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What does a Medical Record Assistant do?

Updated January 8, 2025
8 min read
What does a Medical Record Assistant do

A medical record assistant is responsible for the proper documentation of the patients' information and medical records for reference to the attending physician or other medical professionals. Medical record assistants also track the patient's medical treatments and progress, as well as their health insurance details and coverage. They also respond to the patient's inquiries and concerns, including scheduling physician's appointments and updating the patients for any released medical results. A medical record assistant must have excellent communication and organizational skills, categorizing documents, and retrieving files for medical needs.

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Medical record assistant responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real medical record assistant resumes:

  • Lead special department-wide task force initiative to minimize abuse of Oxycontin prescriptions bill to Medicaid.
  • Manage and organize all paperwork concerning caregivers and patients; organize filing system; ensure operation of electronic filing systems.
  • Work with EHR, provide medical records to patients and specialty centers.
  • Guide department through transition from paper charts to EHR system scan all patient records into database.
  • Scan documents into electronic medical records system and certify HIPAA compliance
  • Implement HIPAA guidelines in keeping patient information secure and confidential.
  • Provide medical information to authorize individuals, law offices and government agencies following HIPPA regulations.
  • Provide coordination and delivery pertaining to release of medical records as allowed by HIPPA regulations.
  • Provide medical information to doctors, insurance providers or government medical programs like Medicare & Medicaid.
  • Prepare a daily schedule prioritizing appointments for patients and working with fellow employees to minimize overlapping appointments and promote increase efficiency.
  • Interview veterans to determine eligibility.
  • Greet veterans arriving at clinic, ensuring accurate and timely check-in for schedule appointment and walk-in appointment requests.

Medical record assistant skills and personality traits

We calculated that 37% of Medical Record Assistants are proficient in Patients, Data Entry, and HIPAA. They’re also known for soft skills such as Integrity, Analytical skills, and Detail oriented.

We break down the percentage of Medical Record Assistants that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patients, 37%

    Prepared a daily schedule prioritizing appointments for patients and working with fellow employees to minimize overlapping appointments and promote increased efficiency.

  • Data Entry, 8%

    Coordinate and assist sister facilities with data entry during numerous systems conversions.

  • HIPAA, 6%

    Filed medical records *Copied/faxed medical records to other providers when needed*Followed HIPAA regulations*Reading and Comprehending Medical Terminology

  • Patient Care, 4%

    Documented patient care episodes utilizing appropriate electronic systems, i.e., Electronic Health Record, Resource Patient Management Systems, etc.

  • Vital Signs, 4%

    Record patient medical history, vital signs and current medications into electronic record.

  • Medical Terminology, 3%

    Perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge of medical terminology; scheduling appointments, billing patients, reports, and correspondence.

Common skills that a medical record assistant uses to do their job include "patients," "data entry," and "hipaa." You can find details on the most important medical record assistant responsibilities below.

Integrity. One of the key soft skills for a medical record assistant to have is integrity. You can see how this relates to what medical record assistants do because "health information technicians work with patient data that are required, by law, to be kept confidential." Additionally, a medical record assistant resume shows how medical record assistants use integrity: "maintained integrity of patient file databases and ensured patient privacy according to hippa regulations. "

Analytical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling medical record assistant duties is analytical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "health information technicians must understand and follow medical records and diagnoses, and then decide how best to code them in a patient’s medical records." According to a medical record assistant resume, here's how medical record assistants can utilize analytical skills in their job responsibilities: "maintain inventory accountability by performing data entry, document filing, circulation control and periodic audits. "

Detail oriented. This is an important skill for medical record assistants to perform their duties. For an example of how medical record assistant responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "health information technicians must be accurate when recording and coding patient information." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a medical record assistant: "assisted medical records manager in keeping and organizing all medical records for hospice patients with attention to details. ".

Technical skills. medical record assistant responsibilities often require "technical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "health information technicians must use coding and classification software and the electronic health record (ehr) system that their healthcare organization or physician practice has adopted." This resume example shows what medical record assistants do with technical skills on a typical day: "provided technical training on the welligent ehr system for all agency staff across all sites in northern and southern california. "

Interpersonal skills. Another crucial skill for a medical record assistant to carry out their responsibilities is "interpersonal skills." A big part of what medical record assistants relies on this skill, since "health information technicians need to be able to discuss patient information, discrepancies, and data requirements with other professionals such as physicians and finance personnel." How this skill relates to medical record assistant duties can be seen in an example from a medical record assistant resume snippet: "general medical assisting knowledge includes anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, medical law/ethics, and interpersonal communications. "

See the full list of medical record assistant skills

The three companies that hire the most medical record assistants are:

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Compare different medical record assistants

Medical record assistant vs. Medical internship

When it comes to a medical internship, one of the primary duties is to attend to the patients' needs while under a more experienced physician's supervision. During this period, the medical interns must rotate in various fields of specialties or departments for exposure. Aside from learning and observing, there are also instances when medical interns are required to produce necessary reports and documentation, communicate with patients and families, and take part in more challenging cases.

