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MT to Medical Records Clerk - CTMT

Posted: Sep 26, 2012

Anyone go from being an MT to a Medical Records Clerk at a hospital? I was thinking with my experience in transcribing medical records and being familiar with the terminology and HIPPA, an MT would be a good candidate. Any thoughts on this?

I'm trying - downtime

[ In Reply To ..]
Have applied to several jobs as Medical Records Clerk. I have worked many years in medical records departments and I know I could do it, but as usual I CAN'T GET AN INTERVIEW.

Yes, I think it would be.... - s/m

[ In Reply To ..]
....a great fit, too. Like the second poster, though, I've applied for several other hospital jobs without even getting an interview. I haven't applied specifically for a "medical records clerk," though, so I'd say give it a go....it has to be better than doing MT for an MTSO, no matter what. Whether or not we'd be considered, though, is another story.

My feeling is that our background makes us a perfect fit, but so many hospital jobs I've applied for have been filled from within; they are required to post the opening, even if they already know who's going to fill it. That's been my deep discouragement. Also, as an MT, even having worked for a hospital for 17 years, I have little-to-no experience with multi-line phones and some of the other computer knowledge they often require. But if the medical records clerk job doesn't handle phones with a lot of incoming calls, scheduling or billing software, I bet you would be amply qualified!

Best of luck.

phones, etc. - CTMT

[ In Reply To ..]
thanks for the feeedback, i did not know they have to post even if its really filled. there is a childrens hospital that has several medical records clerk openings, looks like the only phone work would be internal with other personnel, no patient/public contact, which i like, would love to get my foot in the door and maybe upgrade to a coder someday. I am making about $9 an hour doing transcription, and seem to spend all my time doing it, really hate after 10 years of it

With that many openings posted.... - (S/M)

[ In Reply To ..]
....maybe there's a good chance that there WOULD be an opening that's not filled yet. I'm not sure ALL facilities have to post a job, even if it's already been filled, but the biggest one near me does. My brother-in-law knows the hiring manager for one of the jobs I applied for, so he was going to put in a good word for me; the manager told him they had already promoted from within but were still required to at least post it....that's how I found out.

I'd say give it a shot--you have nothing to lose. The phone work involved sounds very reasonable. I know you can do the job!!!

May I ask what you think the job entails? - And the requirements?

[ In Reply To ..]
I think I might see the problem You may not be communicating that you understand the job requirements and are qualified to do them.

It isn't so much that you have been an MT, but that you have not become a medical records clerk.

No one posting here seems to talk about what medical records employees actually do or about the skills and knowledge that the job requires.

What I do see is discussion about not being good with multiline phones, about not being comfortable taking outside calls, and about not knowing anything about software.

The job is not clerical in nature. It might have seemed so 20 years ago, but things have changed. Those people are classified by the federal government as allied healthcare workers and training at an accredited institution with a valid credential is the basis for employment. They have as much education as 2-year RNs, Respiratory Techs, Lab Technicians, Radiology Techs, and others, and more education than LPNs.

The people getting those jobs are likely to have that education and those credentials. There is no favoritism going on in hiring from within; the ones hired have probably been working in other jobs while going to school. The department knows their work.

A big part of getting a job today is being more qualified than other applicants. They are looking for HIM qualifications, not your ability to operate phones, copiers, adding machines, and paper punches.

I still see resumes that have a list of office equipment, typing speed, and other ridiculous things--some of which has not existed or been relevant in 20 years. What I need to see is some kind of evidence that you understand the nature of the job and can actually do it. I do not care if you can operate a "word processor" or copier, a phone, or a Dictaphone belt.

If I have applicants who went to school and got a certification or a degree, they are going to get my vote because they made an effort to meet my needs.

Go get the skills you need. Take some classes in Microsoft Office, especially Excel and Access. Take some HIT classes, at least, so you have evidence that you know about healthcare records and law, record analysis, and privacy. Take a billing class or a class in medical office software. See about getting some certifications.

