Health Information Manager
Health information managers run the patient records and health data a hospital relies on, from clinical coding and privacy to the reports behind funding and planning.
- Median salary*
- $104,000
4.5%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 2,000
5.3%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +29.1%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 41/wk
+1h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
They work in hospitals, health services, government health departments and clinical software companies, and the job sits between clinicians, administrators and IT. The nearest role, clinical coding, covers one part of the record, while health information managers are responsible for the whole system, including privacy, retention and reporting. It is a small profession, with about 2,000 people working across Australia.
How much do health information managers earn?
The median full-time salary for a health information manager is $104,000 per annum, before tax, up $22,100 since 2018.
Most health information managers are paid under public health service enterprise agreements or a hospital's own salary structure, so the sector you work in moves your pay more than the job title does. State health departments and large hospitals generally pay above private clinics and smaller providers, and a role carrying management or system implementation responsibility sits higher again. Location plays a part in a general way, since the same job can pay differently in a capital city health service than in a regional one.
What does a health information manager do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Managing the release, storage and retention of patient health records, including requests from courts and insurers
- Classifying diagnoses and procedures using ICD-10-AM and ACHI
- Running clinical coding audits and data quality checks
- Providing health data and reports to clinicians, managers and government agencies
- Implementing electronic medical record systems and privacy controls
What skills do health information managers need?
Employers look for medical administration and records, data analysis, regulatory compliance, backed by ICD-10-AM/ACHI coding systems fluency and strong attention to detail.
Specialist skills
- Medical administration and records
- Data analysis
- Regulatory compliance
- Statistical modelling
Software and tools
- ICD-10-AM/ACHI coding systems
- Cerner Millennium
- Microsoft Power BI
- Microsoft Excel
- Patient administration systems (iPM)
General skills
- Attention to detail
- Stakeholder management
- People leadership
Is the job growing?
About 2,000 people work as health information managers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 29.1% over the decade to 2035. That's very strong growth. Few roles in Australia are expanding this fast, and it points to solid demand for years to come.
How do you become a health information manager?
Here's the path most health information managers take, step by step.
- 1Complete a health information management degree
The standard entry point is a bachelor degree in health information management, accredited by the Health Information Management Association of Australia (HIMAA). It covers anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, clinical classification, health law and data analysis, and takes about three years full time.
- 2Or take a graduate entry qualification
If you already hold a degree in health science, nursing, IT or records management, a graduate entry master's of about two years gives you the same qualification and is the common route for career changers.
- 3Get experience in a health records or coding team
Many students work part time as clinical coders or health records officers while they study. Coding with ICD-10-AM and ACHI is the core technical skill of the job, and employers look for it alongside the degree.
- 4Join HIMAA and work toward certification
Membership keeps you connected to the classification standards and professional development the role depends on, and certified health information manager status is asked for in many hospital and health department positions.
- 5Add further study for specialist directions
A postgraduate qualification in health informatics, public health or policy opens up roles in system implementation, population reporting and health department planning, which are the main paths out of a records-focused position.
Ready to apply as a health information manager?
Whether you're working toward becoming a health information manager or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a health information manager move to?
Moving into Policy and Planning Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $49,100 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Policy and Planning Manager Health information managers bring knowledge of health records, funding and reporting to policy and planning roles, with further study in policy often needed.Known move | +$49,100 | 8% | requalify |
| General Manager Experienced health information managers can step into general management, using their understanding of hospital funding, records and reporting in broader operational leadership.Known move | +$44,200 | 7% | reskill |
| Project Manager Health information managers who have led clinical system implementations can move into project management, adding formal project methods to their health expertise.Known move | +$6,800 | 9% | reskill |
| Health Promotion Officer Health information managers bring population health reporting and program skills to health promotion, though a public health qualification is usually required.Known move | −$13,000 | 14% | requalify |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a health information manager?
The typical health information manager is 44 years old; 80% are women, 71% work full-time, and full-timers average 41 hours a week.
- 44
- Median age
- 80%
- Female share
- 71%
- Full-time
- +1h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a health information manager?
The work runs to a reporting calendar, with coding cut-offs before monthly activity reporting, audit cycles and a steady flow of record requests. Much of it is system work, checking that the data feeding funding and quality reports is accurate, and it suits someone who likes rules applied carefully and can explain them to clinicians who mostly want to get back to patients. Health information managers usually sit in a small team inside a much larger health service, so the role carries technical detail and a fair amount of negotiation.
What people like
- Your coding decisions turn into hospital funding. Under activity-based funding, accurately coded records are what a hospital is paid against, so the work has a visible effect on what a service can afford to run.
