HIM-INTERCHANGEVol2No32012ISSN1838-8620(PRINT)ISSN1838-8639(ONLINE) ��

Personal Perspectives

Health Information Managers make great quality managers

Belinda Westlake

Since graduating as a Health Information Manager (HIM) in the 1980s, my career has embraced both health infor-mation and quality and risk management. As time has passed I have progressively spent more time in the quality and risk management arena but still maintain a link with health information.

Being a Quality Manager is a challenging and rewarding role. It is constantly evolving and has incred-ible scope and the flexibility to foster the skills and strengths of the individual in the role. Quality Managers come from a wide range of backgrounds including HIMs, allied health and nursing staff. Those who remain in the role for an extended time are rare, perhaps because many people do not understand what the role involves and are not appropriately skilled to fulfill the responsibilities. Too often the Quality Manager role is handed to someone with the time and willingness rather than the skills and experience necessary to fulfill the associated responsibili-ties.

So, what is a Quality Manager?The quality manager will champion, support or lead quality improvement initiatives. He or she is responsible for ensuring that all managers, process owners and supervisors develop and maintain their part of the quality management system.The quality manager monitors and advises on how the system is performing, which may often include the publication of statistics regarding company performance against set measures.A key role of the quality manager is that of ensuring that customer requirements and expectations have been accurately identified and that the organisation is meeting or exceeding customer expectations. (The Chartered Quality Institute 2012)

The HIM is well equipped for a quality and risk manage-ment role and, in fact, may be the best prepared of all health professionals to step into the quality manager role. The scope of the health information management position means that a broad understanding of how a health service operates is developed through training and experience. This breadth of knowledge is important, valuable and possibly unique to newly graduated HIMs, compared to the other health professions. Health information management skills are particularly pertinent in the area of quality and risk management involving the manage-ment and effective use of data and information. While this is generally strong among HIMs, it can be a weakness among other health professionals in quality roles. Without

these skills, the job can easily become overwhelming, as the amount of data and information required to be generated and reported are constantly increasing through internal and external requirements.

If the quality and risk manager position sits at the senior management or executive level of the organisation, as I believe it should to have the authority required to be effective in the role, quality and risk managers may have direct report staff as well as leadership responsibilities in relation to specific quality and risk issues. The manage-ment and leadership training that HIMs receive and the continued development of these skills are key resources required in the quality and risk management role. These skills appear to be more specifically addressed in health information management training and development than in the other health professions.

Further skills can, and should, be developed to meet the evolving challenges of the role. Courses are continually being introduced in this area. They range from workshops and short certificate courses through to university diplomas, degrees and post-graduate qualifications. I studied further in areas of assessment and evaluation, completing a Master of Assessment and Evaluation at University of Melbourne. I found this useful, and my thesis was based on a work-related quality project. Courses are available at a number of universities, with Murdoch University offering one of the better-known courses in quality management and leadership. Postgraduate risk management courses are also growing in number, and their relevance to healthcare is increasing. I have almost completed a Graduate Certificate in Strategic Risk Management through Edith Cohen University and have found it to be helpful in improving my understanding and developing my organisation’s risk management program.

HIMs with an interest in quality and/or risk manage-ment can be confident that the skills and knowledge they have developed for their health information role will have equipped them suitably to move into the quality and risk management arena. It is an exciting role in health-care and has challenged and rewarded me for over 20 years. My skill base in health information gave me a solid platform and allowed me to naturally progress my career as a Quality and Risk Manager.

ReferenceThe Chartered Quality Institute (2012). What is a Quality Manager?

Available at: http://www.thecqi.org/Knowledge-Hub/Careers/Job-roles/Quality-Manager/ (accessed July 2012).

Belinda Westlake BAppSc, MAE, FAAQHCInformation, Quality and Risk ManagerMoyne Health ServicesPort Fairy VIC 3284President, Victorian Healthcare Quality Associationemail: bwestlake@moynehealth.vic.gov.au