# Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars

US SOC code 29-9021. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/29-9021

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **38,100** US health information technologists and medical registrars, with median pay of **$68,020** a year. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://journal.ahima.org/AMP_EDN/383/Celebrating-90-Years-of-HIM-A-Look-Back-at-AHIMA-Through-the-Decades-1910s-%E2%80%93-1950s-1906.amp.html) of **15,000** from 1950, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era in this work: ICD-10-CM / ICD-10-PCS, computer-assisted coding, and cloud-based EHR analytics, 2015 to 2022.

Figures: Official statistic (latest count and pay); Researched context (earliest figure).

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 15.9% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=29-9021&ioType=o) (Official statistic).

### AI exposure studies

- **53.1%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv) (Official statistic)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35.

## Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1928
- Latest US employment: 38,100 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [4]
- Latest US median pay: $68,020 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [6]
- Outlook: +15.9% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [17]

### All 8 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1950 | 15,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., AHIMA [1] |
| 1980 | 40,000 (estimate) | $11,000 (average) (estimate) | Est., BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook [2] |
| 1995 | 95,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook [3] |
| 2021 | 37,900 | $55,560 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [4] |
| 2022 | 35,500 | $58,250 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [4] |
| 2023 | 34,430 | $62,990 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [4] |
| 2024 | 37,620 | $67,310 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [4] |
| 2025 | 38,100 | $68,020 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [4] |

## Sources (37)

### Employment series

1. [AHIMA — "Celebrating 90 Years of HIM: A Look Back at AHIMA Through the Decades (1910s-1950s)" (membership data: AAMRL 2,374 members in 1950, doubled to 4,700 by 1960)](https://journal.ahima.org/AMP_EDN/383/Celebrating-90-Years-of-HIM-A-Look-Back-at-AHIMA-Through-the-Decades-1910s-%E2%80%93-1950s-1906.amp.html), American Health Information Management Association
2. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1980-81 Edition (Bulletin No. 2075) — Medical Record Technicians and Librarians section, FRASER/St. Louis Fed](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/occupational-outlook-handbook-3964/occupational-outlook-handbook-1980-81-edition-498765/content/fulltext/bls_2075_1980_1), Bureau of Labor Statistics
3. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1994-95 Edition — Medical Record Technicians section (FRASER archive)](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/occupational-outlook-handbook-3964), Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

5. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 1980-81 Edition (Bulletin No. 2075) — Medical Record Technicians wage range, FRASER/St. Louis Fed](https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/occupational-outlook-handbook-3964/occupational-outlook-handbook-1980-81-edition-498765/content/fulltext/bls_2075_1980_1), Bureau of Labor Statistics
6. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Tool eras

7. [AHIMA — "Our History" (profession founded 1928, early role of disease indices and professional standards)](https://www.ahima.org/who-we-are/about-us/history/), American Health Information Management Association
8. [American College of Surgeons — "The Minimum Standard Document" (1919 hospital standardisation mandate requiring complete and accurate medical records)](https://www.facs.org/about-acs/archives/past-highlights/minimumhighlight/), American College of Surgeons
9. [History of ICD-10 Codes in Medical Billing and Coding — I-Med Claims (ICD-9-CM mandated for Medicare/Medicaid claims from 1979)](https://imedclaims.com/history-of-icd-10-codes/), I-Med Claims
10. [OpenText Blog — "The History of Health Information Management: From Then to Now" (Medicare 1965, mainframe adoption 1970s)](https://blogs.opentext.com/history-heath-information-management-now/), OpenText
11. [American Hospital Directory — Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (DRG system introduced October 1983 via Social Security Act amendment)](https://www.ahd.com/ip_ipps08.html), American Hospital Directory
12. [PubMed — "Accuracy of diagnostic coding for Medicare patients under the prospective-payment system" (PMID 3123929, 20.8% DRG error rate in early years)](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3123929/), New England Journal of Medicine / PubMed
13. [HIPAA Journal — "What is the HITECH Act? 2026 Update" (HITECH Act signed February 17, 2009; $25.9 billion allocated; 96% hospital EHR adoption by 2015)](https://www.hipaajournal.com/what-is-the-hitech-act/), HIPAA Journal
14. [ICD-10-CM on Wikipedia (US adopted ICD-10 for mortality 1999; ICD-10-CM/PCS for diagnoses and inpatient procedures October 1, 2015; 68,000 codes vs 13,000 in ICD-9)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10-CM), Wikipedia
15. [PMC — "Automating the overburdened clinical coding system: challenges and next steps" (PMC9898522, NLP/CAC accuracy limitations)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9898522/), PMC / National Library of Medicine
16. [Oxford Global Resources — "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on Healthcare Information Management (HIM) Coding" (AI below 50% exact-match; human coder 80-98%; hybrid model emerging)](https://www.oxfordcorp.com/insights/industry-commentary/the-impact-of-artificial-intelligence-ai-on-healthcare-information-management-him-coding/), Oxford Global Resources

### Forecasts and exposure studies

17. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 29-9021 Health information technologists and medical registrars (2025: 42.0 thousand; 2035: 48.6 thousand; +15.9%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=29-9021&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
18. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 29-9021.00, human-rated β 0.531)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

19. [American College of Surgeons — "The Minimum Standard Document" (adopted December 20, 1919, by the Board of Regents)](https://www.facs.org/about-acs/archives/past-highlights/minimumhighlight/), American College of Surgeons
20. [AHIMA — "Our History" and AHIMA Foundation — "AHIMA Founder Grace Whiting Myers's Work Set Stage for..." (founding narrative, 1928)](https://www.ahima.org/who-we-are/about-us/history/), American Health Information Management Association
21. [I-Med Claims — "History of ICD-10 Codes in Medical Billing and Coding" (US mandated ICD-9-CM for Medicare/Medicaid from 1979)](https://imedclaims.com/history-of-icd-10-codes/), I-Med Claims
22. [American Hospital Directory — Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS history: Social Security Act amendment, DRG system effective October 1983)](https://www.ahd.com/ip_ipps08.html), American Hospital Directory
23. [HIPAA Journal — "What is the HITECH Act? 2026 Update" (signed February 17, 2009; $25.9B; ONC created; meaningful use framework)](https://www.hipaajournal.com/what-is-the-hitech-act/), HIPAA Journal
24. [ICD-10-CM Wikipedia article (US adopted ICD-10-CM/PCS October 1, 2015; 68,000 codes vs. 13,000 in ICD-9-CM)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICD-10-CM), Wikipedia
25. [AMIA — "Clinical Informatics Occupational Code" (AMIA advocacy for a dedicated health informatics SOC code; 2018 SOC revision creating 29-9021)](https://amia.org/public-policy/clinical-informatics-occupational-code), American Medical Informatics Association

### Predecessors & successors

26. [AHIMA — "Our History" (Grace Whiting Myers led record clerks at Massachusetts General Hospital; informal meetings from 1912)](https://www.ahima.org/who-we-are/about-us/history/), American Health Information Management Association
27. [BLS 2018 SOC revision — 29-2071 split into 29-9021 (technologists) and 29-2072 (specialists)](https://www.bls.gov/soc/2018/major_groups.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-21
- [O\*NET 30.3 — US Department of Labor](https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html), accessed 2026-05-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.