Medical Records Clerk Duties Medical Records Clerk Duty Duties Of A Medical Records Clerk

The Duties Of A Medical Records Clerk



Understanding exactly what the medical records clerk duties are will help you decide if this is the correct career path for you. Within this article we are going to carefully and specifically outline the duties of a medical clerk today.

If you have ever considered working as a medical records clerk, it is important to be completely aware of what the job entails before attending any interviews or sending out any resumes.

The career of a medical records clerk could be one you enjoy for the duration of your working years and the only way to really know for sure is to learn as much as possible about the duties, responsibilities, salaries and so on.

The Basic Medical Records Clerk Duties

As you can imagine, organizing patient files is the first and foremost duty of a medical records clerk. In more detail this particular responsibility can include:

  • Managing and transferring hand written doctors notes into the files
  • Filing x-rays
  • Following up on test results to include in the file as well
  • Discharge summaries

This is just a short list of the different type of paperwork you will likely have to handle and learn how to file correctly within the patient’s history and file. Also within this duty you will have to have knowledge of the many different medical tests and procedures so you understand how to read the test results, what they mean and how they should be electronically categorized.

In some cases it will be a part of your medical records clerk duties to review patient files. You will be trained to look for errors, missing information and typos. If missing information is discovered it will be the job of the medical clerk to follow up with the correct department to make sure this essential information is returned to the file.

Computer Skills Are Important

Computer work is a major aspect of this career choice today and this was not always the case. Throughout the history of this career all that was required to file a patient’s history was a pen and paper; today it can be a bit more complicated than this.

If you currently don’t have any experience with technology it may be time to start learning. Each and every medical office will utilize their own specific system that you will be trained on. These systems allow you to input all information into an electronic file; saving space within the office and reducing filing cabinets!

Handling Patient Files Will Be One Of Your Duties

Signing out and delivery patient files is another key component to the medical record clerk’s position. Depending on the type of medical office you are working for you will likely have to sign out patient files to send to specialists and other medical professionals your patients may be referred to.

This can take a great deal of organization as well as follow-up to not only ensure the file gets returned back to the office but that the patient received the services requested from the medical professionals you are working with.

Although this is only a brief outline of the different medical records clerk duties you will be expected to be able to perform, you should now have a much clearer idea as to what this career path entails.