How to become a medical records specialist

Official title: Medical records specialist

Also called: Clinical coder, Clinical coder healthcare, Medical records administrator, Medical records clerk, Clinical records administrator

Medical records specialists manage hospital and health centre patients' information. They may code, organise and maintain medical databases.

Main tasks

• Gather patient information
• Organise, classify and update patient information
• Maintain records systems
• Ensure data quality
• Perform reception and clerical duties
• Follow security and privacy rules
• Give information to medical professionals
• Combine paper and electronic records

How to become one

You need experience to become a medical records specialist and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: experience in similar work. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification; to pass a police check.

See the full Tahatū profile

Pay · Past change · AI and this job

• Most common pay: $71,000 to $101,000 a year (median $86,000), a TEC estimate before tax.
• Lower: $57,000 a year · Upper: $125,000 a year
• TEC's pay figures are estimates only. TEC says they must not be used to set pay, in pay negotiations or in visa applications.
• Change in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses: Increase (TEC). This is past change, not a forecast.
• Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Who does this work

• About 410 people did this job at the 2023 Census (TEC).
• In the group Other Miscellaneous Clerical and Administrative Workers, 81% of workers are female (sex at birth, 2023 Census).
• Where people in the group Other Miscellaneous Clerical and Administrative Workers work (2023 Census): Auckland 28.6%, Canterbury 11.4%, and Wellington 11.4%.

Related jobs

• Proofreader
• Medical and health services manager
• Clinical research coordinator
• Health information systems coordinator
• Clinical data manager
• Occupational health and safety adviser

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Questions people ask

How do I become a medical records specialist?

You need experience to become a medical records specialist and a qualification may be useful. You usually need NCEA Level 3 to do the study or training for this job. Required: experience in similar work. Other requirements: a relevant tertiary qualification; to pass a police check.

How much does a medical records specialist earn in New Zealand?

The Tertiary Education Commission estimates median pay at $86,000 a year, before tax. Most common pay is $71,000 to $101,000 a year.

Has the number of people working as a medical records specialist grown in New Zealand?

It has grown: TEC records an increase in the number of people doing this job between the 2018 and 2023 Censuses. This is past change, not a forecast.

Will AI change the work of a medical records specialist?

Generative AI could change many tasks in this job, which usually reshapes the work more than it replaces it, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Tertiary Education Commission (Tahatu Career Navigator): Tahatu career ideas: descriptions, tasks, pay estimates, people employed, employment change 2018 to 2023, entry requirements, registration, interest scores (Site scrape 2026-10 (816 career ideas, sitemap lastmod 2026-10-01)), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• Stats NZ (via Figure.NZ): Census 2023: employed by regional council, occupation (ANZSCO V1.3 unit group) and sex at birth (2023 Census), CC BY 4.0 (Stats NZ), CC BY 3.0 NZ (Figure.NZ), retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

This content is sourced from the Tertiary Education Commission through the Tahatū Career Navigator website (www.tahatu.govt.nz) and used under the CC BY 4.0 licence. All or some of the information has been modified by Peernovo. TEC has not approved, endorsed or tested these modifications. TEC will not be held accountable for any errors within this content.

Qualification information from NZQA, used under CC BY 3.0 NZ.

This work is based on/includes Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Census data via Figure.NZ.

Includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

Sources: Tertiary Education Commission, Tahatū Career Navigator (career ideas, pay estimates, entry requirements and study options, CC BY 4.0, modified by Peernovo); Stats NZ, 2023 Census (via Figure.NZ) and the National Occupation List (CC BY 4.0); NZQA qualification information (CC BY 3.0 NZ); O*NET interest scores (CC BY 4.0); ILO global generative AI exposure index (CC BY 4.0). Links between career ideas and ANZSCO groups, degree fields and broad job groups are Peernovo's.

These results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Graduate outcomes: these results are not official statistics. They have been created for research purposes from the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), which is carefully managed by Stats NZ.

Updated 4 October 2026