A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry
looking into career change from MT - mt
Posted: Jul 10, 2012
I've been doing medical transcription for 17 years now. It used to be a good field to get into and good pay, but as the medical transcription field seems to be slowly phasing out and it's getting harder to make a decent living as we are getting lower wages and less work, I've been thinking about going back to school and getting a bachelor's in health informatation managment or administration. I already have an assosciate's degree, but I would like to know what kind of job/career I could get w/this degree and approximate salary range. Thanks for your input.
I went back to school for health administration - sm
[ In Reply To ..]I also was thinking about bachelor's in health information management and health administration. I decided on health admin and then I could get my masters in health admin and have endless possibilities. The health information management degree focuses more on EHR and healthcare and technology. If you go that route, I recommend going into healthcare informatics. Good jobs, good pay, but maybe a little hard to get in to as I see a lot of those jobs require a lot of technology experience. There are quite a few programs all online for both of these degrees, but make sure you go with an accredited program through CAHIIM (if you go with health information degree).
My advice is to learn a specific career, not a vague general category - Hope this makes sense
[ In Reply To ..]I think that as bad as things are, and I think we'll be in a depression, not just a recession, before long, get into a specific career. My advice is not to study a general category, but learn the skills related to a specific job title. There are too many people studying general HIM, hoping to 'get into management', but there aren't that many management positions.
If you want to do hands-on patient care, for example, get skill-specific training.
If you want to work in HIM, find out what job you actually want to do and train for it specifically. Too many people are just casually going after some degree or certificate that doesn't prepare them do actually do anything. Knowledge is never a waste of time and we should all keep learning, but I have been noticing a lot of people who are just lost after spending years getting what I call the degree to nowhere.
I hope that makes sense.
It's always good advice to do your homework carefully before deciding - sm
[ In Reply To ..]I keep seeing people get in some of these degree programs and then dropping before they get finished. Apparently some of them do a lot better promoting their degrees than they do teaching.
actually - mt
[ In Reply To ..]I'm wanting to get into either hospital administration or use my MT experience to become RHIA. I really don't want to work in a doctor's office but prefer a hospital setting.
Well, somebody has to get that hospital administration job - might as well be you
[ In Reply To ..]How many hospital administration jobs do you think there are in a typical hospital? How many RHIAs 'prefer' to work in hospital administration at a hospital? The math is heavily weighted for people with a Masters before you would get in line for one of those jobs.
Comparatively few jobs& only MBAs get them - sm
[ In Reply To ..]There are comparatively few hospital administration jobs and you won't get one without an MBA in healthcare. You are looking at 6 full-time years and a lot of money before you can work. The good jobs will go to graduates of top schools, too, not Phoenix.
RHIAs have a more broad job market. They are just as eligible to do an MBA as finance and accounting majors. You are able to work after completing the RHIA, and even before, so that you have less risk. Many employers offer tuition assistance. You can do the MBA while working.
HIA = HIM - sm
[ In Reply To ..]Health information administration is the same thing as health information management. Those programs lead to a bachelor's degree. They must be accredited by AHIMA in order to qualify you to take the RHIA exam.
Job types and a salary survey is available on the AHIMA website. Google AHIMA salary survey to find it easily. Every RHIA I know makes more than 45K, most make more than 55K, I make more than 70K, and I know a lot who make more. Several at more than 100-140K.
Note that HIA/HIM is not "healthcare management." A bachelor's degree in healthcare management or business admin is utterly useless in healthcare. It leads to nothing. A lot of diploma mills offer it because it sounds good.
You need an MBA in healthcare in order to get a job. Those programs are not extensions of bachelors in business admin. They are highly competitive, difficult, and incredibly expensive.
Some more information - RHIT
[ In Reply To ..]Actually, health care administrators can oversee operations for an entire facility or just a department. Health information managers (RHIA)act as manager or director of the health information dept. (formerly medical records). Health information technologists (RHIT) generally work in the HIM department, but it can be difficult to get a management/director job without an RHIA. RHIT/A.S, RHIA/B.S.
Link: http://www.healthcaresalaryonline.com/healthcare-administrator-job-description.html
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