New Jersey Health Informatics
Across the state of New Jersey, a new field of employment is drawing rave reviews for its versatility, vitality, and incredible compensation. Known as Health Informatics, this high-powered sector is lighting up the job boards at an astonishing rate.
Positioned at the meeting place of medicine, technology, and communication, Health Informatics entails the collection and distribution of vital health care data, with an eye toward ethics and effectiveness. Health Info Technicians can find work in a variety of places, from hospitals and veterinarian’s clinics to correctional institutions and large corporations.
New Jersey Health Informatics Links – NJ
New Jersey RHIT & RHIA Certification
This exciting field offers two standard levels of certification – the two year Associate’s degree and a standard four-year Bachelor’s degree. Two year grads will become Registered Health Information Technicians (or RHIT’s), while those opting to double their pleasure will come out of college under the title of Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA).
In New Jersey and across the nation, RHIT and RHIA certification can come from only one place – the Commission on Accreditation of Health Informatics and Information Management. Known more genially as CAHIIM , this governing body closely monitors the curricula of campuses across the nation, permitting only the best to hand out their coveted titles to the assembled graduates. Not all colleges with Health Informatics programs are CAHIIM approved. Students, therefore, would do well to make sure that the school they’re planning to attend adheres to the gold standard of the industry. However, there are a number of additional highly reputable schools that offer health informatics programs in New Jersey and online, though not CAHIIM accredited, they are excellent programs and should be considered as well.
NJ Health Informatics Job Opportunities
Students in the Garden State have a wealth of choices available to them, with seven separate CAHIIM colleges currently up and running. Six of these offer Associate’s degrees, with the lone RHIA program belonging to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. One of the most successful RHIT schools in New Jersey can be found in Camden, at the aptly named Camden Community College. Headed up by Linda Mesko, this program offers an incredibly flexible schedule to their students.
“As of this semester,” she says, “the entire program can be completed entirely online or completely in the classroom, or a combination of both.” This attracts a diverse mix of students, from nontraditional to recent high school graduates. Such variety also means an increase in potential job placement. “There are opportunities everywhere. But the best opportunities for new grads are in the big cities, where there’s more people.”
Health Informatics Salary – New Jersey
Relative to their immense population size, New Jersey currently features a small number of Health Informatics technicians. With only 2,090 employed as of May 2009 , there has never been a higher demand for CAHIIM-certified graduates. This scarcity, of course, makes New Jersey one of the highest paying states in the nation for those in the know. Of those 2,090 at the time of the survey, the average wage weighed in at an impressive $21.99 per hour, with yearly earnings topping $45,000. Even recent graduates can expect to be well compensated, with hourly pay sitting just over $16.00. For the year, rookies can expect to take home somewhere in the neighborhood of $33,000. Those with experience will earn even more. The study shows that Health Informatics midway through 2009 topped out at $66,900 annually, which breaks down into just north of $32 per hour.
*Salary Data: Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Earnings Statistics
No matter which level of education a student may opt for, all CAHIIM-approved graduates are encouraged to join the American Health Information Management Association. More commonly known as AHIMA , this organization is made up almost exclusively for Health Informatics technicians. Their regularly updated job boards and efficient summaries of the latest advances in the industry have proved to be a great benefit to their members. For more information, check out their website at www.ahima.org.