Medical Record Technician

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Work Tasks

MEDICAL RECORD TECHNICIANS organize, analyze, and evaluate health information records (medical history, exam results, x-rays, etc.) of patients for completeness and accuracy. They make sure forms are properly identified and signed, and that all needed information is in the computer. They assign a code to each diagnosis and procedure, using a classification manual. They then use a software program to assign the patient to one of hundreds of Diagnosis-Related Groups or DRGs. They may analyze data to help improve patient care, to control costs, for use in legal actions, in response to surveys, or for use in research studies.

Salary, Size & Growth

• $41,500 average per year ($20.00 per hour)
• A large occupation (176,100 workers in 2010)
• Expected to grow rapidly (2.0% per year)

Entry Requirements

Entry-level MEDICAL RECORD TECHNICIANS usually have a two-year associate degree from a community or junior college. In addition to general education, coursework includes medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, legal aspects of health information, coding and abstraction of data, statistics, database management, quality improvement methods, and computer training. Most employers prefer to hire Accredited Record Technicians (ART), obtained by passing a written exam offered by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).