Become a Health Unit Coordinator: You’re Only 4 Courses Away

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Health Unit Coordinators are expected to grow by 10% from 2019 to 2029 as compared to the average growth rate for all occupations of 4% for the same time period. This fast-growing role is an excellent choice for people looking for entry-level jobs in a healthcare environment. 

What Do Health Unit Coordinators Do?

Health Unit Coordinators serve as point persons for hospital staff, including nurses and doctors. They do administrative work necessary to keep a healthcare environment organized, such as maintain records, manage office supplies, ensure compliance and schedule appointments.‌

Benefits of Being a Health Unit Coordinator

Being a Health Unit Coordinator may be a good choice for you if you enjoy the following tasks. ‌

Interacting with People

Health Unit Coordinators interact with almost everyone in a healthcare setting, including patients, guests, doctors, nurses, and outside vendors. This setting is ideal for people who love getting to know people.

Detail-Oriented Tasks

As with most careers in the medical field, Health Unit Coordinators are required to be detail-oriented. For example, when editing charts, you need to be careful to enter numbers correctly. If you enjoy getting the details right, this could be the right career choice for you.

Organizing Complicated Sets of Data

Health Unit Coordinators deal with large amounts of important and confidential data every day meaning it’s a fit for people who are good at wrapping their heads around a lot of information at once.

Getting Started in a Growing Field

A Health Unit Coordinator position can get your foot in the door at a healthcare facility. It takes a short amount of time to get trained, compared to other healthcare jobs. In addition, you may already have transferable customer service skills from entry-level jobs in the hospitality industry.

How To Become a Health Unit Coordinator

Through MedCerts you can receive a Health Unit Coordinator certification in just 17 weeks. This program contains four courses to prepare you for an exciting career in a growing field. ‌

CS 1011: Customer Service Professional I

Custom Service Professional I lasts one week and is designed to help you improve your customer service skills, including dealing with high-stress situations or angry customers.

HI 1014: Introduction to Human Anatomy and Medical Terminology

As a Health Unit Coordinator, you will be exposed to many medical terms, so it’s important that you learn their meaning. In this six-week course, you will learn to understand verbal and written information in a medical environment. ‌

HI 1018: Electronic Health Records

Electronic health records are an important part of modern medicine. As a Health Unit Coordinator, you will often be responsible for keeping these vital records up-to-date. This four-week course will cover ethical and legal obligations when handling digital medical information, along with practical tips for navigating electronic records. ‌

HI 1013: Health Unit Coordinating

This final, six-week course is dedicated to teaching you the ins and outs of the Health Unit Coordinator role. Learn about topics such as coordinating nursing staff, processing physician orders, and handling admissions, transfers, and discharges of patients.

Conclusion

If you like working with people and keeping large systems organized, being a Health Unit Coordinator could be a great way to enter the healthcare field. A certification with MedCerts may be what you need to get started.