How Do I Become a Medical Records Clerk?
Being a medical records clerk involves a variety of job tasks. For example, they compile, verify or file medical records for hospitals or other health facilities. Sometimes they keep track of statistical data such as the number of births, deaths, and other events at the hospital. Sometimes medical records clerks do coding of diagnoses hospitals will be paid for their services. Here's how to become a medical records clerk.
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Things You'll Need
- You will need at least two years to attend either a full-time or part- time academic program for medical records clerk training.
Instructions
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How Do I Become a Medical Records Clerk?
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You can find an academic program that specializes in training medical records clerks or health information technicians usually at either a community college or a four-year university. Some programs involve traditional classroom programs while others are offered online. The program that you select should be approved by the Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education. Occasionally, hospitals do hire people and train them on the job to be a medical records clerk. This is not always the case, however, and so pursuing an academic program is a better option.
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Complete the required coursework for the health information technician program. An internship or work experience at a hospital or other health care facility is usually required as part of the degree.
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Pass the exam that is sponsored by the American Health Information Management Association and become a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) or a Registered Health information Administrator (RHIA), because many employers prefer to hire medial records clerks who have passed either of these exams.
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Find out about jobs for medical records clerk either through the career services department at your school or by contacting a hospital or other health care facility and asking about any current or upcoming positions available.
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Work as a medical records clerk exclusively, or as one who is additionally assigned to do medical coding or other tasks.
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Tips & Warnings
Talk with someone who is a medical records clerk to get a sense of what the career is like before making the final decision to pursue that as a career or enrolling in a program.
Always continue learning, taking courses even after you have earned an academic degree. Learn as much as you can and keep pace with new developments in the profession.
