Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
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Unit 1 Health Informatics Career Pathway
When considering healthcare careers, most people think of becoming
doctors or nurses. Yet there are hundreds of different jobs in the fi eld
of healthcare. Some of those jobs fall into the career pathway of health
informatics services. If you have a desire to help others, and you enjoy
learning about the latest technology, you should consider a health
informatics career.
In this chapter you will learn about job opportunities in health
informatics services and begin to assess your personal career interests
and aptitudes. You will also see how teamwork unfolds in a medical offi ce
and study the qualities of effective teams. You will learn the guidelines
for effective correspondence and for maintaining a patient’s medical
record, which are important technical skills for a job in health informatics
services. You will also complete a career assessment, establish your
career portfolio, and learn how to improve your skills by participating in
activities sponsored by HOSA–Future Health Professionals.
The Health Informatics Worker: Myesha
When asked about her job, Myesha always says she loves
what she does. Myesha is a puzzle solver. As a health informatics
services worker, she works with patient data every day, doing the
medical coding
for every patient visit in the medical office where
she works. Myesha has a strong background in anatomy. She
understands the origins of, symptoms and signs of, diagnostic tests
for, treatments for, and outcomes of diseases.
The information Myesha provides for a patient’s
medical record allows the physician she works for
to receive payment for treatment services. Correctly coded information also
allows the patient to receive health insurance benefits for those services. One of
Myesha’s favorite parts of her job is working with Medicare patients to arrange
treatment plans that meet complex insurance requirements. Patients with serious
illnesses feel a tremendous sense of relief when they find out that their medical
costs will be reimbursed.
Myesha likes to help people, but she doesn’t provide direct, hands-on care.
Instead, she helps patients by ensuring their medical records contain accurate
information. Myesha is a worker in the health informatics services career pathway.
health informatics
services
career pathway that
involves methods, devices,
and resources used to
acquire, store, retrieve, and
work with healthcare and
biomedical information
medical coding
the act of assigning
numbers to descriptions of a
patient’s diseases, injuries,
and treatments according to
established codes
MAP YOUR READING
Create a visual summary for this chapter. Begin with a square sheet
of paper—an 8 1/2-inch square works well. Fold each of the four points of
the square to the center. Label each of the four resulting flaps with one of
these topics: Personal Traits, Career Choices, Effective Teams, and Career
Assessments. When you finish reading each of these sections in the chapter,
open the corresponding flap and draw a picture or symbol to illustrate what you
have read. Ask yourself what each topic looks like, how you could draw it, and
what graphic or symbol best represents it. Finally, for each of the four topics,
write two words that explain how the topic relates to you personally in the center
square of your visual summary.