Medical Records Technician Interview Questions & Answers


A medical records technician is responsible for accurately transcribing and organizing patients' medical histories, symptoms and diagnoses, as well as categorizing treatments and procedures for insurance billing by assigning standard codes using a classification system.

As a medical records technician, you’ll perform tasks that support healthcare organizations and patients, by working with patient records. These records will typically be in electronic format and your job will be to keep them confidential and maintain accuracy so that patients receive proper care.

Whether you're a job seeker preparing to be interviewed for the role of Medical Records Technician or an employer preparing to interview candidates for Medical Records Technician position, these Medical Records Technician interview questions will help you prepare yourself for the job interview session.

Medical Records Technician Interview Questions

Below are a list of some skill-based Medical Records Technician interview questions.

  1. What educational qualifications and/or field experience do you have for this role?
  2. How do you handle duplicate patient information? 
  3. Have you ever participated in an audit of the medical records department? If so, what responsibilities did you have for the audit? 
  4. What do you deem as the most critical aspect of working as a Medical Records Technician? 
  5. As a Medical Records Technician, one of your main roles is to help patients fill out initial paperwork for their visit and process the forms. How would you improve our current admissions and intake process? 
  6. What experience do you have in maintaining accuracy when entering data into a medical record system?
  7. What would you do if you never received the discharge paperwork for a patient?
  8. What steps should you take when a patient submits a request for their medical records?
  9. Explain the critical information you need before sending a patient to see a doctor.
  10. How do you go about collecting billing and personal details from emergency patients who were unable to fill out initial intake paperwork?
  11. How do you stay organized when multiple patients bring their paperwork back to your desk at the same time?
  12. Medical records clerks may have to update physical records, digital files, and databases. Describe the process for replacing outdated or incorrect information in all of a patient's files.
  13. Errors in a patient's medical records could seriously impact their health and safety. How do you make sure that your data entry and transcriptions are perfect whenever you enter new information?
  14. What types of documents do you save when preparing patient files?
  15. Do you have experience interacting with insurance companies and sending confidential information to other medical and insurance providers?
  16. What do you think is the most important part of working as a Medical Records Technician?
  17. What is your knowledge of patient medical record confidentiality terms?
  18. Do you know what an EMR system is? If so, can you explain it?
  19. Can you describe a time when you worked with a particularly challenging patient? How did you resolve the situation?
  20. Patient support will be part of your role as a Medical Records Technician. What experience do you have in that realm?
  21. Do you have experience digitizing physical records?
  22. How do you plan to minimize errors like misfiling information and data inaccuracies as a Medical Records Technician?
  23. What would you do if you received constructive feedback about errors in your records?
  24. What experience have you had collaborating with healthcare professionals?
  25. How would you optimize the speed of the medical records collection process?
  26. What EMR systems do you prefer to work with?
  27. Can you explain what data retrieval is and in what situations you would perform one?
  28. How would you explain what CPT codes are to members of the public?
  29. In your experience, which CPT codes do medical insurers typically refuse to pay?
  30. Can you tell me what ICD code sets are, and name the version currently in use?
  31. Talk about your steps to create complete and accurate medical records?
  32. Which medical records management software do you find the most useful? Why?

Medical Records Technician Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview is different and the questions may vary. However, there are lots of general questions that get asked at every interview.

Below are some common questions you'd expect during Medical Records Technician interviews. Click on each question to see how to answer them.

  1. What is Your Greatest Weakness?
  2. What is Your Salary Expectation?
  3. Tell Me About Yourself
  4. Why Do You Want To Leave Your Current Job?
  5. Are You a Leader or a Follower?
  6. What is Your Greatest Strength?
  7. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
  8. Why Should We Hire You?
  9. What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
  10. Why Do You Want This Job?