One Ladder, Four Steps: How to Become an MBC, HIT, HIM, and Master of Health Informatics Professional, and Keep Climbing

The Big Idea

• Healthcare runs on data, and there is one career ladder built entirely around it: MBC → HIT → HIM → Master of Health Informatics.
• You can start earning in this field in as little as 38 weeks with Cambridge’s 100% online Medical Billing & Coding program.
• Each rung stacks on the last: a diploma becomes an associate degree, an associate becomes a bachelor’s, a bachelor’s becomes a master’s, and you can work at every stage.
• The HIT program is CAHIIM-accredited, qualifying graduates to sit for the AHIMA RHIT credential, a nationally recognized career accelerator.
• The top of the ladder, the 75-week, 35-credit Master of Science in Health Informatics, prepares you to lead the systems, analytics, and security strategy of entire healthcare organizations.

Every hospital you walk into has doctors and nurses you can see, and an invisible engine underneath: the professionals who capture, code, protect, and move every piece of patient data. That engine is hiring. Here’s how to get on board, how fast you can do it, and how to keep climbing for an entire career.

Step 1: How to Become a Medical Billing & Coding Specialist (MBC)

What you’ll do: Translate every patient encounter, every diagnosis, procedure, and treatment, into the standardized codes (ICD-10, CPT/HCPCS) that power insurance reimbursement, compliance, and accurate patient records. No hands-on patient care required, and many roles are remote-friendly.

How to Do It

1. Enroll in Cambridge’s Medical Billing & Coding program — 100% online.
2. Master coding languages, billing software, and HIPAA regulations with instructors who have worked in the field.
3. Graduate and connect with Cambridge’s Career Services department for interview prep and job placement support.

How fast: About 38 weeks from your first class to career-ready. That is under 10 months to a professional healthcare credential.

The career platform it builds: MBC is the foundation of the entire health information field. You’ll speak the “language of healthcare”, the coding fluency that every rung above this one assumes. Many students work as billing and coding specialists while pursuing the next degree.

Step 2: How to Become a Health Information Technologist (HIT)

What you’ll do: Manage and maintain the digital systems where patient health data lives, electronic medical records (EMRs), registries, health information systems, while protecting that data with best-practice security.

How to Do It

1. Enroll in Cambridge’s Associate of Science in Health Information Technology — 100% online.
2. Study medical terminology, anatomy, ICD-10 and CPT/HCPCS coding, intermediate coding, EMR systems, and data security,with a virtual lab practicum to practice in real time.
3. Graduate from this CAHIIM-accredited program and sit for the AHIMA Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT)exam.

How fast: 75 weeks, roughly a year and a half to an associate degree plus eligibility for a nationally recognized credential.

The career platform it builds: The RHIT credential signals verified competence to employers nationwide. HIT graduates step into roles in hospitals, physician groups, insurers, and health systems, with an associate degree that transfers upward into the bachelor’s rung.

Step 3: How to Become a Health Information Manager (HIM)

What you’ll do: Move from managing systems to governing them. HIM professionals ensure health records are accurate, accessible, and properly managed across their entire lifecycle,  supporting coding accuracy, legal compliance, information sharing, and continuity of care.

How to Do It

1. Enroll in Cambridge’s online Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management.
2. Build advanced skills in healthcare software, patient record analysis, billing and coding oversight, compliance, and data governance.
3. Graduate into roles such as coding specialist, quality analyst, and clinical documentation specialist, and into supervisory tracks.

How fast: As a bachelor’s completion pathway, your HIT associate credits move you forward, you’re building on what you’ve already earned, not starting over.

The career platform it builds: This is where individual contributors become leaders. HIM is the management layer of health data,the rung where you begin directing teams, owning compliance outcomes, and qualifying for the master’s level.

Step 4: How to Earn the Master of Science in Health Informatics (MS-HI)

What you’ll do: Lead at the intersection of healthcare and technology. Informatics leaders design systems, drive analytics strategy, manage interoperability, safeguard privacy and security, and act as change agents for entire healthcare organizations.

How to Do It

1. Enroll in Cambridge’s fully online Master of Science in Health Informatics.
2. Complete 35 credits covering systems design, data analytics, interoperability, privacy and security, leadership, and ethical frameworks for informatics.
3. Graduate ready to lead projects and drive transformation in patient-centered care.

How fast: 75 weeks, a master’s degree in under two years, fully online, built for working professionals.

The career platform it builds: This is the executive rung. Informatics leaders sit at the table where healthcare’s biggest decisions are made, how data will improve outcomes, cut costs, and protect patients.

Questions & Answers

Q: I need income fast. Where should I start?

A: Start with Medical Billing & Coding. At roughly 38 weeks, it’s the fastest on-ramp in the vertical, and it’s 100% online, so you can keep your current job while you train.

Q: Do I have to complete all four programs?

A: No, every rung is a complete, job-ready credential on its own. The power of the ladder is that nothing is wasted: each program builds directly toward the next whenever you’re ready to climb.

Q: Can I work while I study?

A: Yes. Every program in this vertical is offered online with the flexibility working adults need, that’s the Cambridge model. Many students earn in the field at one rung while studying for the next.

Q: What credentials will I be eligible for?

A: HIT graduates can sit for the AHIMA RHIT exam, thanks to the program’s CAHIIM accreditation. Your coursework across the vertical also builds the coding and data fluency employers look for in credentialed candidates.

Q: Is this a good field if I don’t want direct patient care?

A: It’s one of the best. You’ll impact patient wellbeing with every keystroke, accurate records, clean claims, secure data, without clinical duties, and often with remote work options.

Q: How strong is the job market?

A: Demand for trained health information professionals continues to climb as healthcare digitizes and privacy regulations expand. Specially trained, certified professionals in health information are in very high demand.

Q: What support do I get finding a job?

A: Cambridge’s Career Services department supports you through interview preparation and job placement, working with healthcare facilities to place graduates.

Your Move

The health information vertical is rare in American careers: a clear, stackable, fully online ladder from first credential to master’s degree, with employability at every rung. Start at 38 weeks. Finish as a healthcare leader.

Ready to take the first step? Explore the Medical Billing & Coding program, call 877-206-4279, or see all programs at Cambridge College of Healthcare & Technology.

Cambridge College of Healthcare & Technology participates in NC-SARA. Visit nc-sara.org to learn more.