Exploring the research competencies and skills utilised by health information managers in their professional practice: A documentary analysis.

BACKGROUND

Health information managers (HIMs) routinely support research through their management, clinical coding, and governance of health data and information. Recent research highlights a disconnect between the reliance, for research, on HIM-managed data and the extent to which HIMs and others within the wider health information management workforce engage in research.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the implicit and explicit uses of research skills by Australia's HIMs in their professional practice, by: (i) describing the characteristics of abstracts published in the Health Information Management Association of Australia's (HIMAA's) Conference Proceedings, 2020-2025; (ii) identifying the application of research-related skills and knowledge, explicitly or implicitly stated, within "professional practice/case-study" (PP/CS) abstracts authored by Australian HIMs.

METHOD: A qualitative documentary analysis of abstracts was undertaken, and descriptive characteristics were extracted. For PP/CS abstracts, a competency-based scoring tool was developed. The five research-based, profession entry-level competencies in the HIMAA 2023 Competency Standards, Domain E, were utilised to categorise explicit and implicit research knowledge/skills using the criteria: Implicit (suggested, but not stated); Explicit (clearly stated and appropriate); None (no evidence of indicator). Scores applied were: 0 (no evidence of indicator); and 1 (either implicit or explicit criteria met). Implicit and explicit totals were calculated for each domain and applied to the abstract review for: Research Implicit Score; Research Explicit Score; No Score.

RESULTS

Across the study period, 252 abstracts/papers were identified: PP/CS (55.5%); research (24.2%); workshops (11%).

RESULTS

"Classification, clinical documentation and coding excellence" was the most frequent topic addressed (38.9%), followed by "workforce transformation and professional collaboration" (16.7%). Of 106 PP/CS abstracts eligible for analysis, 35% (n = 37) met the threshold for sound research competency (i.e. ⩾3 research indicators were present), with implicit indicators more commonly observed than explicit indicators; 40% showed no evidence of indicators; four abstracts exhibited all five research indicators.

CONCLUSION

These findings demonstrate that research skills are embedded within routine professional practice and not confined to formal research activities.Implications for health information management practice:Research competencies appear to be used implicitly in everyday decision-making and problem-solving, to interpret clinical documentation, apply coding standards, evaluate information, and support data quality.