Clinical coder to medical records clerk
A clinical coder already meets 51% of what the medical records clerk role asks for. The move turns on 13 required skills not yet in the profile.
58.6/ 100
1 How much of what a medical records clerk is expected to do is already part of a clinical coder’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the medical records clerk role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A medical records clerk role treats 17 of its required skills as things a clinical coder already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- archive healthcare users' records
- clinical coding
- collect healthcare user's general data
- collect statistics on medical records
- document management
What stands in the way is 13 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 20 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A medical records clerk role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a clinical coder background worth leading with.
- already held collect statistics on medical records information skills
- already held clinical coding health and welfare
- already held review patient's medical data information skills
- already held perform clinical coding procedures information skills
- already held document management social sciences, journalism and information
- already held use electronic health records management system working with computers
All 20 carried skills, including the 17 the medical records clerk role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 26 missing skills fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn deliver case notes required
- still to learn manage digital archives required
- still to learn process data required
- still to learn type on electronic devices required
- optional, not held participate in medical records' auditing activities optional
- optional, not held transfer medical information optional
- still to learn display medical problems required
- still to learn work in multidisciplinary health teams required
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held communicate with customers optional
- optional, not held use communication techniques optional
- optional, not held work in a multicultural environment in health care optional
- still to learn administrative tasks in a medical environment required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held customer service optional
- still to learn data storage required
- still to learn database required
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- optional, not held answer patients' questions optional
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- optional, not held handle paperwork optional
4 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a medical records clerk role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 deliver case notes practise this
- 02 administrative tasks in a medical environment study this
- 03 comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 20 skills that carry over
- already held adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- already held archive healthcare users' records skill
- already held clinical coding knowledge
- already held collect healthcare user's general data skill
- already held collect statistics on medical records skill
- already held document management knowledge
- already held follow clinical guidelines skill
- already held health care system knowledge
- already held health records management knowledge
- already held identify patients' medical records skill
- already held maintain healthcare user data confidentiality skill
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- already held medical informatics knowledge
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held perform clinical coding procedures skill
- already held professional documentation in health care knowledge
- already held use electronic health records management system skill
- already held communicate in healthcare skill
- already held manage digital documents skill
- already held review patient's medical data skill
The 4 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn perform backups required
- optional, not held use databases optional
- optional, not held send samples to laboratory optional
- optional, not held medical studies optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
13 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held answer patients' questions optional
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held participate in medical records' auditing activities optional
- optional, not held transfer medical information optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held communicate with customers optional
- optional, not held handle paperwork optional
- optional, not held medical studies optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
- optional, not held send samples to laboratory optional
- optional, not held use communication techniques optional
- optional, not held use databases optional
- optional, not held work in a multicultural environment in health care optional
3 held skills the medical records clerk role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role healthcare analytics knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role human physiology knowledge
7 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn administrative tasks in a medical environment required
- still to learn data storage required
- still to learn database required
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held medical studies optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
Common questions about this move
Can a clinical coder become a medical records clerk?
Yes, and it is a substantial move. A clinical coder already covers 51% of what a medical records clerk is expected to do: 20 skills carry over, 17 of which the medical records clerk role treats as required.
What skills does a clinical coder need to become a medical records clerk?
13 required skills are missing, plus 13 optional ones. They fall into 10 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is deliver case notes.
How hard is the move from clinical coder to medical records clerk?
Its learning distance is 58.6 out of 100, which is the substantial band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.