Clean definitions
Health Information Management (HIM)
HIM is the discipline responsible for the lifecycle of the patient medical record: how it is created, captured, coded, secured, shared, retained, and eventually disposed of. HIM professionals are the operational owners of the medical record. Their daily work touches diagnosis and procedure coding (ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, CPT, HCPCS), release of information, chart deficiency analysis, documentation improvement, HIPAA privacy compliance, and revenue cycle quality. AHIMA is the field's primary professional body, and the foundational AHIMA credentials are RHIT (Registered Health Information Technician) and RHIA (Registered Health Information Administrator).
Health Informatics
Health informatics is the interdisciplinary field combining health information science, computer science, and clinical workflow design to improve the delivery of care through data systems. Informatics professionals build and optimize the EHR, design clinical decision support, run population health analytics, lead interoperability efforts (HL7, FHIR), and partner with clinicians on workflow redesign. AMIA (American Medical Informatics Association) is the field's primary body, alongside HIMSS for the implementation and operations side. Graduate education is the norm, often a master's in health informatics, biomedical informatics, or clinical informatics.
A clean shorthand: HIM owns the data inside the record. Informatics owns the systems that move and transform the data, and the analytics that come out the other side.
Educational paths
Education is the cleanest dividing line between the two fields.
| Level | HIM | Health Informatics |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate | Medical coding, ROI, HIM specialty certs | Clinical informatics certificate (often grad-level) |
| Associate | AAS in HIM (CAHIIM accredited) → RHIT eligibility | Uncommon at this level |
| Bachelor's | BS in HIM (CAHIIM accredited) → RHIA eligibility | BS in Health Informatics (some programs CAHIIM-accredited) |
| Master's | MS in HIM or HI (overlap with informatics increasingly common) | MSHI / MS Health Informatics / MS Biomedical Informatics (often CAHIIM-accredited) |
| Doctorate | Rare | PhD in Biomedical Informatics (research / academic / CMIO track) |
CAHIIM (Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education) accredits both HIM and health informatics programs, which adds to the confusion. The same accreditor with different program tracks: HIM accreditation at associate, bachelor's, and master's; health informatics accreditation primarily at bachelor's and master's.
See our HIM degree programs hub and the health informatics master's pillar for full program lists.
BLS classification
The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks the two fields in different SOC codes, which is part of why the labor market data is hard to compare apples-to-apples.
| SOC code | Title | Field |
|---|---|---|
| 29-2072 | Medical Records Specialists | HIM (operational) |
| 11-9111 | Medical and Health Services Managers | HIM (management) + some informatics directors |
| 29-9021 | Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars | Both (mixed bucket) |
| 15-1211 | Computer Systems Analysts | Informatics (EHR / systems analyst roles) |
| 15-2031 | Operations Research Analysts | Informatics (analytics roles, often) |
| 11-3021 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | Informatics (CMIO, director of clinical informatics) |
The patchwork is honest but messy. A "clinical informatics specialist" might be classified under 29-9021, 15-1211, 11-9111, or 11-3021 depending on the employer's HR conventions. This is one reason employer reporting (HIMSS, AMIA, professional society surveys) often matters more than BLS data for informatics career planning.
Salary comparison
The pay gap between HIM operational roles and health informatics professional roles is large. The gap narrows substantially at the senior management level, where HIM directors and informatics directors converge.
| Career stage | HIM role + pay | Informatics role + pay |
|---|---|---|
| Entry (0-2 yr) | Medical Records Specialist / Coder $42,000-$58,000 | EHR analyst / clinical data analyst $70,000-$90,000 |
| Mid (3-7 yr) | Senior coder / CDI / HIM supervisor $60,000-$95,000 | Clinical informaticist / senior analyst $95,000-$130,000 |
| Senior (7-12 yr) | HIM manager / coding manager $80,000-$120,000 | Lead informatics specialist / informatics manager $125,000-$165,000 |
| Director / executive | HIM director / coding director $110,000-$185,000 | Director of clinical informatics / CMIO $160,000-$275,000+ |
For full role-specific salary deep dives, see our salary pages for the Medical Records Specialist, Medical Coder, CDI Specialist, HIM Director, and Health Data Analyst.
Skills overlap and divergence
The shared skills explain why people confuse the fields. The divergent skills explain why the jobs pay differently.