Also consider getting some job counseling from someone who can help you improve your resume and sugggest ways to improve your job search.

What the job entails - Inquiring minds

[ In Reply To ..]
Every facility probably has different requirements for their clerical positions. Someone here mentioned that they didn't think they would have to interact with other people or answer the phone much. It's been a long time for me, but I remember answering phone calls from patients and staff requesting records and making inquiries, telephone skills still continue to be important. I remember a lot of multitasking and sometimes it could get stressful. I think you're mistaken about the educational requirements, I have never seen that on a medical records clerk job description. It's pretty much an entry level job, and it is still clerical although the skill set may have changed. Anyone with a college degree hopefully aims a bit higher. I see people referring to HIPAA as HIPPA quite a bit, that is definitely something a person needs to have correct if they refer to it on a resume. If a person claims to have knowledge of it, they should at least make sure they have it spelled correctly. I seriously doubt if any self respecting MT makes reference to word processors or Dictaphone belts, you're talking about things that haven't been around for at least 20 years.

Med Rec Technician is not clerical work - RHIA

[ In Reply To ..]
A facility might call it a medical record clerk, but it is not "clerical." It is a technical position.

While it might be necessary to have good interpersonal skills and customer service, the technical knowledge of ROI is the important thing in dealing with requests for records. State and federal laws, HIPAA, medical record content, numbering and filing principles, etc.

I have seen MTs use word processor and belts on resumes. I have seen them use resumes that appear to have come straight from books published in 1970.

thats what i was afraid of - CTMT

[ In Reply To ..]
I have been sending out my resume' to various positions since July, no bites at all. Either its the economic times or they do not like that I have been workiing from home since 2003. Wishing I never left the workforce, afraid I may never get back in and be stuck doing transcription, which I hate, its so boring and the pay is so bad

Med Records Clerk - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I think you should look further into what it takes to be a Medical Records Clerk. Sounds like it could work.

Not Familiar with Medical Software in Offices - Old MT, Looking to get out

[ In Reply To ..]
I've been applying, but they all want recent medical office experience. I stopped looking into that sort of thing, but I think nobody should be discouraged.

I do think there's a "stigma" to having worked from home for so long, like we're just stuffing envelopes or something.

sounds like - me

[ In Reply To ..]
I have applied for 5 different types of records clerks in hospital as well and haven't gotten an interview either - I feel like the poster who said "they think we sit around stuffing envelopes or something". . I am going to take classes staring in January to become certified in HIM hoping that eventually that will lead to more chances for me to get out of transcription... GOOD LUCK to you all as well!

Wow are you my Doppelganger? - downtime

[ In Reply To ..]
Your post is exactly my situation! I'm going to take some classes in January too.

yes, it would be good-i used to work in a medical records office at a large hospital-it will - sunflower

[ In Reply To ..]
definitely be an asset.

HIT clerk - Inquiring minds

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I started as a medical records (now health information technology) clerk years ago, then became an MT and am now returning to that arena when I begin my first coding job in a few days, I think I've come full circle. The clerical jobs are entry level so don't expect much pay. I think most places would consider MTs to be over qualified, they usually hire young people fresh out of high school or as someone's very first "real" job. If you're interested in learning how a records department functions, or want to become a coder or work in management, it's definitely a great place to begin. You will need to know HIPAA and the rules regarding records release really well, good luck.

medical records - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
I was a medical records clerk before I was an MT. I can't see that being an MT would have helped me do that job any better. It was basically filing and hand delivering medical records around the hospital. Other than knowing the different hospital departments and how to manage/locate records in their computer system, I didn't deal with the actual med rec info much at all aside from placing paperwork in the right section of the chart. Being an MT would look good on a resume in any medical clerical profession, but in my experience, medical records was more clerical and answering phones than using MT knowledge.

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