2016 HIM director and manager salary survey

More HIM professionals needed to manage an increasing workload, responsibilities

When compared to data from past surveys, HCPro’s 2016 HIM director and manager salary survey revealed a harsh truth that many HIM professionals already know: There has been little movement in HIM manager and director salaries over the years.

This year, the highest percentage of respondents indicated earning between $ 60,000 and $ 89,999 annually, an amount that has not budged much since 2013 (see the figure on p. 3). The percentage of respondents earning less than $ 40,000 decreased from 7% in 2013 to 4% in 2016, and the percentage of those earning $ 150,000 or more increased from just 3% in 2013 to 6% in 2016?but this is happening during a time when the HIM department is often tasked with doing more work with fewer resources.

"As budgets get tighter, we get more responsibility with the increase in pay," one respondent said.

Another respondent echoed those sentiments: "It is not so much the pay as the ever-increasing workload. We need more bodies throughout HIM, not necessarily more money."

Despite the fact that average salaries have remained fairly consistent since this survey was first conducted, 78% of 2016 respondents received a raise in the past year. One-third of respondents (33%) received a 3% raise, and approximately one-quarter (26%) received a 2% raise.

While 56% of respondents feel they are fairly compensated for the work they do, 62% do not believe HIM directors and managers overall are sufficiently compensated for their work.

Statistics

More than half (53%) of this year’s respondents work as HIM directors, and 29% work as HIM managers. The majority (93%) of respondents are female. One respondent noted the ties between gender and salary in the workplace.

"There is still gender disparity?females are not paid the same as male counterparts for same/similar work," the respondent said. "There are other healthcare professionals with less responsibility/scope earning more. HIM professionals tend to have a wider scope of responsibility with multiple specialized functions."

Half of the respondents work at acute care hospitals, and 15% work in critical access hospitals. The plurality of those working in a hospital setting are in hospitals with fewer than 199 beds (42%), whereas more than one-quarter (26%) work at hospitals with 200?599 beds and 18% work at 600+ bed hospitals. The remainder of respondents do not work in hospital settings.

Experience, education, and certification

The percentage of respondents whose highest level of education is a bachelor’s degree remained steady at 42% from 2015 to 2016, which is an increase from the 30% of respondents with a bachelor’s degree in 2014. Similarly, the percentage of respondents whose highest level of education is an associate’s degree decreased from 22% in 2015 to 20% in 2015, indicating that a baccalaureate-level education is becoming the standard in the HIM profession. Although 21% reported earning a master’s degree, none had a doctoral-level education.

More than half of those whose highest level of education is an associate’s degree earn $ 50,000?$ 69,999 annually (54%), whereas most respondents with a bachelor’s degree earn $ 60,000?$ 89,999 annually (44%). (See p. 4 for more information.)

The majority of respondents are aged 40?59. The plurality of respondents (20%) have 21?29 years of HIM experience, a figure that has remained relatively steady since the 2015 survey. Just 13% have 3?5 years’ experience, and just 7% have 6?10 years, while 16% have been in the profession 30?39 years, indicating that HIM may need some fresh faces as directors and managers near retirement age.

The plurality of respondents with 16?20 years’ experience earn $ 70,000?$ 89,000 annually, whereas the plurality of those in the profession 21?29 years earn $ 80,000?$ 89,000 annually (23%). However, 30% of those with 30?39 years’ experience earn $ 150,000 or more.

Nearly half of this year’s respondents (43%) are certified as registered health information administrators (RHIA), compared to 53% in 2015. The percentage of respondents certified as registered health information technicians (RHIT) increased from 28% last year to 31% this year. The percentage of respondents who are certified coding specialists (CCS) increased from 16% in 2015 to 25% in 2016.

The percentage of respondents with an RHIT certification whose highest level of education is an associate’s degree continues to climb?78% in 2015 compared to 82% in 2016. These respondents appear motivated to earn certifications, with 32% holding a CCS certification this year compared to 19% in 2015.

In general, HIM directors and managers are obtaining CCS certifications. Among respondents whose highest level of education is a bachelor’s degree, one-quarter are CCS certified this year compared to 12% in 2015. However, the percentage of respondents with this level of education who are RHIA certified dropped from 68% in 2015 to 56% in 2016, while the percentage of those with an RHIT certification increased from 17% in 2015 to 22% this year.

