Medical Records and Health Information Technician Job Description

Job Duties

Medical records and health information technicians are a rare breed. Their work is technical, but they bring a lot more to the table than tech knowledge. They’re also effective communicators with strong analytical skills. Here’s a brief look at what they’re day-to-day might look like:

• Reviewing patients’ records for timeliness, completeness, and accuracy.
• Tracking patient outcomes for quality assessment.
• Using classification software to assign clinical codes.
• Record data for collection, storage, analysis, retrieval, and reporting.
• Maintaining confidentiality of patients’ records.

Work Environment

This is one of the few jobs in which there’s no direct patient care. Most hours (about 40 per week) are spent sitting in front of a computer in an office setting.

Pay Scale

We know financial security is a driving factor as you weigh your career options, so let’s talk about salary. Most health information technicians work full time and earn just over $42,000 a year, while more experienced pros earn about $70,000.*

Industry Demand

The push for electronic health records (EHRs) by all healthcare providers will lead to an increased need for qualified HIT professionals that will grow by about 8% over the next 10 years.*