As a medical records technician, you will ensure the confidentiality and accuracy of patient records to support healthcare organizations and patients. You'll organize and maintain health information data. To do this, you must be familiar with the medical coding language and programs. You'll ensure medical records can be accessed in both printed and electronic forms. Furthermore, you'll update and maintain patients' medical information, including their medical history, charts, symptoms, tests, and treatments. Besides that, you'll monitor outcomes and organize data that may be made available to registries or clinical databases.
Most medical records technicians hold at least an associate's degree in health information management. Some employers prefer applicants with certifications, such as the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). Applicants can find employment at clinics, hospitals, doctor's offices, nursing care facilities, insurance companies, or public health organizations. Their annual salary ranges from $35,000 to $58,000 with an average of $44,719.
Medical records and health information technicians, commonly referred to as health information technicians, organize and manage health information data by ensuring that it maintains its quality, accuracy, accessibility, and security in both paper files and electronic systems. They use various classification systems to code and categorize patient information for insurance reimbursement purposes, for databases and registries, and to maintain patients’ medical and treatment histories.
Health information technicians typically need a postsecondary certificate to enter the occupation, although some may need an associate’s degree. Certification is often required.
EducationPostsecondary certificate and associate’s degree programs in health information technology typically include courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, health data requirements and standards, classification and coding systems, healthcare reimbursement methods, healthcare statistics, and computer systems. Applicants to health information technology programs may increase their chances of admission by taking high school courses in health, computer science, math, and biology.
A high school diploma or equivalent and previous experience in a healthcare setting are enough to qualify for some positions, but most jobs for health information technicians require postsecondary education.
Important QualitiesAnalytical skills. Health information technicians must be able to understand and follow medical records and diagnoses, and then decide how best to code them in a patient’s medical records.
Detail oriented. Health information technicians must be accurate when recording and coding patient information.
Integrity. Health information technicians work with patient data that are required, by law, to be kept confidential. They must exercise caution and a strong sense of ethics when working with this information in order to protect patient confidentiality.
Interpersonal skills. Health information technicians need to be able to discuss patient information, discrepancies, and data requirements with other professionals such as physicians and finance personnel.
Technical skills. Health information technicians must be able to use coding and classification software and the electronic health record (EHR) system that their healthcare organization or physician practice has adopted.
Licenses, Certifications, and RegistrationsMost employers prefer to hire health information technicians who have certification, or they may expect applicants to earn certification shortly after being hired. A health information technician can earn certification from several organizations. Certifications include the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) and the Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR), among others.
Some organizations base certification on passing an exam. Others require graduation from an accredited program. Many coding certifications also require coding experience in a work setting. Once certified, technicians typically must renew their certification regularly and take continuing education courses.
A few states and facilities require cancer registrars to be licensed. Licensure requires the completion of a formal education program and the Certified Tumor Registrar (CTR) certification.
AdvancementHealth information technicians may advance to other health information positions by receiving additional education and certifications. Technicians may be able to advance to a position as a medical or health services manager after completing a bachelor’s or master’s degree program and taking the required certification courses. Requirements vary by facility.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
And if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a Medical Records Technician can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as Medical Coder, progress to a title such as Office Manager and then eventually end up with the title Co-Owner.
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Build a professional medical records technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your medical records technician resume.
Learn How To Write a Medical Records Technician Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Medical Records Technician resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Medical Records Technician Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Medical Records Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Medical Records Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
Find the best Medical Records Technician job for you
Philadelphia, PA • Private
New York, NY • Private
Albany, NY • Private
Washington, DC • Private
Charlottesville, VA • Private
Evanston, IL • Private
University Park, PA • Private
Bakersfield, CA • Private
Stanford, CA • Private
Los Angeles, CA • Private
Find the best Medical Records Technician job for you
Introduction to the meaning of various roots, terms and combining forms that are components of medical words...
Spanish essentials for healthcare; program teaches correct pronunciation, pain management and medication, among others...
The course is a comprehensive set of didactic lectures surveying fundamentals of transgender medical and surgical treatment. The material is meant to provide the student with core knowledge that is essential for current primary care providers caring for transgender patients. There are 10 modules led by the expert clinical faculty from the pioneering Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, located within the Mount Sinai Health System and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New Yor...
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 19.8% of Medical Records Technicians listed Medical Records on their resume, but soft skills such as Integrity and Analytical skills are important as well.
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Medical Records Technician. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York. Medical Records Technicians make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $48,243. Whereas in Delaware and Pennsylvania, they would average $44,933 and $44,346, respectively. While Medical Records Technicians would only make an average of $44,163 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Delaware
$44,933
Avg. Salary
2. New Jersey
$48,243
Avg. Salary
3. Nevada
$38,837
Avg. Salary