A medical records technician is a type of clerk hired to maintain the records of a healthcare institution, such as a hospital or clinic. The typical duties of a medical records technician include adding new entries to the records database, modifying entries as requested, as well as providing access to the database to personnel on demand. Additionally, medical records technicians may sometimes have to perform technical maintenance on the equipment used to store the medical records, which is especially common when computers are used as storage devices.
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Getting a job as a medical records technician isn’t difficult, as most of the skills required to practice the job are learned in the course of employment. Basic technical skills and the ability to work with a variety of storage devices are always beneficial to candidates, and good computer skills in general can help out a lot in finding a job as a medical records technician. Previous working experience at a hospital or clinic (and therefore knowledge of the environment) is also of benefit.
As a medical records technician, one can expect a salary of between $23,000 – $56,000 in most cases. The job is mostly a clerk-type one, so there isn’t that much effort involved, and thus not much to reward. In some cases, employees may receive extra compensations for various incentives set up by the administration, though these details vary from place to place and aren’t consistent with every location. It’s best to inquire beforehand in these cases.