Top 12 Medical Scribe Skills to Put on Your Resume

In the fast-paced and detail-heavy world of healthcare, medical scribes anchor the record. Clear, timely notes. Clean data. Fewer errors. Highlighting the skills that prove you can move quickly, think precisely, and adapt inside the charting maze can lift your resume and make your value unmistakable to hiring managers.

Medical Scribe Skills

1. EMR Proficiency
2. HIPAA Compliance
3. Medical Terminology
4. Typing Speed
5. EHR Systems (e.g., Epic, Cerner)
6. Clinical Documentation
7. ICD-10 Coding
8. Patient Confidentiality
9. Multitasking Efficiency
10. Data Entry Accuracy
11. ChartLogic Mastery
12. Dragon NaturallySpeaking

1. EMR Proficiency

EMR proficiency means you can navigate Electronic Medical Record systems with speed and care, documenting encounters, orders, and follow-ups without tripping over the workflow. Less hunting. More capturing exactly what happened.

Why It's Important

Strong EMR skills keep documentation accurate, reduce rework, and support clean handoffs across the care team. Better notes, better decisions, better continuity.

How to Improve EMR Proficiency Skills

Practice deliberately and build muscle memory.

1. Learn the terrain: Get comfortable with common systems (Epic, Cerner, Meditech, athenahealth) and your site’s specific build. Explore menus, chart search, flowsheets, in-basket, order sets.

2. Use smart tools: Create and refine smart phrases, dot phrases, and macros. Templates save time but only if they’re precise.

3. Tighten fundamentals: Improve typing and active listening. The combo matters when documenting in real time.

4. Speak the language: Strong terminology knowledge accelerates entry and cuts ambiguity.

5. Shadow and simulate: Run dry runs with sample scenarios. Shadow clinicians to see real patterns and pacing.

6. Stay current: Read system release notes and attend quick-hit refreshers when your site updates builds or workflows.

Mastery doesn’t arrive overnight. Reps do the work.

How to Display EMR Proficiency Skills on Your Resume

2. HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA compliance means safeguarding protected health information (PHI) in every action—viewing, entering, discussing, storing, and transmitting—according to federal rules and your site’s policies.

Why It's Important

Trust hinges on privacy. Good compliance protects patients, the organization, and you. It’s ethical. It’s also the law.

How to Improve HIPAA Compliance Skills

1. Train and refresh: Complete all required training and periodic refreshers. Know the privacy, security, and breach rules cold.

2. Use least-privilege access: Only open what you need, when you need it. Lock screens. Log out.

3. Secure everything: Encrypted devices, approved messaging, strong passwords, multi-factor authentication where available.

4. Control the environment: Speak quietly, avoid public spaces, use privacy screens, keep a clean desk. No PHI in personal notes.

5. Audit and respond: Understand how access is monitored. Know the incident escalation path and breach notification steps.

6. Know patient rights: Access, amendments, restrictions, disclosures—the full set. Respect and route requests promptly.

How to Display HIPAA Compliance Skills on Your Resume

3. Medical Terminology

The shared vocabulary of medicine—root words, prefixes, suffixes, eponyms, acronyms. It’s how complex ideas become crisp, compact notes.

Why It's Important

Terminology fluency speeds documentation, reduces errors, and keeps records sharp. The right words, the right anatomy, the right context.

How to Improve Medical Terminology Skills

1. Build from the roots: Learn common prefixes, suffixes, and stems. Decode unfamiliar terms on the fly.

2. Pair with anatomy: Link terms to structures, planes, and physiology for deeper retention.

3. Use spaced repetition: Flashcards and micro-drills beat cramming.

4. Read charts: De-identified notes and sample cases show real phrasing, abbreviations, and cadence.

5. Practice translation: Convert lay language to clinical wording and back again. Precision without jargon overload.

How to Display Medical Terminology Skills on Your Resume

4. Typing Speed

Typing speed is words per minute paired with accuracy. For scribes, the bar is higher: fast hands, cleaner output, minimal corrections while the visit rolls on.

Why It's Important

Real-time documentation doesn’t wait. Faster, accurate typing keeps pace with the encounter and lightens the clinician’s load.

