Research review: differentiation of roles and functions of medical record practitioners.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the actual and appropriate roles and functions of medical record practitioners varied by credential, current position, years of medical record experience, and size of facility. The actual role describes what practitioners are currently doing in the workplace; the appropriate role describes what practitioners believe they should be doing in the workplace. For both the actual and appropriate roles, current position was the most discriminating variable, and credential was the least discriminating variable. Lack of discrimination is most likely due to the similarity in the professional components of medical record administration and medical record technician educational programs.