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The differences between medical language specialists and health information 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 medical language specialist and a health information specialist. Additionally, a medical language specialist has an average salary of $47,117, which is higher than the $33,343 average annual salary of a health information specialist.
The top three skills for a medical language specialist include transcription, discharge summaries and dictation. The most important skills for a health information specialist are patients, HIPAA, and medical terminology.
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $47,117 | $33,343 |
| Hourly rate | $22.65 | $16.03 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 71,209 | 135,448 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A Medical Language Specialist transcribes medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners. They listen to recorded dictations of medical professionals and turn them into diagnostic test results, articles, and other documents.
A health information specialist is in charge of overseeing and developing strategies to optimize information management procedures in hospitals, physicians' offices, and other similar environments. Their responsibilities revolve around gathering and updating medical records, receiving and organizing files, and updating databases according to the appropriate coding systems and procedures. Furthermore, as a health information specialist, it is essential to coordinate with nurses and other staff to ensure accuracy in documentation, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Medical language specialists and health information specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Specialist | |
| Average salary | $47,117 | $33,343 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $61,000 | Between $25,000 And $42,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Jose, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | University of California |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a medical language specialist and a health information specialist in terms of educational background:
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 40% | Bachelor's Degree, 38% |
| Most common major | Health Care Administration | Health Care Administration |
| Most common college | Duke University | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between medical language specialists' and health information specialists' demographics:
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Specialist | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 7.3% Female, 92.7% | Male, 15.1% Female, 84.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 13.8% Asian, 7.9% White, 64.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4% | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 8.7% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |