Clinical Documentation Specialist Resume Example & Writing Guide
Use this Clinical Documentation Specialist resume example and guide to improve your career and write a powerful resume that will separate you from the competition.
Clinical documentation specialists are the gatekeepers of medical records. They’re responsible for ensuring that patient information is recorded accurately and completely to avoid insurance scams, malpractice lawsuits, and other issues.
Because clinical documentation specialists work with sensitive information, they’re often required to sign confidentiality agreements. And because they’re tasked with helping healthcare organizations comply with industry regulations, they often need to have a strong understanding of HIPAA guidelines.
Here are some tips and an example to help you write a fantastic clinical documentation specialist resume that will get you noticed by hiring managers everywhere.
How to Write a Clinical Documentation Specialist Resume
Here’s how to write a clinical documentation specialist resume of your own.
Write Compelling Bullet Points
When you’re writing bullet points, it can be tempting to simply list your responsibilities. But that’s not enough to make a strong impression. Instead, you should use your bullet points to demonstrate your value by highlighting your accomplishments, skills, and results.
For example, rather than saying you “conducted patient assessments,” you could say you “conducted patient assessments and identified opportunities for clinical improvement in patient care resulting in a 10% increase in patient satisfaction ratings.”
The second bullet point paints a much clearer picture of what you did and the results of your work. And that’s what hiring managers want to see!
Identify and Include Relevant Keywords
When you apply for a job, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. These programs look for specific terms related to the job opening, like “patient care” or “clinical documentation” in order to determine whether your skills and experience are a match. If your resume doesn’t include enough of the right keywords, the ATS might discard your application before a human ever sees it.
To increase your chances of getting noticed, use this list of clinical documentation specialist keywords as a starting point and make sure to include them throughout all sections of your resume:
- Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
- Healthcare
- Medical Terminology
- Medical Billing
- U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- Hospitals
- Medical Records
- Healthcare Management
- Data Entry
- Vital Signs
- Healthcare Information Technology (HIT)
- Urgent Care
- Healthcare Information Management
- Physician
- Appointment Scheduling
- Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS)
- Electronic Medical Record Implementation
- Case Management
- Inpatient Care
- Patient Safety
- Basic Life Support (BLS)
- Microsoft Access
- Documentation
- Nursing
- Customer Service
- Clinical Research
- Laboratory Data
- Medical Education
- Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR)
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)
Showcase Your Technical Skills
As a clinical documentation specialist, you are responsible for ensuring that the medical records of patients are accurate and up to date. To do this, you need to be familiar with a variety of software programs and systems. Some of the most commonly used programs are electronic health records (EHR) software, medical coding software, and transcription software. Additionally, you need to be familiar with the ICD-10 and CPT coding systems. So if you have experience with any of these programs or systems, be sure to list them on your resume.