Medical Data Analyst Education and Training Programs

<p>A common program of study for prospective medical data analysts is the health information management (HIM) degree program. This program is currently offered at a number of colleges both online and on-campus. You can earn an HIM certificate or an associate, bachelor's or master's degree. </p> <p /> <table border="1"><tr><td><b>Training Programs</b></td><td> Health information management (HIM) degree programs available online and on-campus at associate's bachelor's and master's levels</td></tr> <tr><td><b>Common Courses</b></td><td> Medical terminology, anatomy, health law, health records, data management</td></tr> <tr><td><b>Getting Certified</b></td><td> Following program completion, associate's degree holders can become certified technicians, while bachelor's degree holders can become certified administrators.</td></tr> <tr><td><b> Median Salary (2020)</b> </td><td> $44,090 (<i>for all&nbsp;medical records and health information specialists</i>)&nbsp;</td></tr> <tr><td><b> Job Outlook (2019-2029)</b></td><td>&nbsp;8% growth (<i>for all&nbsp;medical records and health information specialists</i>)&nbsp;</td></tr> </table><p><i>Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</i>&nbsp; </p> <h3 id="section---WhatWillIStudy">What Will I Study?</h3> <p>The associate degree program provides fundamental topics specific to the healthcare field, such as medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, health law and pharmacology. You'll learn how to manage records while coding patient information, billing records and recoding procedures. You'll study subjects in leadership skills, health records, communication, clinical classification systems and healthcare databases. </p> <p>In the bachelor's degree program, you'll spend time studying biology, communications, computers and business. You'll hone your skills for record keeping through this program. Both online and on-campus programs cover topics such as privacy and ethics, records security, reimbursement, data retrieval, healthcare data analysis, management and clinical medicine. For the virtual programs, many of these courses are provided through online lectures and at home readings. You may take these courses in real-time or at your own pace. </p> <p>Post-baccalaureate certificate programs in health information management are an option if you have a bachelor's degree. If you have field experience and want to learn more about monitoring confidential medical records and improving your management skills, this could work for you. Common courses include database management, semantic representation and health informatics. </p> <p>Master's degree programs are available to gain advanced education in HIM and for career advancement. In this program, you'll build your research and analytical skills, which are necessary tools when working in this field. You'll learn to evaluate old and implement new databases and record keeping programs once you have completed this program. You'll study cryptography, telemedicine, data management, data mining and networking. </p> <h3 id="section---HowDoIEarnCertification">How Do I Earn Certification?</h3> <p>After you have completed one of these programs, you can then sit for a certification examination resulting in a Registered Health Information Technician or Registered Health Information Administrator designation. These are offered through the American Health Information Management Association and require an associate's degree to become a technician and a bachelor's degree to seek the administrator certification (<i>www.ahima.org</i>). Certification shows future employers your credentials and mastery of skills.</p>