Beyond Traditional and Nontraditional Roles: Reframing Health Information Practice Through the Health Information Continuum.

Background: The health information (HI) profession has expanded beyond hospital-centered roles, yet it continues to rely on the labels "traditional" and "nontraditional," which no longer reflect workforce realities. Methods: In this study, the authors used an evidence-informed, mixed-methods synthesis incorporating federal workforce data, professional literature, and original survey data from HI practitioners and educators. Results: The findings demonstrate that HI roles are increasingly cross-sector, technology-enabled, and functionally interconnected, with substantial workforce activity occurring outside hospital settings and beyond federally classified roles. Conclusions: In this article, the authors introduce the Health Information Continuum as a conceptual framework that reframes HI work around shared competencies and the health data life cycle, offering a more accurate and inclusive model for workforce description, education, and professional identity.