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Health record technician vs records specialist

The differences between health record technicians and records specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a health record technician and a records specialist. Additionally, a health record technician has an average salary of $44,182, which is higher than the $33,273 average annual salary of a records specialist.

The top three skills for a health record technician include patients, medical terminology and CPT. The most important skills for a records specialist are customer service, data entry, and office equipment.

Health record technician vs records specialist overview

Health Record TechnicianRecords Specialist
Yearly salary$44,182$33,273
Hourly rate$21.24$16.00
Growth rate11%11%
Number of jobs75,19528,647
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 37%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Average age4545
Years of experience1212

Health record technician vs records specialist salary

Health record technicians and records specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Health Record TechnicianRecords Specialist
Average salary$44,182$33,273
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $71,000Between $26,000 And $42,000
Highest paying City-San Mateo, CA
Highest paying state-Oregon
Best paying company-Mt. San Antonio College
Best paying industry-Government

Differences between health record technician and records specialist education

There are a few differences between a health record technician and a records specialist in terms of educational background:

Health Record TechnicianRecords Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 37%Bachelor's Degree, 47%
Most common majorHealth Care AdministrationBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaStanford University

Health record technician vs records specialist demographics

Here are the differences between health record technicians' and records specialists' demographics:

Health Record TechnicianRecords Specialist
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 16.0% Female, 84.0%Male, 29.8% Female, 70.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.4% Asian, 8.7% White, 60.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 8.5% White, 59.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3%
LGBT Percentage9%9%

Differences between health record technician and records specialist duties and responsibilities

Health record technician example responsibilities.

  • Maximize ROI by effectively managing the microfiche process.
  • Treat all patients, their families, visitors, peers, staff and representatives in a pleasant and courteous manner.
  • Process relatively structure records including detail coding and basic abstracting of discharge patients.
  • Process records for HCC/HEDIS audits; perform regular monitoring of establish documentation deficiency and HIPPA reports.
  • Organize, analyze and technically evaluate inpatient and outpatient medical records for physician completeness according to hospital bylaws and JCAHO standards.
  • Analyze and process patient status in Meditech application.

Records specialist example responsibilities.

  • Develop numerous SQL scripts/queries for monitoring and managing the system.
  • Manage thousands of cases for several firms with deadlines for depositions while ensuring accuracy, confidentiality, and HIPAA compliance.
  • Train and mentore employees in EDMS.
  • Process project records for retention in EDMS.
  • Represent DOJ at an ODNI language training conference.
  • Liaise with GIS group to resolve mapping issues.
  • Show more

Health record technician vs records specialist skills

Common health record technician skills
  • Patients, 26%
  • Medical Terminology, 16%
  • CPT, 12%
  • HIPAA, 12%
  • Test Results, 5%
  • Epic, 4%
Common records specialist skills
  • Customer Service, 25%
  • Data Entry, 14%
  • Office Equipment, 5%
  • Word Processing, 5%
  • Database Systems, 5%
  • Management System, 5%

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