How to Improve Typing Speed Skills

1. Touch typing: Ditch the keyboard glance. Home row, muscle memory, rhythm.

2. Target a benchmark: Aim for 70–90 WPM with 95%+ accuracy. Speed without precision just makes more cleanup.

3. Focused drills: Short daily sessions using typing trainers and games (TypingClub, Ratatype, 10FastFingers, Keybr).

4. Posture and setup: Neutral wrists, good chair height, minimal strain. Comfort preserves speed.

5. Domain vocabulary: Practice with medical terms to eliminate hesitation on common phrases.

6. Realistic reps: Transcribe sample dictations or simulated visits to mirror live pressure.

How to Display Typing Speed Skills on Your Resume

5. EHR Systems (e.g., Epic, Cerner)

EHR platforms hold the living story of a patient. For scribes, they’re the canvas—Epic, Cerner, Meditech, athenahealth and others.

Why It's Important

Knowing how to move through an EHR cleanly preserves data integrity, speeds note creation, and keeps care teams aligned.

How to Improve EHR Systems (e.g., Epic, Cerner) Skills

1. Customize smart tools: Build smart phrases, auto-texts, and templates that match clinician patterns. Trim clicks. Cut redundancy.

2. Master workflows: HPI to MDM, orders to results, problem list upkeep, in-basket routing—connect the dots end to end.

3. Learn hotkeys: Keyboard shortcuts beat mouse miles. Map the ones you use daily.

4. Use voice wisely: If speech recognition is enabled, blend dictation with structured fields for speed without losing structure.

5. Stay interoperable-aware: Know where external records land and how to reference them appropriately.

6. Leverage training: Take vendor or site-specific micro-courses. New features often hide time-savers.

How to Display EHR Systems (e.g., Epic, Cerner) Skills on Your Resume

6. Clinical Documentation

Clinical documentation captures the who, what, why, and what’s-next of a visit—history, exam, assessment, and plan—tied to the clinician’s medical decision making.

Why It's Important

Good notes drive good care. They communicate thinking, support continuity, protect legally, and underpin proper billing.

How to Improve Clinical Documentation Skills

1. Structure with purpose: Use clear HPI, ROS, PE, and A/P. Reflect medical decision making, not just data. Current E/M rules emphasize clinically relevant MDM and time when appropriate.

2. Be specific: Onset, location, quality, severity, context, modifiers, response to treatment. Specifics sharpen decisions.

3. Attribute and avoid bloat: No copy-forward without careful review. Attribute statements to the source. Remove noise.

4. Close the loop: Document orders, counseling, risks, shared decisions, and follow-up instructions.

5. Quality checks: Spot internal contradictions (vitals vs. exam; HPI vs. plan). Read back quickly before signing.

6. Keep learning: Follow site documentation standards and quick updates to E/M guidance.

How to Display Clinical Documentation Skills on Your Resume

7. ICD-10 Coding

ICD-10-CM (diagnoses) and, in inpatient settings, ICD-10-PCS (procedures) provide standardized codes. Scribes support accurate coding by documenting with clarity and specificity.

Why It's Important

Specific documentation enables precise codes, which improves analytics, care coordination, and compliant billing.

How to Improve ICD-10 Coding Skills

1. Document to the detail: Laterality, acuity, stage, episode of care, complications, tobacco status—details matter.

2. Know your role: Scribes don’t assign final codes; they capture the clinical facts that allow coders to code correctly.

3. Track updates: ICD-10-CM revisions land annually, typically effective October 1. Adjust phrasing to support new specificity.

4. Practice with cases: Review sample scenarios and identify which elements in the note drive code selection.

5. Collaborate: Ask clinicians clarifying questions in the moment to resolve ambiguity.

How to Display ICD-10 Coding Skills on Your Resume

8. Patient Confidentiality

Patient confidentiality is the duty to protect PHI—only access, share, or discuss it with authorized parties for care, payment, or operations, and only what’s necessary.

Why It's Important

Privacy builds trust. It also prevents harm, legal exposure, and reputational damage.

How to Improve Patient Confidentiality Skills

1. Think “minimum necessary”: View or disclose only what’s needed for the task.

2. Protect screens and speech: Position monitors wisely, use privacy filters, and keep voices low. No hallway consults with identifiers.

