A career in health information technology (IT), where technicians update and organize medical information electronically, is the hottest vocation for college graduates and is expected to grow about 20 percent (or about 35,100 new jobs) in the coming years, according to a study from the University of California San Diego Extension.

The study, released last week, shows that health IT ranks first among the top ten careers listed. The report credits the federal government's health IT initiatives that have spurred the adoption of advanced technology systems that manage and use health information. As healthcare delivery organizations embark on transferring patient records from paper-based systems to digitized medical records, the shift has fueled a demand for health information technicians who can oversee the growth of a comprehensive database of medical records during the next decade, according to an article in InformationWeek.

As one of the largest industries in 2008, healthcare overall provided 14.3 million jobs for wage and salary workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Ten of the 20 fastest growing occupations are healthcare-related. Healthcare will generate 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between 2008 and 2018, more than any other industry, largely in response to rapid growth in the elderly population. Most workers have jobs that require less than 4 years of college education, but health diagnosing and treating practitioners are highly educated.

Health information technology (HIT) provides the umbrella framework to describe the comprehensive management of health information across computerized systems and its secure exchange between consumers, providers, government and quality entities, and insurers. Health information technology (HIT) is in general increasingly viewed as the most promising tool for improving the overall quality, safety and efficiency of the health delivery system

Among health technology trends are the expansion of electronic health records (EHR) to include patient data from various sources such as integrating text, voice, images, and handwritten notes. To support this shift, the healthcare industry will need technicians for emerging jobs such as healthcare integration engineer (a person who designs and develops integration software), healthcare systems analyst (someone who provides design, development, testing and implementation of database and application solutions that support enterprise data integration/ data structure, and analytics), clinical IT consultant (a person who provides project management services that move a project from evaluation and planning to implementation and through organizational adoption), and technology support specialist (a person who troubleshoots and problem-solves and is involved in the “nitty gritty” aspects of computing), the report said.

"A growing industry with vast employment needs, a societal concern with federal backing for broad reform, and a solution incorporating advanced knowledge and skills among workers--combine to form a strong base for workforce development and employment opportunity for the coming decade," Mark Cafferty, San Diego Workforce Partnership president and CEO, said in a statement.

 Skilled knowledge workers will not only meet the immediate needs in healthcare, but also will serve as a catalyst for new and emerging types of jobs in the coming years as the impact of healthcare IT takes hold, the study says.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that medical records and health information technicians held about 172,500 jobs in 2008 (about 39% of jobs were in hospitals).

Health information technicians are needed at hospitals, physician offices, nursing care facilities, outpatient care centers, and home healthcare services. Technicians also may be employed outside of healthcare facilities, including federal government agencies.