Medical Records Technicians Description OES Code: 329110 Compile and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients. Note: In addition to Medical Records Technicians, employees in this occupation are sometimes referred to as Medical Record Coders, and Medical Records Administrators. CA Wages/hour median range New, no experience: $7.00 minimum – $10.25 New, experienced: $8.00 minimum – $12.14 3 yrs+ experience: $9.00 minimum – $15.00 Wages vary with size, kind and location of health care centers, and worker experience levels. Registered Record Administrators earn an average salary of over $49,000 a year. Local Wages • CCOIS Survey • OES Survey Hours & Benefits The typical work week is 40 hours. Fringe benefits almost always include paid vacations, holidays, and sick leave, in addition to paid health and retirement plans. Employment Trends Employment 1996 8,050 Projected Employment 2006 12,420 Growth Rate 1996-2006 54.3% Openings due to Separations 1,990 Employment Trends by California County The relatively small occupation of Medical Records Technicians, which includes Coders, Technicians, and Tumor Registrars, is expected to grow more than twice as fast as the average for all occupations through 2005. Jobs for Medical Record Administrators will grow faster than average. Opportunities are expected to be favorable because of changes in health care reimbursement based on clinical data from medical records. Jobs will also occur as workers change careers or leave the labor market. Few people are trained to enter this profession. New graduates, especially those willing to relocate, should easily find a job. Advancement Medical Record Administrator advancement depends on the size of the health care facility. In large centers, they may start as assistant administrators and advance to director of medical record departments. Some become consultants to a cluster of small clinics, to health researchers, or to contractors that manage health information systems. Graduate degrees are becoming more important for advancement in this field. Getting the Job & Other Information Medical Record Administrators often get hired before graduation through instructor recommendation and placement. Networking through professional associations and using professional health industry search firms are the most common ways to find job leads. Job seekers should also apply directly to health services centers, health research firms, computer and accounting companies specializing in health information, and State and federal agencies and private contractors responsible for managing the Medicare Health Insurance program. Recent graduates should apply with their school placement office. For current job listings, browse CalJOBS or America's Job Bank.

Click arrow at bottom left of image to begin. Requires QuickTime Education and Training Medical Record Coders earn a certificate to become certified coders through a one-year community college program or through adult education, Regional Occupation Programs (ROP) or private schools. Medical Record Technicians need an associate degree. Graduates are eligible to take the test given by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) to be certified as Accredited Record Technicians (ARTs). California requires certification only for those technicians who actually manage medical record departments. Tumor registrars are Medical Record Technicians who were trained on-the-job to be specialists. Skills & Other Requirements Medical Record Technicians (also called Health Information Technicians) organize, analyze and evaluate medical records. They compile medical care and census data for reports on types of diseases treated, surgery done and rate of hospital bed use. This information is used by law firms, insurance companies and government agencies. Technicians consult with doctors to resolve or clarify codes for conflicting or unclear information and participate in the coding team's regular meetings. They must know coding system regulations and any changes made by official agencies that affect coding information policies. They also need to understand third-party reimbursement regulations–payment procedures of health insurance firms and health maintenance organizations. Medical Record Coders (also called Health Information Coders) assign diagnostic and procedure codes to records of discharged patients to produce a comprehensive clinical care history (database). To do the coding, they review and screen the entire medical record to create an abstract which summarizes such clinical data as diseases, therapies, surgeries, lab tests and pharmaceuticals. The main coding systems used are: the International Classification of Disease System for statistical reporting and the Diagnostic Related Groupings codes to bill patients or their insurers. Administrators with appropriate experience function as consultants to skilled nursing facilities and small health services firms such as kidney dialysis and ambulatory care clinics that do not need full time administrators. Some are employed with accounting and computer service companies that manage information systems. Others teach medical record technology in colleges. References Note: The references below (and/or on other parts of this page) will link to pages on the internet outside the Career Video system. California Occupational Guide: Medical Record Technicians & Administrators #134 Related Occupation: Medical Secretaries #177, Hospital & Health Services Administrators #235 Training: California State Training Inventory   © State of California EDD/LMID, US Department of Labor Unless indicated otherwise, wage data is based on Statewide aggregated CCOIS survey responses between 1995 and 1997. Questions or Comments? Contact us.