- A small field with room to specialise. Because the profession is small, there is scope to become the person a service relies on for a particular patient administration system, specialty or funding stream.
- Structured, office-based work. Most roles run to a predictable weekday calendar rather than a shift roster, which makes the job easier to combine with study or family than clinical work.
- Close to clinical care without a caseload. You spend your day with clinicians, managers and IT staff and learn how care is actually delivered, without carrying patients or working nights.
What people find hard
- Deadlines set by other people. Monthly activity reporting and coding cut-offs cluster at the end of each month, and late clinical documentation tends to land in the same window.
- Chasing incomplete documentation. A code cannot be assigned until the treating clinician has documented the diagnosis, so part of the job is following up notes that should already have been finished.
- Privacy and release work is procedural. Subpoenas, insurer requests and freedom of information applications all follow set steps and legislated timeframes, and the volume does not ease when the rest of the team is busy.
- System change moves at hospital pace. Replacing or upgrading a patient administration system involves long approval rounds, testing and staff training, so a project can take years to show a result.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ health information managers?
Health Care and Social Assistance employs the largest share of health information managers, followed by Professional, Scientific and Technical Services.
Top employing industries
- 1Health Care and Social Assistance
- 2Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
- 3Public Administration and Safety
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Bachelor degree | 49.5% | |
|---|---|---|
| Postgraduate | 30.6% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 7.3% | |
| Year 12 or below | 7.3% | |
| Certificate III/IV | 3.7% |
Will AI replace health information managers?
Health information managers sit in the moderate range: the coding, checking and reporting parts of the job are already partly automated by software built into patient administration systems such as Cerner Millennium, while privacy decisions and system governance still rest with a person. Clinical language tools now read discharge summaries and suggest diagnoses, which changes how much time goes into manual coding but not who answers for the classification. Records, funding rules and privacy law also change often enough that the judgement around them stays in the role.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Reports for funding, activity and qualityPower BI and patient administration system dashboards now produce the routine monthly counts, leaving the manager to check definitions and explain what the numbers mean to executives.30%moderate
- Clinical coding, auditing and data quality checksCoding software suggests codes straight from the clinical notes, but an auditor still checks each one against the classification rules and the documentation behind it.25%high
- System implementation and work with clinicians and ITRolling out a new patient administration system means months of testing, training and negotiating with clinical and IT staff, which is relationship work rather than automated processing.25%low
- Privacy, release of information and record retentionDeciding what a subpoena, an insurer or a family member can be given from a record turns on health privacy law and individual circumstances that software does not weigh.20%low
Moves least exposed to AI
These career moves from health information manager work are rated low for AI exposure:
- Project Manager
Some skill overlap (9%), reskill to get there, and a low automation-risk profile.
Common questions about becoming a health information manager
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does a health information manager earn?
$104,000 per year before tax is the median for full-time health information managers. Public hospital enterprise agreements and state health department salary structures set most of it, so the sector and the size of the health service affect pay more than the job title does.
How do you become a health information manager?
The standard route is a bachelor degree in health information management accredited by the Health Information Management Association of Australia, followed by membership and, for many roles, certified health information manager status. People already working as clinical coders or in health administration often complete the same qualification through a graduate entry master's.
Are health information managers in demand?
Health information managers are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 29.1% over the decade to 2035. With a workforce this small, openings tend to appear on individual health service and state health department job boards rather than in large annual graduate intakes, so it pays to watch those listings directly.
Will AI replace health information managers?
Coding software and clinical language tools already suggest codes and pull diagnoses out of clinical notes, which reduces the manual effort in auditing and reporting. Classification judgement, privacy decisions, system governance and explaining data to clinicians remain with the health information manager. The role is likely to shift further toward checking and governing automated output rather than typing codes from scratch.
What can a health information manager move into?
Experienced managers often move into project management, especially after leading a clinical system implementation, where median full-time pay is $6,800 more. Health department policy and planning roles draw on the same knowledge of records, funding and reporting, with median pay $49,100 more. General management is the larger step for those who want operational leadership across a service rather than a records function, at $44,200 more.
What is the difference between a health information manager and a clinical coder?
Clinical coders classify diagnoses and procedures for individual episodes of care, while health information managers run the whole record system, including the coding team, privacy, data quality and reporting. Clinical coders who complete a health information management degree can move into management, and it is the qualification rather than the coding experience that employers ask for.
Related roles
- Health Promotion Officer
- Project Manager
- General Manager
- Policy and Planning Manager
- Clinical Coder
- Administration Officer
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