Health Information and Communication
Good management of health information and security of communication between consumers, providers, and qualified third parties is supported by increasingly complex technologies. There is a growing need for trained professionals to organize this information and to help other health professionals locate and obtain it as needed for patient care, research, and decision-making. The general public health is also benefited by early detection of infectious disease outbreaks, improved tracking of chronic disease management, and the availability of comparative health care services and products.
Just as schools and colleges keep records of students' grades and test scores, hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices create and maintain a permanent medical record for each patient. A medical record contains the patient's history, physical exam results, x-ray and laboratory tests, doctor's orders, treatment plans, and other important information. Medical records personnel organize and maintain this information so that it can be used in evaluation and treatment of patients, in research and for statistical reports. Managing such an information system requires the teamwork of a health information administrator, medical record technician, medical transcriptionist, and medical record coder.
