About the Profession

Health information technicians are responsible for performing a variety of technical health information functions in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, insurance companies, physician groups and managed care companies. These functions include organizing, analyzing and technically evaluating health information; compiling various administrative and health statistics; and coding using ICD-9-CM and CPT.

Other duties may include maintaining and using a variety of health information indexes; special registries and storage retrieval systems; inputting and retrieving computerized health data; and controlling the use and release of health information. To fulfill these responsibilities, health information technicians must develop a broad range of clinical and technological skills.