Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code CIS
Medical Records Specialists
Compile, process, and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients in a manner consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, legal, and regulatory requirements of the healthcare system. Classify medical and healthcare concepts, including diagnosis, procedures, medical services, and equipment, into the healthcare industry's numerical coding system. Includes medical coders.
Also called: Health Information Clerk, Medical Coder, Medical Records Clerk, Medical Records Technician (Medical Records Tech), Coder, Health Information Specialist, Health Information Technician (Health Information Tech), Health Records Specialist.
O*NET 29-2072.00
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $51,140
- Middle half earn $43,490 to $64,820. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 3 of 5
- Medium preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +7% · Much faster than average
- 194,800 jobs in 2024, projected 208,600. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Medical records specialists".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Protect the security of medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
- Review records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with regulations.
- Scan patients' health records into electronic formats.
- Resolve or clarify codes or diagnoses with conflicting, missing, or unclear information by consulting with doctors or others or by participating in the coding team's regular meetings.
- Release information to persons or agencies according to regulations.
- Compile and maintain patients' medical records to document condition and treatment and to provide data for research or cost control and care improvement efforts.
- Identify, compile, abstract, and code patient data, using standard classification systems.
- Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Reading Comprehension3.6 / 5
- Critical Thinking3.4 / 5
- Active Listening3.3 / 5
- Writing3.1 / 5
- Speaking3.1 / 5
- Active Learning3.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Administrative4.3 / 5
- English Language4.1 / 5
- Customer and Personal Service4.0 / 5
- Computers and Electronics3.5 / 5
- Administration and Management3.3 / 5
- Communications and Media2.9 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic31
- Investigative56
- Artistic0
- Social40
- Enterprising15
- Conventional99
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- medical records clerk · DE Krankheitsregister-Dokumentar/Krankheitsregister-Dokumentarin · FR agent du service des dossiers médicaux/agente du service des dossiers médicaux
- clinical coder · DE Klinischer Kodierer/Klinische Kodiererin · FR agent de codage des actes médicaux/agente de codage des actes médicaux
- picture archiving and communication systems administrator · DE PACS-Fachkraft · FR administrateur de systèmes d’archivage d’images et de communication/administratrice de systèmes d’archivage d’images et de communication
- medical administrative assistant · DE medizinischer Sekretär/medizinische Sekretärin · FR assistant médico-administratif/assistante médico-administrative
- medical transcriptionist · DE medizinische Schreibkraft · FR audiotypiste médical/audiotypiste médicale
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Health care practice managers (1231)27,200 employed
- Medical secretaries (4211)62,500 employed
- Business associate professionals n.e.c. (3549)104,700 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Technicians and associate professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €50,992 |
| Austria | €46,986 |
| Germany | €44,473 |
| Netherlands | €42,448 |
| Ireland | €41,613 |
| Sweden | €41,155 |
| Italy | €34,882 |
| France | €34,816 |
| Spain | €29,757 |
| Portugal | €18,080 |
| Poland | €12,108 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
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