How To Become A Medical Data Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical data analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Dr. Michael Zhang

Medical data analysts collect and organize data related to healthcare activities. They analyze the data they have compiled and interpret the patterns they find. They present the results to the management to inform their decision-making process, taking into consideration the various factors that play into the successful running of a healthcare facility.

You will work with large sets of data, so understanding data storage and data sharing methods will be one of your key skills in this role. Having an insight into the business aspects of healthcare is also essential. The data that you convert into information will support the administrative processes of the facility, ultimately bettering available healthcare options, so your responsibility is far from insignificant in this position.

You will need a degree in mathematics, healthcare administration, or a related field. Experience in data analysis in any area will boost your chances of getting hired. Database programming and familiarity with visualization software are also essential, as well as a familiarity with medical records and their management. Having the combination of specific skills required to perform this role will earn you around $73,000 a year.

What general advice would you give to a medical data analyst?

Dr. Michael Zhang

Professor in Management Science, Director of Master of Business Analytics, Website

In the coming years, turning data into insights and driving business innovation and success is the new compass.

ScoreMedical Data AnalystUS Average

Salary

4.4

Avg. Salary $56,595

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.25%

Asian 8.55%

Black or African American 9.58%

Hispanic or Latino 16.65%

Unknown 4.19%

White 59.78%

Gender

female 68.71%

male 31.29%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.0

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.6

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical data analyst

Explore medical data analyst education requirements

Most common medical data analyst degrees

Bachelor's

51.9 %

Associate

19.8 %

Master's

10.7 %

Start to develop specific medical data analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	12.27%
Data Analysis	6.70%
Medical Terminology	6.17%
ICD-10	5.24%
EMR	4.86%

Complete relevant medical data analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical data analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical data analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical data analyst resumes.

Research medical data analyst duties and responsibilities

Manage cases by aggressively directing the litigation process.
Maintain priority levels of confidentiality with HIPAA and patient rights in all reviews and aspects of work.
Process records for subpoena, learned deposition process, attend court for subpoenas and processing of records.
Review and interpret diagnosis and procedure codes through ICD-9 and CPT-4, HCPS claims to avoid provider and facility up-coding.

Prepare your medical data analyst resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical data analyst resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical data analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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