Director of Health Information Management (HIM) Recruiters
Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.
Hire an HIM director who can turn incomplete charts, disclosure decisions, and coding findings into assigned daily work.
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
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What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
- HIM Director
- Health Information Management Director
What does an open seat cost you every week?
An open role costs you more than the recruiting fee. Someone covers the work, waits for care, or stops a service. We ask what is falling behind and who is carrying it. Use your own figures to compare the cost of waiting with the cost of hiring.
The seat is costing you every week.
Overtime, diverted patients, a stretched team and a schedule held together by favors.
The posting brought the wrong people.
Applicants arrive, but the person who has done this exact work is employed and not looking.
You are the one chasing.
Screening calls, no-shows and follow-ups land on the desk of someone with a facility to run.
What does this hire really come down to?
Your Director of Health Information Management directs record completion, release of information, and coding oversight. A normal day can include reviewing aged-chart reports, resolving an unclear disclosure request, meeting with coding managers, and reporting unresolved patterns to leadership. This search may begin with open records, inconsistent disclosure handling, or repeated coding findings.
Ask how the candidate distinguished documentation from staffing, training, or system issues, assigned correction ownership, and verified results.
During final interviews, ask what they examine first when a payer review raises a coding concern and supporting charts are incomplete, and who receives the finding. Look for sequence, follow-up, escalation, and judgment beyond IT.
What do we check before you see anyone?
Confirm current RHIA or RHIT status and discuss how it relates to the person’s present scope. We ask whether they lead HIM operations, record standards, coding functions, reporting, or several areas. You complete your own credentialing review and determine whether the credential and background suit the position.
- Review release of information work from request intake through disclosure documentation. We ask how the candidate handles unclear authorization language, tracks a pending request, and decides when privacy input is needed. This distinguishes hands-on operational knowledge from managers who only receive summary reports.
- Test record-completion oversight with a provider scenario. We ask what occurs when charts age because a provider is unavailable, challenges a deficiency, or does not respond. Useful answers name the report reviewed, outreach route, medical staff escalation, and next review date.
- Examine coding oversight without assuming the director codes every chart. We ask how audit findings are sorted into isolated errors or broader patterns, how education is assigned, and when follow-up audits occur. Candidates should explain how concerns reach coding managers and senior leadership.
- Discuss record integrity and access issues at a management level. Ask what the candidate does when questionable access is reported or a correction needs review. They should gather facts, involve the appropriate internal team, document the decision, and avoid unsupported conclusions.
- Probe daily leadership work. We ask how the candidate assigns disclosure coverage, reviews quality results, addresses missed handoffs, and reports unresolved items upward. These answers show whether the person can hold staff accountable rather than only present dashboard results.
Where do we find them, and why would they move?
We recruit HIM and coding managers with experience in record completion, disclosures, coding oversight, audit response, supervision, and reporting. Candidates may seek broader authority after leading one function or facing issues beyond their authority. The titles are not interchangeable. A coding manager may bring strong audit and staff-development experience but need closer review of release-of-information knowledge.
We explain those distinctions before you invest time in interviews.
Which mistakes stall the search?
A common mistake is choosing a familiar software brand over proof that the candidate can address aged charts, disclosures, and coding findings across different systems. Another is assuming a strong coding manager can direct the full HIM department without testing release of information, record completion, and physician communication.
Waiting until final interviews to explain reporting lines, physician relationships, system projects, and authority to correct recurring issues.
How would we run the search for this opening?
Tell us what is driving the search. We review credentials, work history, leadership scope, and fit through concrete questions. We keep communication clear while you interview and select a finalist. It may involve aged records, release of information, coding oversight, audit findings, access concerns, or a leadership vacancy.
Define the work
We turn those issues into screening questions tied to work your director will own.
Screen for evidence
You assess finalists against your reporting structure, technology setup, internal policies, credentialing process, and clinical assessment.
