Skip to content
Boston Career Explorer

Healthcare Practitioners and Technical

Medical Records Specialists

Compile, process, and maintain medical records of hospital and clinic patients in a manner consistent with medical, administrative, ethical, legal, and regulatory requirements of the healthcare system. Classify medical and healthcare concepts, including diagnosis, procedures, medical services, and equipment, into the healthcare industry's numerical coding system. Includes medical coders.

Also called: Coder, Health Information Clerk, Health Information Specialist, Health Information Technician (Health Information Tech), Health Records Specialist, HIM Clerk (Health Information Management Clerk)

Compare with my current job (Correspondence Clerks)
Median pay in Greater Boston
$60,460
$29.07/hr
Jobs in Greater Boston
2,630
Massachusetts 2024–2034
+4.2%
240 openings a year
Typical U.S. entry requirement
Postsecondary nondegree award

Greater Boston: Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metro area, May 2025. Growth and openings: Massachusetts statewide projection.

Pay range in Greater Boston

Yearly pay in Greater Boston by percentile
10th25thMedian75th90th
$45,540$49,160$60,460$75,500$82,260

10% of workers earn less than the first figure and 10% earn more than the last.

What you’d do

  • Protect the security of medical records to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.
  • Review records for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with regulations.
  • Scan patients' health records into electronic formats.
  • Release information to persons or agencies according to regulations.
  • Enter data, such as demographic characteristics, history and extent of disease, diagnostic procedures, or treatment into computer.
  • Maintain or operate a variety of health record indexes or storage and retrieval systems to collect, classify, store, or analyze information.

AI and this job

AI exposure: how much of this job’s work AI tools can do or help with, based on national research. It is not a forecast of job loss.

Higher exposure69 of 100

The index averages three national research measures, each shown as a percentile of all jobs:

  • AIOE 60
  • Language-model AIOE 59
  • GPTs-are-GPTs 88

Observed AI use today: Substantial (Anthropic Economic Index)

AI exposure for this job is higher, and observed AI use is already substantial. AI tools can help with data entry, scanning, and coding records, and federal projections say they will partly offset demand for these workers. Still, protecting patient privacy and deciding what information can be released rely on people who know the rules.

Likely to change

  • Medical coding and data entry
  • Scanning and checking records for completeness

Still relies on people

  • Protecting patient privacy and confidentiality
  • Deciding what information can be released

What federal projections say

“Demand change, productivity change - share increases as the demand for health care services and complexity of medical coding grow. This demand for medical records specialists will be partially offset by the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools that make the medical coding process more efficient.”
BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, factors affecting this job (U.S.)

Written with AI from the data on this page. Check with a career coach before making a decision.

Next steps from here

Related jobs that build on what you already do.

  • Licensed Practical and Licensed Vocational Nurses

    Accurate recording of patient information carries over to charting. This move adds direct patient care, lower AI exposure, and a higher Boston median pay.

    Pay difference
    +$21,730 median
    AI exposure
    Moderate
    MA growth
    +2.9%
    To get started
    Postsecondary nondegree award

  • Surgical Technologists

    Attention to detail and accuracy carries over to counting instruments and keeping a sterile field. It has lower AI exposure and higher Boston median pay.

    Pay difference
    +$21,040 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +1.9%
    To get started
    Postsecondary nondegree award

  • Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

    Checking paperwork for completeness and accuracy carries over. It has much lower AI exposure, a higher Boston median pay, and 8.5% projected growth.

    Pay difference
    +$3,550 median
    AI exposure
    Lower
    MA growth
    +8.5%
    To get started
    Postsecondary nondegree award

Training near Boston

College and school programs in the Boston metro area that lead to this job, with 2023-24 completions (IPEDS).

7 programs near Boston

Related occupations

Talk to a career coach

A coach at the Office of Workforce Development can help you plan your next step, and connect you with training, apprenticeships and City partner programs that are not listed here.

Talk to a career coach