Fields that blend nursing with IT?

linearthinker, DNP, RN · Jan 4, 2011

It does -Nursing informatics, requiring a masters degree in same.

nlion87 · Jan 4, 2011

Also, Health Information Management

geocachingRN · Jan 4, 2011

Health Infomatics is it's own specialty, I don't know how it would blend with an NP though. Not that it can't, you could create it for yourself. The trick is to find a way to do it.

I'm a tech-background school nurse. My fellow nurses are not tech savvy at all. With all the cutback we need to learn to work smarter, not harder and I'm trying to help by creating a website and coordinating county-wide policies and post them online. It would be a project if I were doing Health infomatics but I'm not. It is a labor of love.

TDCHIM · Jan 4, 2011

From the description you've given of what you'd like to do, I second the suggestion of HIM (Health Information Management). The field is the crossroads of clinical knowledge, IT, and business. It encompasses everything from health informatics and research to coding and the clinical documentation specialist role to developing, implementing, and maintaining electronic health record systems (including computerized provider order entry and computer-based decision support systems) for various healthcare-related organizations. The main governing/credentialing body in HIM is the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA); another major trade group is the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Right now I'm working on my bachelor's in HIM and will sit for the Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) exam when I graduate in another year or so. I plan to pursue a master's and eventually a doctoral degree in HIM or public health, with a focus in research and informatics/data analysis, which means I'll likely also pursue Certified Health Data Analyst (CHDA) credentials as well. If you're interested, there are certification programs for those who already have bachelor's degrees, or you can pursue a master's program in HIM. If you don't have a bachelor's degree, there are programs for those who have an associate degree in a related field (like nursing). The main certifying body for all HIM programs is the Commission for Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM), so if you look into any programs, make sure they're CAHIIM-accredited.

Here are a couple of websites that might help you: www.ahima.org and http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.asp and http://www.cahiim.org/. On the AHIMA site, I suggest you check out the sections covering careers in HIM and certifications - there are a lot of different directions you can follow with HIM. If you'd like more information, please feel free to PM me. Best wishes to you in your search!

nlion87 · Jan 4, 2011

TDCHIM, just curious as to where you are attending school for you BS in HIM. I am seriously considering it a s a second career/degree and am applying to Ohio State and Univ Illinois Chicago. How is your program going and would you recommend it. Any info you could provide is most appreciated.

ImThatGuy, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2011

From the description you've given of what you'd like to do, I second the suggestion of HIM (Health Information Management). The field is the crossroads of clinical knowledge, IT, and business. It encompasses everything from health informatics and research to coding and the clinical documentation specialist role to developing, implementing, and maintaining electronic health record systems (including computerized provider order entry and computer-based decision support systems) for various healthcare-related organizations. The main governing/credentialing body in HIM is the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA); another major trade group is the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Right now I'm working on my bachelor's in HIM and will sit for the Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) exam when I graduate in another year or so. I plan to pursue a master's and eventually a doctoral degree in HIM or public health, with a focus in research and informatics/data analysis, which means I'll likely also pursue Certified Health Data Analyst (CHDA) credentials as well. If you're interested, there are certification programs for those who already have bachelor's degrees, or you can pursue a master's program in HIM. If you don't have a bachelor's degree, there are programs for those who have an associate degree in a related field (like nursing). The main certifying body for all HIM programs is the Commission for Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM), so if you look into any programs, make sure they're CAHIIM-accredited.
Here are a couple of websites that might help you: www.ahima.org and http://www.himss.org/ASP/index.asp and http://www.cahiim.org/. On the AHIMA site, I suggest you check out the sections covering careers in HIM and certifications - there are a lot of different directions you can follow with HIM. If you'd like more information, please feel free to PM me. Best wishes to you in your search!

What do HIMs actually do during their workday? Is it data entry, database management, network security,......what?

agldragonRN · Jan 4, 2011

hi tdchim,

yeah please share what school you go to and you think they will give me more credits for having an adn and associate in computer science? i am interested with the bs in him because i don't want to get my master's in informatics.

thanks,

angel

scrubbee · Jan 4, 2011

Great info guys, thank you. I'm going to do some more research into informatics and HIM. Can anybody explain generally what the difference(s) are between those two fields? Or is informatics more a specialty of HIM? What would be better to pursue if I was more interested in the technical side of things rather than management?

Also, if you work in one of these fields, is it possible to continue your clinical nursing practice somehow?

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Jan 5, 2011

Keep one thing in mind. At my hospital's IT department, they pay about 2/3 of what I made in a non-hospital environment for the same job, with a smaller budget and crappier equipment. At the hospital before that, it was even worse, as most of it was outsourced. If you want to work in informatics outside a big, well funded hospital, you're going to need a very high frustration threshold...or plan to work for an outsourcer, and be on the road a lot.

You might look at working for a company that makes hospital equipment, like Baxter.

2011NursingStudent · Jan 5, 2011

I am also working in IT and am pursuing a nursing degree. I'm a certified CNA and also about to be a Red Cross BLS instructor, so definitely starting to make the switch to healthcare =) What I've found is that if you go to Careerbuilder (assuming Careerbuilder is big in your area) and look up related terms, you'll see there are companies looking for RN's with IT skills - one big one I saw was Epic, another was the other big software company, and I can't think of the name of it, but Epic's rival for healthcare software. I think the great thing is that at any time you can get a job in either field, which is a great security cushion. I don't know that there's necessarily a bedside nursing job that requires configuring Exchange servers or anything, but there are definitely niche jobs out there that you will qualify for because you have skills in both areas.

TDCHIM · Jan 5, 2011

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.