Health Information

Types of Degrees Health Information Majors Are Getting

The following table lists how many health information management graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.

Education Level	Number of Grads
Master’s Degree	567
Graduate Certificate	98

What Health Information Majors Need to Know

In an O*NET survey, health information majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.

Knowledge Areas for Health Information Majors

Health Information majors often go into careers in which the following knowledge areas are important:

• Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
• English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
• Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
• Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
• Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Skills for Health Information Majors

The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to health information:

• Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
• Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
• Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
• Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Abilities for Health Information Majors

As a health information major, you will find yourself needing the following abilities:

• Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
• Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
• Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
• Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
• Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.

What Can You Do With a Health Information Major?

People with a health information degree often go into the following careers:

Job Title	Job Growth Rate	Median Salary
Medical and Health Services Managers	20.5%	$99,730

Who Is Getting a Master’s Degree in Health Information?

The major attracts more women than men. About 72% of the recent graduates in this field are female.

Racial-Ethnic Diversity

At the countrywide level, the racial-ethnic distribution of health information majors is as follows:

Race/Ethnicity	Number of Grads
Asian	86
Black or African American	143
Hispanic or Latino	66
White	214
International Students	13
Other Races/Ethnicities	45

Geographic Diversity

Americans aren’t the only ones with an interest in Health Information. About 2.3% of those with this major are international students.

Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Health Information

Some careers associated with health information require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.

How much schooling do you really need to compete in today’s job market? People currently working in careers related to health information have obtained the following education levels.

Education Level	Percentage of Workers
Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree)	19.2%
Bachelor’s Degree	65.4%
Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master.	3.9%
Master’s Degree	11.5%

Online Health Information Programs

The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.

Degree Level	Colleges Offering Programs	Colleges Offering Online Classes
Certificate (Less Than 1 Year)	0	0
Certificate (1-2 years)	22	11
Certificate (2-4 Years)	0	0
Associate’s Degree	45	22
Bachelor’s Degree	26	12
Post-Baccalaureate	0	0
Master’s Degree	30	23
Post-Master’s	5	0
Doctor’s Degree (Research)	1	1
Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice)	1	1
Doctor’s Degree (Other)	0	0

Majors Related to Health Information

You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to health information.

Major	Number of Grads
Health Care Management	29,812
Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician	10,462
Medical Insurance Coding Specialist/Coder	9,463
Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller	9,252
Medical Administrative/Executive Assistant & Medical Secretary	7,299
Medical Office Assistant/Specialist	4,140
Hospital & Health Care Facilities Administration/Management	3,686
Medical Office Management/Administration	2,810
Other Health & Medical Administrative Services	2,008
Medical/Health Management & Clinical Assistant/Specialist	1,278
Medical Reception/Receptionist	913
Clinical Research Coordinator	328
Healthcare Innovation	197
Long Term Care Administration/Management	182
Health Unit Coordinator/Ward Clerk	140
Medical Office Computer Specialist/Assistant	114
Regulatory Science/Affairs	94
Medical Transcription/Transcriptionist	79
Health Unit Manager/Ward Supervisor	35
Medical Staff Services Technology/Technician	32
Healthcare Information Privacy Assurance and Security	8
Disease Registry Data Management	6
Health/Medical Claims Examiner	4

References

*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• College Scorecard
• National Center for Education Statistics
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020

More about our data sources and methodologies.