Health Unit Coordinator Week 2024 – Advocacy Guide

August 23-29 is Health Unit Coordinator Week sponsored by NAHUC, the National Association of Health Unit Coordinators, founded by a group of individuals led by Myrna LaFleur on August 23, 1980. This group became the founding members of NAHUC, with LaFleur serving as the organization’s first president.

Patricia Rice has been the executive director of NAHUC since 2000. She began her career as an HUC (called a “unit clerk” at the time) after graduating high school.

Of her early experience in the role, Rice said, “ I worked as a float unit clerk, which meant I went to various different inpatient units within the hospital, different service lines, and was exposed to such a wide variety of experiences……a whole world opened up to me that I had never known about as far as what goes on in healthcare…nurses and doctors play a huge part, obviously, but there’s so many other disciplines and healthcare professionals that work together to deliver healthcare.” 

Before beginning her tenure at NAHUC, Rice spent seven years working as an educator/trainer, scheduler, and health unit coordinator for Rockford Health Systems. 

She holds a BA in organizational management (BA) from Concordia University River Forest and a BA in business administration (AAS) from Rock Valley College, where she also served as an adjunct faculty instructor in the health unit coordinating program.

The Essence of the Role

What it Entails

Numerous individuals perform a variety of jobs to deliver patient care. A great many of these individuals work “behind the scenes” in any given healthcare facility. The health unit coordinator (HUC) is one of these individuals.

Some of the duties of the HUC include:

• Coordination of a health unit
• Management of physician orders
• Communication between departments
• Customer service

In short, HUCs handle the day-to-day administrative duties of a single section of a medical office, hospital, or clinic.

They are highly organized people who aid in communication, customer service, management of physician orders, and coordination of the health unit. They are at the center of the unit workstation activity. And they are expected to have all the answers, know where everyone is at all times, and anticipate the needs of staff and patients. 

Specific duties include booking procedures and transport, ordering supplies and equipment, setting up services after discharge, making sure pre-operative testing is done and results are available, and maintaining confidential medical records.

HUCs are also in charge of a health unit’s administrative duties; they are the point of contact for the many varied healthcare professionals, the nursing staff, and physicians, each of whom rely on the HUC to keep things running. Not only does the HUC manage the needs of both medical and nonmedical staff members, but it also coordinates patient care. Despite the HUC role being a “nonclinical” position, HUCs are in charge of ensuring that the orders of healthcare providers within a facility are carried out.

Such providers may include:

• Physicians 
• Physican assistants 
• Nurse practitioners 
• Clinical nurse specialists
• Certified nurse midwives
• Clinical psychologists
• Clinical social workers

Other individuals working in the healthcare unit/facility that the HUC will coordinate with include in the areas of:

• Healthcare management (those who plan and direct the business aspects of healthcare, such as administrators and human resource professionals)
• Diagnostic services (those who detect diseases and injuries, such as EKG technicians, phlebotomists, radiology technicians, and laboratory technicians)
• Support services (those who provide a supportive environment in which to deliver healthcare, such as central services technicians, food service workers, environmental services technicians, and maintenance technicians)
• Therapeutic services (those who work directly with patients to provide care, such as certified nurse assistants, pharmacists, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, and social workers)
• Health informatics (those who manage patient or financial information and computer applications such as health information technicians, medical transcriptionists, and unit coordinators)
• Biotechnologists (those who develop and research advancements in science and technology to improve healthcare, such as toxicologists, biomedical engineers, and biochemists)

Let’s not forget that the HUC is a public-facing role and that customer service plays a large part of the position. HUCs are skilled communicators who interface with a variety of patients (infants, children, teens, adults, and the elderly) and visitors (family, caregivers, and friends).

Where it Leads

Some people find landing a position as an HUC a lifelong career. Especially for those who are customer service-oriented with an inherent knack for organization and detail, the role can provide job security for many years. The position affords an abundance of available shifts and the ability to work in any number of healthcare settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and skilled nursing facilities.

For others, working as an HUC is a stepping stone to other careers. With additional education, people often move on to clinical roles in nursing, respiratory therapy, radiology, and nonclinical roles in healthcare administration and health information technology.

The National Association of Health Unit Coordinators (NAHUC) aligns with the following skill areas identified in the National Health Science Standards as essential knowledge common across all health professions, including health unit coordination. They include:

1. Interpersonal communication skills
2. Organization
3. Time management
4. Computer proficiency
5. Customer service
6. Critical thinking
7. Problem-solving
8. Teamwork skills

Though all are integral to the job, Rice pointed to interpersonal communication skills as the most essential:

Interpersonal skills are so important in any role, but especially when you’re working with a population that’s there not because they want to be there, but because something is wrong and they don’t feel well. Interpersonal skills like empathy and active listening are fundamental to building trust.

Interpersonal skills are needed not just for interacting with patients and caregivers. They are equally essential for coordinating the healthcare unit. Rice continued, “You are working with such a wide variety of other professionals, and there’s a high level of stress. In what can be a stressful environment, you have to manage your own emotions and communicate effectively and tactfully.”

Along with interpersonal skills, Rice emphasized “the ability to multitask and pay attention to detail in the midst of chaos.” Imagine your basic Saturday night in a busy metropolitan emergency department.

Although having an inherent knack for organization and attention to detail are helpful for HUCs, Rice emphasized that these and other aspects of the job can be learned, and in fact, on-the-job training is common in the field: “You can develop the discipline to be organized and give attention to detail, but if that’s an inherent part of your personality, I think it’s a definite plus. But anybody who is dedicated and willing to learn can develop the [other] skills…learn the medical terminology, the services lines, the procedures and protocols.”

As is the case in the healthcare field as a whole, there is a deficit of heath unit coordinators across the country. Considering the importance of the role, imagine the impact this shortage has on health facilities and patient care. Not only are many positions left unfilled, placing a significant burden on the other members of the healthcare team, but the demand that the deficit in HUC positions has created, in some cases, can lead to the hiring of less qualified workers.

The other issue facing the field of health unit coordination is recognition. The public certainly lacks awareness of the role. Knowledge that the position exists, what it entails, and what it takes to perform well is sorely absent. This oversight can happen within the healthcare field itself, too. Though HUCs tend to feel recognized and appreciated in the units in which they work, Rice acknowledged that greater recognition for the contributions of HUCs within the healthcare system is needed. 

Rice points to education and certification as ways to address both the issue of shortage and recognition. Her solutions dovetail with the mission of NAHUC, which is “dedicated to promoting health unit coordinating as a profession through education and certification, complying with the NAHUC Standards of Practice, Standards of Education, and Code of Ethics.”

On both counts, Rice’s stance is firm. “If NAHUC could make only one change in healthcare” she said, “it would be that employers would recognize and support certification and continuing education for all their employees, regardless of what the role is.” 

Considering this and NAHUC’s mission, Rice’s tenure with the organization is easy to understand.

Though the HUC is an entry-level position and on-the-job training is common, there are educational programs for individuals wishing to prepare for the role’s demands and bolster their candidacy for open positions. These include certificate programs and associate’s degrees, and both are offered in online and in-person formats. The position is also commonly cross-trained, so individuals working in one healthcare role—as a phlebotomist, patient care tech, or monitor technician, for example—may also be trained as an HUC.

Certification is also a way to demonstrate professionalism and stand out as an HUC applicant. It allows HUCs to keep current with the changes in healthcare administration related to the role and show their commitment to the field. 

NAHUC offers certification and continuing education for practicing and aspiring health unit coordinators. The topics covered on the exam include:

• Order management
• Coordination of the unit
• Equipment and tech procedures
• Communication and customer service
• Professional development