3. Use approved channels: Secure messaging and email per policy. Never text PHI on personal devices.

4. Handle documents carefully: Shred, lock, or return. No photos. No downloads to personal media.

5. Log out, lock up: Fast timeouts, quick locks, strong passwords. Always.

6. Report quickly: If something goes wrong, escalate immediately. Speed limits damage.

How to Display Patient Confidentiality Skills on Your Resume

9. Multitasking Efficiency

For a scribe, multitasking isn’t chaos; it’s orchestrated attention. Listening, typing, navigating, and prioritizing in tight windows without dropping fidelity.

Why It's Important

Clinics move fast. Efficient multitasking keeps encounters smooth and documentation timely.

How to Improve Multitasking Efficiency Skills

1. Prioritize in real time: Critical data first (chief complaint, vitals, red flags), then detail.

2. Create checklists: Quick mental or written prompts for visit types (follow-up, procedure, new patient) to prevent misses.

3. Use hotkeys and snippets: Shortcuts and auto-texts chop repetitive work down.

4. Time-box tasks: Work in focused bursts. If interrupted, leave a quick marker to resume cleanly.

5. Reduce friction: One window, one task when precision is critical. Then expand again.

6. Protect focus: Silence non-urgent alerts during live documentation when allowed.

How to Display Multitasking Efficiency Skills on Your Resume

10. Data Entry Accuracy

Accuracy is the quiet superpower: names, dates, meds, doses, routes, allergies, histories—captured exactly as stated.

Why It's Important

Mistakes ripple. Clean data keeps patients safe and records reliable.

How to Improve Data Entry Accuracy Skills

1. Slow down for critical fields: Allergies, medications, problem lists, and orders deserve an extra beat.

2. Standardize: Use structured fields and approved abbreviations. Avoid unsafe shorthand.

3. Read back: Quick verbal or silent read-back to confirm numbers, laterality, and times.

4. Double-check changes: When editing past entries, verify the downstream impact.

5. Use validation tools: Spellcheck for meds and terms where available. Lean on picklists when appropriate.

6. Peer spot checks: Short, periodic reviews catch patterns and sharpen habits.

How to Display Data Entry Accuracy Skills on Your Resume

11. ChartLogic Mastery

ChartLogic mastery means you can navigate its EHR workspace quickly, document cleanly, and configure tools that fit clinician patterns.

Why It's Important

Proficiency trims charting time, lifts data quality, and helps clinicians stay patient-facing.

How to Improve ChartLogic Mastery Skills

1. Explore the interface: Map where key functions live—encounters, problem lists, orders, and messaging.

2. Tune templates: Build or refine templates and auto-texts for common visit types. Keep them lean and accurate.

3. Learn shortcuts: Keyboard and navigation shortcuts reduce friction and errors.

4. Practice core tasks: Intake data, HPI, exam, order entry support, and plan documentation—rehearse until smooth.

5. Get feedback: Ask clinicians and super-users to review sample notes for clarity and completeness.

6. Track updates: Fold new features into your routine as the system evolves.

How to Display ChartLogic Mastery Skills on Your Resume

12. Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Dragon speech recognition (often deployed today as Dragon Medical One) converts spoken words into text. When tuned well, it speeds documentation and reduces keystrokes.

Why It's Important

Voice turns thoughts into notes quickly, keeping pace with complex visits and freeing hands for navigation.

How to Improve Dragon NaturallySpeaking Skills

1. Use quality audio: A good, noise-canceling mic, correct placement, and a quiet space make the biggest difference.

2. Train and correct: Add custom vocabulary, use correction commands (not manual edits) so the engine learns, and periodically retrain.

3. Standardize auto-texts: Create voice-triggered templates for common phrases and counseling blocks.

4. Command fluency: Learn navigation and punctuation commands to keep dictation fluid.

5. Keep systems healthy: Meet system requirements, close noisy apps, and update routinely.

6. Mind privacy: Dictate where conversations can’t be overheard and follow site policy for headsets and storage.

How to Display Dragon NaturallySpeaking Skills on Your Resume