Database Skills for Health Information Management Professionals

The field of Health Information Management is changing rapidly and the skills and expertise required of Health Information Management (HIM) professionals and staff is evolving to include more focus on electronic health records, personal health records, data management and health information exchange and interoperability. These new focus areas rely critically on databases; therefore, a more detailed understanding of database functions and management is required of HIM professionals. The essential question of this project is to what degree do senior level students in bachelor's degree HIM educational programs express confidence in their ability to use database skills in the work environment. The purpose is to identify any specific gaps that may exist in current bachelor's degree HIM program curricula so appropriate curricular adjustments can be made. Senior level students from 15 randomly selected baccalaureate Health Information Management programs were surveyed and asked to rate their confidence level for each of the top 20 database skills identified by Robert Campbell in his 2004 study, Database Design: What HIM Professionals Need to Know. Students were asked to rate their confidence level using a 5 point Likert-type scale with 1 being no familiarity with the skill and 5 being able to perform the skill at an expert level. The average confidence rating for all questions was 2.95 indicating that the majority of respondents are familiar with the skills and can perform with additional coaching or training. Skills pertaining to communication, problem solving and critical thinking scored significantly higher than more technical database skills. In conclusion, Baccalaureate Health Information Management programs may need to adapt their curricula to ensure a higher, more consistent level of confidence in database skills among graduates but many current HIM graduates have the knowledge and capacity to take on entry level positions requiring database management concepts.