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The differences between medical language specialists and health information technicians 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 technician. Additionally, a medical language specialist has an average salary of $47,117, which is higher than the $34,604 average annual salary of a health information technician.
The top three skills for a medical language specialist include transcription, discharge summaries and dictation. The most important skills for a health information technician are patients, medical terminology, and customer service.
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $47,117 | $34,604 |
| Hourly rate | $22.65 | $16.64 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 71,209 | 120,786 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 40% | Associate Degree, 41% |
| 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 technician is primarily responsible for managing and handling patient information, ensuring accuracy and confidentiality. They coordinate with various health care workers to gather patient data, laboratory results, test findings, and medical histories, encoding them in clinical databases in a timely and efficient manner. They must analyze every information to detect any inconsistencies, performing corrective measures right away. Furthermore, as a health information technician, it is essential to utilize particular software and systems when processing information, all while adhering to the hospital's policies and regulations.
Medical language specialists and health information technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Technician | |
| Average salary | $47,117 | $34,604 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $61,000 | Between $26,000 And $45,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Fairbanks, AK |
| Highest paying state | - | Alaska |
| Best paying company | - | Stifel Financial |
| Best paying industry | - | Government |
There are a few differences between a medical language specialist and a health information technician in terms of educational background:
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Technician | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 40% | Associate Degree, 41% |
| 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 technicians' demographics:
| Medical Language Specialist | Health Information Technician | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 7.3% Female, 92.7% | Male, 16.5% Female, 83.5% |
| 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, 9.2% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.2% Asian, 8.6% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |