Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
Chapter 2 Career Skills in Health Informatics
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Personal Traits
Are you well organized? Are you thorough and attentive to detail
when you work? Is correct spelling important to you? If you possess these
personal traits, then you might enjoy a career in the health informatics
services pathway.
As you might guess from the name, information is the main focus of
the health informatics worker. Because a patient’s health can depend upon
the accuracy of his or her medical record, health informatics workers must
be thorough, reliable, and trustworthy.
Workers protect the privacy of patient information by maintaining
confi dentiality. Keeping information confi dential requires more than
avoiding talking about a patient’s condition in a public place. Health
informatics workers maintain confi dentiality by
• not sharing computer passwords;
• closing any computer screen that shows patient information
before leaving their work area;
• making sure that medical documents are not left in a fax machine
where other people can see them;
• knowing who is able to receive a patient’s medical information
and which parts can be shared; and
• providing only facts and not making judgments or assumptions
about the information.
Do you enjoy working with computers? Do you like learning new
things? Medical records are quickly evolving from paper to electronic
systems, so the computer is the constant companion of the health
informatics worker.
Adjusting to new equipment, updated technologies, and revised
software is common for health informatics workers. Workers must interpret
rules and detailed instructions and keep up with constantly changing
guidelines for coding and recording information. Health informatics
workers welcome the challenge of adjusting to these changes because they
want to improve the process for keeping accurate medical records.
Professionalism: Kia
When you visit your local medical clinic, Kia’s bright smile
welcomes you. She is the medical assistant who greets you at the
reception desk. As a health informatics worker, Kia accesses your
account to update your personal information and checks
information about your insurance coverage. She
schedules your appointments and forwards your phone
call to the correct worker when you call the clinic.
Kia’s appearance and attitude must leave patients with a positive impression
of the clinic. Without a good first experience, patients may assume that the
clinic’s medical care is poor and choose to find a different medical provider. A
medical office is like any other business: it can’t stay open if it doesn’t make
money.
personal traits
an individual’s unique
combination of qualities and
characteristics
confi dentiality
the legally protected right
of patients to have their
personal and medical
information kept private