If we compare the average medical record assistant annual salary with that of a medical internship, we find that medical interns typically earn a $15,973 higher salary than medical record assistants make annually.While their salaries may differ, the common ground between medical record assistants and medical interns are a few of the skills required in each roleacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities. In both careers, employee duties involve skills like patients, hipaa, and patient care.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, medical record assistant responsibilities require skills like "data entry," "triage," "word processing," and "healthcare professionals." Meanwhile a typical medical internship has skills in areas such as "surgical procedures," "surgery," "internal medicine," and "pediatrics." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Medical interns tend to reach similar levels of education than medical record assistants. In fact, medical interns are 2.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Medical record assistant vs. Medical biller coder

A medical biller coder is responsible for handling the billing processes and insurance within a hospital, clinic, or similar facility. They must gather patient information and records to analyze and translate them into codes according to the insurance and medical guidelines. Moreover, it is crucial to verify all patient forms and ensure their accuracy as it will serve as a basis on essential documents and medical record-keeping. There may also be instances where a medical biller coder must devise payment plans for patients, communicate with families and guardians, and coordinate with physicians.

On average, medical biller coders earn a $3,886 higher salary than medical record assistants a year.Only some things about these jobs are the same. Take their skills, for example. Medical record assistants and medical biller coders both require similar skills like "patients," "data entry," and "hipaa" to carry out their responsibilities.

In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, medical record assistant responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patient care," "vital signs," "appointment scheduling," and "ekg." Meanwhile, a medical biller coder has duties that require skills in areas such as "icd-10," "customer service," "cpt-4," and "hcpcs." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

Medical biller coders may earn a higher salary than medical record assistants, but medical biller coders earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $39,875. On the other hand, medical record assistants receive higher pay in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $38,927.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Medical biller coders tend to reach similar levels of education than medical record assistants. In fact, they're 2.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 6.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Medical record assistant vs. Medical clerk

A medical clerk works in the administrative area of a medical facility or hospital. The medical clerk collects all patient information and medical records. The clerk also does all the clinic or hospital paperwork and generates reports of all transactions that transpired in a day's work. The medical clerk also processes admission and discharge papers, medical charts, properly file and safeguard all patient records and secure them from unauthorized access. The medical clerk is expected to be highly organized, capable of handling pressure, and has good communication skills.

On average, medical clerks earn lower salaries than medical record assistants, with a $2,431 difference per year.Using the responsibilities included on medical record assistants and medical clerks resumes, we found that both professions have similar skill requirements, such as "patients," "data entry," and "hipaa.rdquo;

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, medical record assistants are more likely to have skills like "triage," "ehr," "exam rooms," and "healthcare professionals." But a medical clerk is more likely to have skills like "phone calls," "clerical support," "provide clerical support," and "patient registration."

Medical clerks make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $35,578. On the other hand, medical record assistants are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $38,927.When it comes to education, medical clerks tend to earn similar degree levels compared to medical record assistants. In fact, they're 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Medical record assistant vs. Student medical assistant-externship

Student Medical Assistant Externship is a broad term for catering students for short, reliable, and practical work experience. Once you graduate, you can get a chance to meet contacts that may be useful for your career. You can have a better chance to work in a clinic, hospital, and any medical platform after going through this kind of externship.

Student medical assistant-externships average a higher salary than the annual salary of medical record assistants. The difference is about $718 per year.While both medical record assistants and student medical assistant-externships complete day-to-day tasks using similar skills like patients, data entry, and hipaa, the two careers vary in some skills.

Even though a few skill sets overlap between medical record assistants and student medical assistant-externships, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a medical record assistant might have more use for skills like "patient care," "word processing," "office equipment," and "computer system." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of student medical assistant-externships require skills like "surgery," "urinalysis," "venipuncture," and "phlebotomy. "

In general, student medical assistant-externships hold similar degree levels compared to medical record assistants. Student medical assistant-externships are 1.2% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of medical record assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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