Medical transcriptionist to medical records clerk
A medical transcriptionist already meets 59% of what the medical records clerk role asks for. The move turns on 11 required skills not yet in the profile.
50.4/ 100
1 How much of what a medical records clerk is expected to do is already part of a medical transcriptionist’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 19 of its required skills as things a medical transcriptionist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- administrative tasks in a medical environment
- apply organisational techniques
- archive healthcare users' records
- collect healthcare user's general data
- database
- display medical problems
What stands in the way is 11 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 25 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 medical transcriptionist background worth leading with.
- already held display medical problems communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held transfer medical information information skills
- already held participate in medical records' auditing activities information skills
- already held review patient's medical data information skills
- already held perform clinical coding procedures information skills
- already held use electronic health records management system working with computers
All 25 carried skills, including the 19 the medical records clerk role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 21 missing skills fall into 9 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 collect statistics on medical records required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- still to learn type on electronic devices required
- still to learn comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice required
- still to learn adhere to organisational guidelines required
- still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
- optional, not held answer patients' questions optional
- still to learn health care legislation required
- optional, not held customer service optional
- still to learn clinical coding required
- optional, not held medical studies optional
- still to learn data storage required
- still to learn document management required
3 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 clinical coding study this
- 03 collect statistics on medical records 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 25 skills that carry over
- already held administrative tasks in a medical environment knowledge
- already held apply organisational techniques skill
- already held archive healthcare users' records skill
- already held collect healthcare user's general data skill
- already held database knowledge
- already held display medical problems 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 digital archives skill
- already held medical informatics knowledge
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held perform backups skill
- already held perform clinical coding procedures skill
- already held process data skill
- already held professional documentation in health care knowledge
- already held use electronic health records management system skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
- already held handle paperwork skill
- already held manage digital documents skill
- already held participate in medical records' auditing activities skill
- already held review patient's medical data skill
- already held transfer medical information skill
- already held use databases skill
The 3 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held communicate in healthcare 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
- optional, not held send samples to laboratory optional
- optional, not held pharmacology optional
10 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held answer patients' questions optional
- optional, not held customer service optional
- optional, not held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers optional
- optional, not held communicate in healthcare optional
- optional, not held communicate with customers 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 work in a multicultural environment in health care optional
10 held skills the medical records clerk role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role apply grammar and spelling rules skill
- not needed by the target role comply with legislation related to health care skill
- not needed by the target role edit dictated medical texts skill
- not needed by the target role execute working instructions skill
- not needed by the target role grammar knowledge
- not needed by the target role human anatomy knowledge
- not needed by the target role liaise with typists skill
- not needed by the target role transcribe medical data skill
- not needed by the target role use shorthand skill
- not needed by the target role use word processing software skill
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 clinical coding required
- still to learn data storage required
- still to learn document management 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 medical transcriptionist become a medical records clerk?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A medical transcriptionist already covers 59% of what a medical records clerk is expected to do: 25 skills carry over, 19 of which the medical records clerk role treats as required.
What skills does a medical transcriptionist need to become a medical records clerk?
11 required skills are missing, plus 10 optional ones. They fall into 9 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by information skills. The single most important is deliver case notes.
How hard is the move from medical transcriptionist to medical records clerk?
Its learning distance is 50.4 out of 100, which is the moderate 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.