those who wanted the name of my school - I'm not a huge fan of throwing all my personal info out on the web for anyone to see. However, some of the questions on the thread cover the same ground, so I'll answer those here. Please remember that I am a student and have not yet worked in this field, though I researched it thoroughly and shadowed people before jumping into it. Take what I'm telling you with a grain of salt, because a student's view is not necessarily the exact reality of day-to-day life in the field!
@I'mThatGuy: People in HIM do a lot of different things. Some RHIAs specialize in the legal/privacy side of matters. They work in areas like Risk Management and HIM and are the people who know HIPAA and other relevant federal and state healthcare laws inside and out. They help to set privacy policies and watch for possible problems relating to records management, etc. Others work in jobs where their IT skills are constantly in use, handling issues and problems relating to the facility's electronic health record system(s). Depending on the place, you could be talking about one fairly new overarching system or a bunch of old legacy systems (like a pharmacy system from the mid-90s, a lab system from the early 2000s, brand new CPOE and CDSS systems, etc.). There are others in this area who work for the companies that design such programs. They do everything from working on the technical nitty-gritty points of designing EHR systems for various clients to conducting training sessions to helping trouble-shoot during implementation of new systems.
Still other RHIAs work in coding and as clinical documentation specialists; those jobs require varying amounts of clinical knowledge and experience. Coding involves taking a chart and properly translating everything it contains into the appropriate diagnosis and CPT codes in order for payment to be made to the facility for services rendered by the clinical staff. A coder who doesn't know what she's doing can cost a facility a huge amount of money by missing vital details that change the way something is coded and hence reimbursed. It takes a lot of knowledge to do the right way; one of my profs described coding as more of an art form than anything else and in my opinion she's completely correct. A clinical documentation specialist is a role that attracts a lot of nurses who obtain training in the ins and outs of documentation. People in this job go through charts - sometimes while the patient is still there, sometimes afterward - and look for issues with the way things are being documented. After all, if the clinical staff doesn't include the data coders need, the coders can't code to get the facility the proper amount of reimbursement! So clinical documentation specialists go through and leave notes in charts about possible issues, conduct training sessions with physicians and nurses to make them aware of the information coders need, etc. Here's a link to a short article that describes the role very well: http://tinyurl.com/386l3g6
Then there are those who work in health informatics and research; in general, they specialize in gathering and evaluating data generated by aggregate data from patient charts to look for trends or problems. This work is done at various levels, from the federal government (placed like the CDC and AHRQ) down to individual companies and facilities. This information is used for a lot of different purposes, including creating best care practices or care pathways for patient care.
There's probably more to it that I'm forgetting to include, but that should give you a basic idea of what people in different areas of HIM do every day. There are also more clerical parts of HIM, but I don't know much about those parts because my program's classes focus on the roles and duties in HIM requiring a higher level of education.
@agldragonRN: Depending on how old your hours are, you might well get quite a bit of transfer credit going into a HIM program. Your school's policy will probably differ from the one at my university. I did manage to transfer quite a few credits for general ed requirements and a couple of pre-reqs.
@scrubbee: As you can probably tell from the information I gave above, health informatics is one part of HIM, but also extends into many other fields (nursing, medicine, public health, etc.). HIM is a field similar to nursing in that you can take it in many different directions. That's actually one of the nicest things about it, at least in my opinion!
@2011NursingStudent: You are quite correct; nurses who are trained in documentation and IT are very much in demand because of their unique combination of skills.
As for the pay scale: AHIMA cites figures that indicate the average starting is between $35K-$50K for new grad RHIAs, depending on your level of healthcare experience; the average salary after five years is around $70K. It's not mega money, but it also isn't McDonald's money. Obviously, additional education like master's and doctoral degrees and advanced credentials like Certified Health Data Analyst (CHDA) and Certified in Healthcare Privacy & Security (CHPS) will raise your salary more quickly and substantially.
Again, this is a basic rundown from a student, so DON'T take my word for it! Go out and do your own research, talk to people in HIM, talk to past grads/current students of programs you consider, etc. The sites I listed in my earlier post should help you get started. I hope this incredibly lengthy post helps someone! Please feel free to PM as well.