Shared skills (both fields)
- HIPAA privacy and security
- Medical terminology and basic anatomy / physiology
- Healthcare regulatory environment (CMS, Joint Commission)
- Familiarity with ICD-10, CPT, MS-DRG, and clinical coding logic at a literacy level
- Healthcare data quality concepts
- EHR navigation and basic workflow understanding
HIM-specific skills
- Production coding accuracy (ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT) to AAPC/AHIMA test standards
- Coding audit, DRG validation, denial review
- Clinical documentation improvement (CDI) techniques and queries
- Release of information and HIPAA accounting of disclosures
- Chart deficiency analysis and physician query workflow
- Revenue cycle KPIs (DNFB, AR days, coder productivity, CMI)
- HIM-specific systems (3M, Optum, nThrive, OnBase ECM)
Informatics-specific skills
- SQL (often advanced)
- Python or R for healthcare analytics
- EHR build and configuration (Epic Cogito, Clarity, Caboodle; Cerner Millennium)
- Clinical decision support design (order sets, alerts, BPAs)
- HL7 v2 messaging, FHIR APIs, interoperability standards
- Statistics for healthcare (population health, outcomes research)
- BI tools (Tableau, Power BI, Looker)
- Clinical workflow design and change management
Which one to choose
The decision is rarely permanent and almost never closes off the other field, but it does shape your first 5-10 years.
Choose HIM if
- You want to enter the field in 2 years (associate degree + RHIT) rather than 4-6 years
- You prefer operational, detail-oriented, regulation-driven work
- You enjoy the language of medicine (coding, terminology, documentation)
- You want a remote-friendly, in-demand entry point without heavy math or coding skills
- You see yourself progressing into HIM operations management rather than technical work
Choose health informatics if
- You are willing to commit to a master's degree at some point
- You like data, systems, analytics, and technical problem-solving
- You enjoy translating between clinicians and technology
- You want a higher pay ceiling and faster pay growth in the first 5 years
- You see yourself working closely with physicians on workflow and decision support
- You want optionality into adjacent fields (data science, pharma RWE, vendor product roles)
Hybrid track
The hybrid path: start with HIM at the bachelor's level (RHIA), spend 3-5 years in operational HIM, then add a master's in health informatics. This works because the RHIA-trained operational background combined with a graduate informatics credential is highly valued for roles that sit at the intersection (revenue cycle informatics, coding analytics, DRG optimization).
Switching tracks
Movement between the two fields is real, well-documented, and increasingly common. The most common transitions:
HIM → Informatics
RHIA-credentialed HIM professionals add a master's in health informatics, often part-time over 2-3 years while continuing to work. Common transition roles: coding analyst → DRG validation analyst → clinical informatics specialist. The HIM background gives a real advantage when the informatics work touches coded data, revenue cycle, or compliance.
Clinical → Informatics
Nurses and pharmacists pivot into informatics by adding a graduate informatics certificate or master's. This is the more frequent informatics entry path overall and produces the highest concentration of clinical informatics specialists.
Informatics → HIM management
Rarer than the reverse, but happens at the director level. An informatics director who absorbs HIM responsibility (because of org consolidation) effectively becomes a hybrid HIM/informatics leader. AHIMA increasingly recognizes this convergence at the executive level.
FAQ
Is health informatics the same as health information management?
No. HIM focuses on the governance, coding, privacy, and operational quality of patient records. Informatics focuses on the systems, analytics, decision support, and technical infrastructure that move and transform that data. Same subject matter, different jobs.
Which pays more?
Health informatics pays more on average at every career stage above entry level. The gap is largest in the 5-12 year band and narrows at the executive level where HIM directors and informatics directors converge.
Do I need a master's degree for health informatics?
Most senior health informatics roles expect a master's degree in health informatics, biomedical informatics, or a closely related field. Entry-level analyst roles often hire from bachelor's degrees or from HIM/clinical backgrounds with on-the-job training.
Can I transition from HIM to health informatics?
Yes. RHIA-credentialed HIM professionals routinely add a master's in health informatics and transition. The HIM clinical content background is a real advantage for informatics work that touches coded data, revenue cycle, or compliance.
Which field has better job security?
Both fields have strong long-term outlooks. BLS projects Medical Records Specialists at 9% growth and Medical and Health Services Managers at 28% growth through 2034. Informatics is harder to project precisely because of SOC fragmentation, but employer demand has been growing consistently.