High School
If you are contemplating a career in medical records, you should take as many high school English classes as possible, because technicians need both written and verbal communication skills to prepare reports and communicate with other health care personnel. Basic math or business math is very desirable because statistical skills are important in some job functions. Biology and health courses will help familiarize you with the terminology that medical record technicians use. Other courses in science, computer training, typing, and office procedures are also helpful.
Postsecondary Training
Most employers prefer to hire medical record technicians who have completed an associate's degree program accredited by the American Medical Association's Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). There are more than 200 of these accredited programs available throughout the United States, mostly offered in junior and community colleges. They usually include classroom instruction in such subjects as anatomy, physiology, medical terminology, medical record science, word processing, medical aspects of recordkeeping, statistics, computers in health care, personnel supervision, business management, English, and office skills.
In addition to classroom instruction, the student is given supervised clinical experience in the medical records departments of local health care facilities. This provides students with practical experience in performing many of the functions learned in the classroom and the opportunity to interact with health care professionals.
Certification
The American Health Information Management Association approves certificate programs in medical coding. Visit https://www.ahima.org for more information about certifcation. Many coders have some postsecondary training, including a bachelor's degree or higher, according to a member survey from the AAPC.
Other Education or Training
The American Health Information Management Association offers workshops, webinars, and seminars on topics such as clinical documentation integrity, computer-assisted coding, electronic health records best practices, emerging technologies, informatics, and privacy and security issues. The AAPC, Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity, Board of Medical Specialty Coding and Compliance, National Cancer Registrars Association, Practice Management Institute, and the Professional Association of Healthcare Coding Specialists also provide continuing education opportunities. Contact these organizations for more information.
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