Direct Answer
Health Information Management (HIM) is the professional discipline responsible for the acquisition, analysis, coding, maintenance, and use of health information to support clinical care, reimbursement, quality improvement, and research. HIM professionals ensure that health information is complete, accurate, accessible, protected, and used appropriately — serving as the bridge between clinical care, billing operations, compliance programs, and the data systems that support organizational decision-making.
Table of Contents
Core HIM Functions
Health Information Management encompasses a broad set of functions across the health information lifecycle:
- Medical record administration: Ensuring records are complete, authenticated, timely, and properly organized; managing chart completion and physician delinquency
- Clinical coding: Assigning ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT, and HCPCS codes to clinical documentation — the translation layer that converts clinical descriptions to standardized data used for billing, analytics, and reporting
- Release of information (ROI): Managing patient requests for record copies and authorizing disclosures to third parties in accordance with HIPAA and state law
- Data quality assurance: Monitoring coded data quality, incomplete documentation, and record integrity
- Health data analytics: Producing and interpreting health data reports for clinical quality, compliance, and operational management
- Privacy and security compliance: Implementing HIPAA Privacy and Security Rule requirements for health information protection
HIM and Revenue Cycle Integration
Clinical coding — one of the core HIM functions — is the central connection point between HIM and revenue cycle management. The diagnosis and procedure codes assigned by HIM coders are the direct inputs to claims generation. Coding quality determines reimbursement accuracy, denial rates, and compliance risk. HIM professionals who work closely with billing teams — sharing denial feedback, coordinating on documentation improvement, and resolving coding edits together — produce measurably better revenue cycle outcomes than siloed organizations where HIM and billing operate independently.
Chart completion management — an HIM function — directly affects billing turnaround times. Incomplete charts that sit open because physicians haven't signed off on documentation create charge lag and coding delays. HIM management of physician delinquency, with clear escalation processes, is a direct revenue cycle function in disguise.
Compliance and Quality Functions
HIM professionals serve as compliance resources for documentation and coding standards. Internal coding audits, documentation improvement initiatives, and response to external audits (RAC, OIG, payer audits) are HIM functions that directly protect the organization's compliance posture. HIM's deep knowledge of code definitions, coverage policies, and documentation requirements makes HIM professionals natural internal audit resources.
Quality measure reporting — HEDIS, MIPS, The Joint Commission — relies on coded clinical data. HIM professionals who understand quality measure specifications and their coding requirements help organizations ensure that the clinical quality they deliver is accurately reflected in the quality data they report. Organizations with strong HIM programs consistently perform better on quality metrics than clinically equivalent organizations with weak HIM infrastructure.
Data Governance and Interoperability
As healthcare organizations generate increasingly large volumes of digital health data, HIM professionals are taking on expanded data governance roles: defining data standards, ensuring data quality across systems, managing health information exchange (HIE) participation, and overseeing the governance frameworks that determine how health data is used, shared, and protected. The 21st Century Cures Act's information blocking provisions and interoperability requirements make HIM expertise in health data governance more important than ever.
Interoperability initiatives — exchanging patient data across organizations and platforms — require HIM expertise in the mapping between different data standards, the quality requirements for exchanged data, and the privacy implications of expanded data sharing. HIM professionals bridge the technical and regulatory dimensions of healthcare data exchange.
HIM Credentials and Career Paths
AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) is the primary professional body for HIM. Key credentials include: RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician), RHIA (Registered Health Information Administrator), CCS (Certified Coding Specialist), CCS-P (Certified Coding Specialist-Physician-based), CDIP (Certified Documentation Improvement Practitioner), and CHPS (Certified in Healthcare Privacy and Security). These credentials represent verified competencies that employers use to identify qualified HIM professionals for coding, compliance, CDI, and HIM leadership roles.
FAQ
What is the difference between HIM and healthcare informatics?
HIM focuses on the management, quality, and appropriate use of health information — with primary emphasis on the records, data governance, coding, and compliance functions that support healthcare operations. Healthcare informatics (or health informatics) focuses on the technology systems and data science approaches used to collect, analyze, and apply health data — EHR systems, clinical decision support, data analytics, and information systems design. The two disciplines overlap significantly and professionals often have expertise in both.
Is HIM a growing healthcare career field?
Yes — BLS projects healthcare information and records technicians among the faster-growing healthcare occupations, driven by EHR adoption, quality reporting requirements, regulatory complexity, and the growing importance of health data in population health management and value-based care. HIM professionals with expertise in coding, CDI, data governance, and privacy compliance are particularly in demand as healthcare organizations invest in improving the quality and use of their clinical data.
HIM Expertise That Powers Better RCM Performance
Valiant Lifecare brings deep health information management expertise to every client engagement — integrating coding accuracy, documentation quality, compliance integrity, and data governance into a unified revenue cycle program.
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