Occupation Details
Medical Records Specialists
Compile, process, and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients in a manner consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, legal, and regulatory requirements of the healthcare system. Classify medical and healthcare concepts, including diagnosis, procedures, medical services, and equipment, into the healthcare industry's numerical coding system. Includes medical coders.
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Salary & Job Outlook
Starting Salary
$39,960.00
New York StateMedian Salary
$50,700.00
New York StateExperienced Salary
$67,190.00
New York StateNational Average for Comparison
New York State Job Market Outlook
Jobs Right Now (2018)
175,330
professionals in NYFuture Job Growth (2030)
209,820
+3,449 jobs/yearNew Jobs Every Year
16,991
new opportunities yearlyGrowth Rate
0.2%
projected increasePreparation: Experience, Training, and Education
The list below outlines the prior educational experience required to perform in this occupation.
College Helps - Some college classes or training
Experience Requirements
Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Education Requirements
Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Training Details
Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Transferrable Skills and Experience
These occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, desktop publishers, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters and simultaneous captioners, and medical assistants.
School Programs
The following lists school programs which are applicable to this occupation.
Licensing & Certification
State License and Certifications Requirements are not currently associated with this occupation.
Apprenticeship
Contact your regional representative to learn more about apprenticeships available in your area by visiting Apprenticeship Contacts.
Skills
Skills information is not available for this occupation.
Knowledge
Knowledge information is not available for this occupation.
Work Environment
Work Environment information is not available for this occupation.
Work Styles
Work styles information is not available for this occupation.
Tools & Technology
This list below describes the machines, equipment, tools, software, and information technology that workers in this occupation will use.
Tools
- 10-key calculators
- Barcode attachment equipment
- Barcode scanners
- Credit card processing machines
- Desktop computers
- Dictaphones
- Encoders
- Flat-top scanners
- Label printers
- Laser facsimile machines
- Laser printers
- Light pens
- Microfilm viewing machines
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Notebook computers
- Optical readers and writers
- Paper shredders
- Personal computers
- Postal scales
- Scanners
- Switchboards
- Tablet computers
Technology
- 3M Encoder
- Amazing Charts
- American Medical Association CodeManager
- Azalea Health Azalea EHR
- Billing software
- CA Erwin Data Modeler
- Coding database software
- ComChart EMR
- Computerized indexing systems
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- Cyber Records MediChart Express
- DRG grouping software
- EHS CareRevolution
- Eko
- Electronic medical record EMR systems
- Email software
Duties
Job duties information is not available for this occupation.
Tasks
The list below outlines specific tasks that a worker in this occupation is called upon to do regularly.
- Assign the patient to diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), using appropriate computer software.
- Compile and maintain patients' medical records to document condition and treatment and to provide data for research or cost control and care improvement efforts.
- Consult classification manuals to locate information about disease processes.
- Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer.
- Identify, compile, abstract, and code patient data, using standard classification systems.
- Maintain or operate a variety of health record indexes or storage and retrieval systems to collect, classify, store, or analyze information.
- Post medical insurance billings.
- Process and prepare business or government forms.
- Process patient admission or discharge documents.
- Protect the security of medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
- Release information to persons or agencies according to regulations.
- Resolve or clarify codes or diagnoses with conflicting, missing, or unclear information by consulting with doctors or others or by participating in the coding team's regular meetings.
- Retrieve patient medical records for physicians, technicians, or other medical personnel.
- Review records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with regulations.
- Scan patients' health records into electronic formats.
- Schedule medical appointments for patients.
- Transcribe medical reports.
Learning Resources
More information on this occupation may be found in the links provided below.
Accreditation Requirements
Specific accreditation standards exist for employment in this occupation. Please visit the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM) website for details.
Learn MoreLifeWorks: Career Exploration in Health and Medical Science
LifeWorks Web site is a tool for students to help raise their awareness about the broad range of health and medical science career pathways that are available to them and to help them make career decisions.
Learn MoreLifeWorks: Career Exploration in Health and Medical Science
LifeWorks Web site is a tool for students to help raise their awareness about the broad range of health and medical science career pathways that are available to them and to help them make career decisions.
Learn MoreMedical Record Technicians
Visit this link for information on this career in the military.
Learn MoreMedical records and health information technicians
Visit this link for additional information on this career from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; a publication produced and maintained by the United States Department of Labor.
Learn MoreNIH Curriculum Supplement Series
The NIH Curriculum Supplement Series are interactive teaching units (K12) that combine cutting-edge science research discoveries from the National Institutes of Health, one of the world's foremost medical research centers, with state-of-the-art instructional materials. Each supplement is a teacher's guide to two weeks? of lessons on science and human health. Supplements are now aligned to state standards, NYS included.
Learn More