RHIA certification also declined among respondents whose highest level of education is a master’s degree?84% in 2015 to 70% in 2016. The percentage of respondents in this group who are RHIT certified increased at a rate similar to respondents in other educational categories, more than doubling from 6% in 2015 to 13% in 2016.

Benefits and overtime

The percentage of respondents who work 42?50 hours weekly continues to increase, with 55% in 2014 compared to 58% in 2015 and 60% in 2016. However, 76% of 2016 respondents indicated that they are not compensated for overtime. Those who are compensated receive one and a half times their regular pay (9%) or time off in lieu of additional pay (2%).

Despite an increasing workload and a growth in the number of hours many respondents work, few have seen an increase in their benefits, including health coverage, retirement plan matching, pension plans, travel budget, vacation and holiday time, tuition reimbursement, continuing education budget, and the ability to accrue time off.

One respondent indicated that he or she does not receive any bonuses or perks, yet is still expected to take on more work. "I was given clinical documentation improvement [CDI] responsibilities in the last year with no salary increase. I am the inpatient coder and I do CDI by myself. I am also over privacy. When my salary is determined, privacy, CDI, and coding are not taken into consideration in the calculation?only the salaries of HIM department managers in the immediate area are considered."

Respondents were split on whether overall HIM salary, benefits, bonuses, and job perks keep up with the cost of living, with 56% stating these benefits have not kept pace throughout the industry. "It is similar to most industries?more work is added and cost of living rises and companies are able to keep up with rising costs," one respondent said.

Similarly, respondents were asked if their personal salary, benefits, bonuses, and perks keep up with the cost of living; more than half (51%) said no.

HIM responsibilities

In years past, respondents listed release of information as their top responsibility, with 76% responsible for this function in 2014. This figure remained steady, at 72% in both 2015 and 2016.

However, in the wake of ICD-10 implementation, the percentage of respondents working on coding increased from 70% in 2014 to 72% in 2015 and 77% in 2016. Other responsibilities appeared to dip slightly as coding took center stage, although the percentage of HIM directors and managers responsible for CDI increased from 45% in 2015 to 56% in 2016, which is not surprising as this function often goes hand-in-hand with coding.

Other responsibilities include the following:

• Document imaging, including preparation, scanning, indexing, and verification (65% in 2016, 2015, and 2014)
• Transcription, including report processing, interface failures, corrections, and distribution (53% in 2016, 57% in 2015, and 55% in 2014)
• Privacy (43% in 2016, 52% in 2015, and 51% in 2014)
• Recovery Audit program (33% in 2016, 30% in 2015, and 37% in 2014, which may be attributed to the temporary hold on these audits)
• Compliance (30% in 2016, 27% in 2015, and 32% in 2014)
• Birth certificates (33% in 2016, 31% in 2015, and 26% in 2014)
• Tumor registry (21% in 2016, 24% in 2015, and 20% in 2014)
• Security (15% in 2016 and 2015, 18% in 2014)
• Utilization review (5% in 2016, 6% in 2015, and 12% in 2014, which may indicate that this function is moving to other departments such as nursing or case management)
• Case management (2% in 2016 and 2015, 4% in 2014)

Survey respondents share their thoughts on HIM roles and compensation

HCPro’s HIM Briefings asked 2016 HIM director and manager salary survey respondents about their satisfaction with their roles, compensation, and benefits. They said:

"I think that the revenue the HIM departments generate and are required to ensure/validate compliance the salaries are way off in comparison to job requirements!"

"I suspect that people don’t realize the location has a lot to do with salary/compensation. Salaries for these positions in smaller communities is generally less."

"Some of my colleagues have not kept current with trends in the EMR, permitting IT staff to take control. I think this has lessened HIM’s role in some institutions. We have fought to get to the discussion table and have shown how our experience has a great value in implementing systems."

"Sometimes, we are branded one of the ‘non-revenue producing’ departments so we are an afterthought."

"The amount of work and knowledge needed in the role is comparable to information systems roles and the salaries are not comparable."

"HIM work is not understood nor appreciated. We are a critical member of the team."

HCPro.com – Briefings on APCs