What do I need to know to be a Medical Records Clerk??
November 27th, 2009 by admin
I have an Associate’s in Medical Office Technology that was mostly Receptionist/ Secretary type work and Medical billing. I want to work more in Medical Records. In school I took Medical Terminology but when I look in the classifieds they have Health Information Technology and I found out was more in the Medical Records Area. Which left me with the question, What do I need to know to be a Medical Records Clerk? Any input would be gladly appreciated.
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More and more of the healthcare industry are going to electronic medical records (EMR) or the computerization of medical records. If they’re still on paper, then a clerk is a clerk and so filing, following protocol and being organized are the most important skills. That’s still true of EMR, but you will also need to learn to use MS word, MS excel, scanning software and other specialized programs to do the job. I’d suggest taking the skill-set you have and just applying for Medical Records Clerk indicating that you already are computer savvy and while you may start out a little low on the totem-pole, your abilities should be able to help you shine and move up.
I would agree with the other postee to use your current degree to hopefully enhance your employment prospects as a medical records clerk (sometimes referred to as ‘health information clerk’). My friend had worked as such a clerk, and it can get pretty backed up with the amount of paperwork needing to be filed though this was several years ago before the HIM (health information management) systems were becoming as electronic as it seems today. There is generally a system to how the medical record is layed out such as ‘discharge notes’ going on the left hand side of the chart and the ‘progress notes’ going on the right side, just as an example. And accuracy is essential as the medical facility can get fined if the information is misfiled in another chart or whatnot.
You may have to answer phones and also talk with medical personnel about locating/tracking down a patient’s file or whatnot. There should not be much patient contact, if any, though in a hospital setting, a former patient may want a copy of their records and need to sign for them as there are strict confidentiality laws against the releasing of medical records.
Perhaps you could consider getting your CCA, which is an entry-level coding certification. If you already have some billing training it shouldn’t be too bad. In tennessee the him clerks just have to high a high school diploma and clerical experience.