Health Information Management

Roomana Bajwa, Health Information Management Program Graduate, 2006. Data Coordinator, Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program of BC, Vancouver General Hospital. Read more.

Looking for a different career in the health care sector?

Consider the Health Information Management Program at Douglas College, a highly specialized two-year diploma program. You'll be behind the scenes, making a difference in health care.

Every hospital, government and health care provider has to be accountable. That's where the health information management professional comes in, keeping a record of every health condition and service performed in our health care system.

A complex, international coding system is used. The information is entered in a national database. Hospitals, governments and the Canadian Institute of Health Information use the database to compile reports as a basis for health care decisions from how many nurses are needed on the night shift to how many ambulances are needed in a city.

Health Information Management professionals assign codes to every condition and procedure, but there is room to grow into roles as Policy Analysts.

Others take a different track, managing access to patient information requests within the boundaries of BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This area is growing as privacy issues become a hot topic in the news.

Douglas College's Health Information Management Program is the only program in British Columbia that prepares students for this unique career. The program is recognized by CHIMA, the Canadian Health Information Management Association.

If you are interested in health care, enjoy working with computers, numbers and details, Health Information Management may be the ideal career for you.

Did You Know?

Health Information Management instructor write bestselling textbook

Douglas College Instructor Joy Fletcher is the author of the bestselling textbook, the ICD-10-CA-CCI Classification Primer.

Order your copy of the ICD-10-CA/CCI Classification Primer.

"Knowledge is power. We're providing information to important decision makers, It really affects health policy in the hospital and at the provincial level - it gives a true reflection of what's going on."

Linda Choy, graduate, Health Information Management Program. Read more about Linda.