How To Become A Medical Records Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical records director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a medical records director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $28.8 an hour? That's $59,897 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 23,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreMedical Records DirectorUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $59,897

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.27%

Asian 8.25%

Black or African American 8.35%

Hispanic or Latino 17.70%

Unknown 4.21%

White 60.23%

Gender

female 86.14%

male 13.86%

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 records director

Explore medical records director education requirements

Most common medical records director degrees

Bachelor's

37.5 %

Associate

31.2 %

High School Diploma

9.5 %

Start to develop specific medical records director skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	17.71%
HIPAA	8.96%
ICD-10	6.09%
Home Health	5.82%
CPT	5.57%

Complete relevant medical records director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical records directors 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 records director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical records director resumes.

Gain additional medical records director certifications

Medical records director certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific medical records director certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for medical records directors include Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA) and Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).

More About Certifications

Research medical records director duties and responsibilities

Achieve this goal by providing clear policies/justification for initiatives which impact designated FTE's.
Educate physicians and entire hospital staff on ICD-10.
Prepare all insurance claims including CPT and ICD coding.
Review all records to assure ICD-9-CM coding is completed.

Get medical records director experience

Generally, it takes 6-12 months to become a medical records director. The most common roles before becoming a medical records director include medical records clerk, certified nursing assistant team lead and licensed practical nurse.

Prepare your medical records director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical records director 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 records director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical records director resume templates

Build a professional medical records director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical records director resume.