Abstract: Health information professionals strive to provide high quality data for patient care,research,and reimbursement.This article provides information about the allied health profession known as health information management.It includes a brief historical overview of the profession,describes the various job roles that a health information manager can assume in health care,and outlines the educational curriculum followed in order to prepare and qualify for a career as a registered health information administrator(RHIA).Moreover,examples of collaboration between health information management and other allied health disciplines are provided.Finally,the article discusses future prospects for employment in the profession.

Key words: health information management, profession, education