Manage selection and offer
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Where this search connects
Revenue Cycle, Reimbursement & HIM
SpecialtyHospitals & Health Systems
SettingPhysician Groups & Specialty Practices
SettingAmbulatory Surgery Centers & Surgical Hospitals
SettingHome Health & Hospice
SettingVP of Revenue Cycle
Related roleDirector of Revenue Cycle
Related roleDirector of Patient Financial Services (PFS / CBO)
Related roleDirector of Patient Access
Related roleNational median annual wage. SOC 11-9111, Medical and Health Services Managers.
BLS reports Medical and Health Services Managers as one occupation. It does not publish a separate estimate for Director of Health Information Management (HIM), its setting or its engagement terms.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS, 2025-05, released 2026-05-15. View source. See the full guide.
Open roles
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Do we need an RHIA, or is an RHIT acceptable?
The available pool includes RHIA and RHIT professionals. Your choice depends on the position scope, leadership history, and your credentialing review. We verify the credential and ask how it supports current work. An HIM manager may offer broader department leadership but need deeper questions about coding audit work.
How do you assess release of information knowledge?
We ask candidates to describe a request from intake through disclosure documentation. We also ask what they do when authorization details are unclear or privacy review is needed.
Can a coding manager become an HIM director?
Sometimes. The candidate must show leadership beyond coding and speak clearly about record completion, disclosure operations, staff supervision, and cross-department reporting. Coding knowledge alone does not establish full HIM director scope.
What should finalists explain about coding oversight?
Ask how they use audit findings to identify patterns, direct education, and report unresolved concerns. They should explain how they work through coding managers rather than bypassing them.
Can you support interim coverage during the search?
We arrange locum tenens, travel and contract coverage on request. Credentialing, licensing and malpractice coverage are confirmed per engagement before anyone starts.
What should you send us about this role?
Send us the role, where the person will work and what needs to change with this hire. We will ask about the work, not just the title. Share any license or schedule limits that could rule someone out before we begin the search.
If open records, disclosure decisions, or coding oversight need firmer direction, speak with Healthcare Headhunters about your HIM director search. We will start with the work your next leader must manage.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What happens next
- We review your role, responsibilities and location.
- Ivan or a senior team member will reach out soon.
- You meet a focused shortlist when qualified candidates fit the agreed search.
- Fees.
- No upfront fee. Pay only if you hire, under the signed agreement.
- Exclusivity.
- Set out in the signed client agreement.
- Confidentiality.
- We agree the brief before outreach. This is not a promise of absolute anonymity.
- No hire.
- No hire means no fee on standard searches.
Which other positions in this family should you consider?
Director of Patient Access · Coding Manager / Director of Coding
What do you get at each step of the search?
Our process for every search: calibrate the seat with you, map the market, research the real people, reach out to each one personally, qualify them in live conversation, then hand you a short list with a written brief on each person and support through the offer.
Search Calibration
You get an agreed brief: the work, reporting line, credentials, schedule, and offer you can make.
Market Mapping
You get a search aimed at relevant backgrounds, including people working now who have not applied.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We check appropriate ways to reach the people identified for your search. You do not have to chase them yourself.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We explain your actual job and follow up with people who may consider a conversation.
Live Candidate Qualification
You see people we have spoken with about the work, interest, and practical fit, not an unread resume pile.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You get a written brief and support through interviews and offer discussions. You make the hiring decision.
How long will it take to see a short list?
That depends on the job, schedule, available people, and what your employer can offer. We discuss those constraints before outreach and update you as candidates respond. We do not promise a fixed shortlist date. We check the job brief before arranging interviews. Tell us which parts of the role you can change.
What if a candidate receives a counteroffer?
We ask why the person wants to move and discuss competing decisions before an offer. A counteroffer can still change their choice. Keep the duties and offer clear rather than assuming more money settles every concern. Tell us early if parts of your offer cannot change, so the candidate hears it from us first.
What are the replacement terms?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement. Ask us to walk through those terms before you sign, so you know how a replacement would work for your opening and who would start it.
What do we not do in a standard permanent search?
We do not bill standard contingency search by the hour or simply repost your job. Temporary coverage is a separate arrangement. Any retainer or different engagement must be agreed, not assumed. Tell us early if you need coverage while the permanent search runs.