How To Become A Medical Records Technician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical records technician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

As a medical records technician, you will ensure the confidentiality and accuracy of patient records to support healthcare organizations and patients. You'll organize and maintain health information data. To do this, you must be familiar with the medical coding language and programs. You'll ensure medical records can be accessed in both printed and electronic forms. Furthermore, you'll update and maintain patients' medical information, including their medical history, charts, symptoms, tests, and treatments. Besides that, you'll monitor outcomes and organize data that may be made available to registries or clinical databases.

Most medical records technicians hold at least an associate's degree in health information management. Some employers prefer applicants with certifications, such as the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT). Applicants can find employment at clinics, hospitals, doctor's offices, nursing care facilities, insurance companies, or public health organizations. Their annual salary ranges from $35,000 to $58,000 with an average of $44,719.

What general advice would you give to a Medical Records Technician?

Eve Leija AAS, NCMA

Medical Assistant Program Director, Website

To maximize salary for a medical assistant obtaining certification from one of the credentialing organizations such as American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) can make a new hire more competitive. Continuing educations along with developing any specialized skills such as phlebotomy. Demonstrating professionalism initiative and reliability, along with gaining a strong reference from previous employers.

ScoreMedical Records TechnicianUS Average

Salary

2.9

Avg. Salary $37,087

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.8

Growth Rate 11%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.26%

Asian 8.66%

Black or African American 9.34%

Hispanic or Latino 17.27%

Unknown 4.20%

White 59.28%

Gender

female 81.23%

male 18.77%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress Level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

6.0

Complexity Level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

8.6

Work Life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical records technician

Explore medical records technician education requirements

Most common medical records technician degrees

Associate

34.1 %

Bachelor's

27.8 %

High School Diploma

15.1 %

Start to develop specific medical records technician skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	19.63%
Medical Terminology	11.14%
HIPAA	6.43%
Patient Care	5.42%
Customer Service	4.70%

Complete relevant medical records technician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical records technicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical records technician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical records technician resumes.

Gain additional medical records technician certifications

Medical records technician certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific medical records technician certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for medical records technicians include Medical Assistant and Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT).

More About Certifications

Research medical records technician duties and responsibilities

Enter all patient in-take into EMR, manage triage, scheduling, and maintain a sterile clinic setting.
Manage medical treatment authorizations and durable medical equipment (DME) requests and verify medical eligibility for all patients requesting treatment.
Perform examinations in the ER, main radiology area and surgery.
Order medical records for patients, medical staff, outside entities, and court subpoenas for certain dates of services.

Prepare your medical records technician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical records technician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical records technician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Medical Records Technician Resume templates

Build a professional Medical Records Technician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Medical Records Technician resume.