MEDICAL RECORD TECHNICIANS

Nature of the Work

When you enter a hospital, you see a whirl of white coats of physicians, nurses, radiologic technologists, and others.  Every time these health care personnel treat a patient, they record what they observed and did to the patient.  This record includes information the patient provides about their symptoms and medical history, and also the results of examinations, reports of X ray and laboratory tests, and diagnoses and treatment plans.  Medical record technicians organize and evaluate these records for completeness and accuracy.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

Medical record technicians entering the field usually have formal training in a 2-year associate degree program offered at community and junior colleges.  Courses include medical terminology and diseases, anatomy and physiology, legal aspects of medical records, coding and abstraction of data, statistics, databases, quality assurance methods, and computers as well as general education.

Technicians may also gain training through an Independent Study Program in Medical Record Technology offered by the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). Most employers prefer to hire Accredited Record Technicians (ART).  Accreditation is obtained by passing a written examination offered by the AHIMA.

Job Outlook

Hospitals will continue to employ the most technicians.  Most job openings will occur because of replacement needs.  The job prospects for formally trained technicians should be very good.  Employment of medical record technicians is expected to grow much faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2005 due to rapid growth in the number of medical tests, treatments, and procedures and because medical records will be increasingly scrutinized by third-party payers, courts, and consumers.

The need for detailed medical records in offices and clinics of doctors of medicine should translate into rapid growth in employment opportunities for medical record technicians in large group practices and offices of specialists.  Rapid growth is also expected in health maintenance organizations, nursing homes, and home health agencies.

Earnings

According to a 1992 survey of AHIMA members, accredited record technicans who worked as coders averaged $11.30 an hour; unaccredited coders averaged $9.77 an hour; and accredited record technicians in supervisory positions averaged $29,599 a year.  The average annual salary for medical record technicians in the Federal Government in nonsupervisory, supervisory, and managerial positions was $22,008 in 1993.

Sources of Additional Information

Information on careers in medical record technology, including the Independent Study Program, is available from:

American Health Information Management Association, 919 N.  Michigan Ave., Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60611.

A list of CAHEA-accredited programs for medical record technicians is available from:

American Medical Association, Division of Allied Health Education and Accreditation, 515 N.  State St., Chicago, IL 60610.


