Top 12 Unit Clerk Skills to Put on Your Resume
Crafting a standout resume as a unit clerk means showing the mix that truly matters: precision, speed, calm coordination, and steady support for clinicians when things get hectic. Calling out the skills that employers scan for first gives your application a sharper edge and opens the door to a solid path in healthcare administration.
Unit Clerk Skills
- EMR (Electronic Medical Records)
- HIPAA Compliance
- Microsoft Office
- Medical Terminology
- Cerner
- Epic Systems
- Multi-Line Phone Systems
- Scheduling Software
- Typing Speed
- ICD-10 Coding
- Patient Registration
- EHR (Electronic Health Records)
1. EMR (Electronic Medical Records)
EMR is the digital chart used within a single practice or facility. It captures clinical histories, orders, and documentation so authorized staff—unit clerks included—can find what they need fast and keep patient flow moving.
Why It's Important
EMRs cut down on paper chases, reduce transcription errors, and make it easier to schedule, message, and route information to the right person at the right moment.
How to Improve EMR (Electronic Medical Records) Skills
Small changes add up. Try these:
Boost data accuracy: Use standardized intake fields and checklists. Verify demographics and insurance each encounter.
Tune shortcuts and views: Customize quick links, favorites, and dashboards to surface the screens you use every hour, not every month.
Train in short bursts: Ten-minute refreshers beat marathon sessions. Focus on common tasks and new features.
Close the loop: Share pain points with supervisors or IT; request tweaks that remove extra clicks.
Protect privacy: Strong passwords, locked screens, and role-based access. No charting in public spaces. Follow HIPAA rules every time.
How to Display EMR (Electronic Medical Records) Skills on Your Resume
2. HIPAA Compliance
HIPAA compliance means safeguarding protected health information in every interaction—verbal, written, and digital—while sharing only what’s necessary for care and operations.
Why It's Important
Trust depends on confidentiality. Proper handling of PHI prevents breaches, fines, and reputational damage—and keeps patients comfortable sharing what they must.
How to Improve HIPAA Compliance Skills
Know the rules: Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification. Understand minimum necessary and when disclosure is allowed.
Refresh often: Short, recurring training on real scenarios—faxing, printing, hallway conversations.
Lock it down: Strong passwords, no sharing logins, clean desk policy, secure disposal, encrypted systems where applicable.
Verify identity: Before releasing information, confirm who’s asking and why.
Report quickly: If something goes wrong or feels off, escalate immediately.
Honor patient rights: Requests for access, amendments, and accounting of disclosures should follow policy and timelines.
How to Display HIPAA Compliance Skills on Your Resume
3. Microsoft Office
Word for forms and letters. Excel for logs, trackers, and lists. Outlook for email and calendar flow. PowerPoint and OneNote when documentation or quick training materials are needed.
Why It's Important
These tools stitch together daily work—communication, scheduling, data entry—so the unit runs smoothly without reinventing the wheel for every task.
How to Improve Microsoft Office Skills
Learn shortcuts: Copy, paste, format, switch windows—seconds saved, hours returned.
Build templates: Standard letters, intake sheets, shift rosters. Version once, reuse endlessly.
Use OneNote or shared docs: Centralize protocols, call lists, and quick references for the team.
Excel smarter: Tables, filters, data validation, simple formulas (SUM, COUNTIF, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP) to keep lists clean and usable.
Automate routine work: Rules in Outlook, simple macros where appropriate, and form-based data capture.
Leverage Teams when available: Chat, channels, and file sharing keep messages out of email piles.
Enhance Outlook: Categories, color-coding, and shared calendars make schedules clearer at a glance.
Use Forms or surveys: Quick pulse checks for staff input or patient feedback when permitted by policy.
How to Display Microsoft Office Skills on Your Resume
4. Medical Terminology
The shared language of healthcare—anatomy, procedures, tests, and conditions—so documentation makes sense and messages don’t get garbled.
Why It's Important
It trims misunderstandings, speeds order entry, and helps you triage requests correctly the first time.
How to Improve Medical Terminology Skills
Study in small bites: Prefixes, suffixes, and root words unlock dozens of terms at once.
Make flashcards: Repetition works. Focus on the terms your unit sees daily.
Use a medical dictionary: Quick checks beat guesswork. Pronunciations help with phone calls.
Learn in context: Skim de-identified notes or sample reports to see terms in action.
Teach back: Explain a new term to a colleague. If you can teach it plainly, you know it.
How to Display Medical Terminology Skills on Your Resume
5. Cerner
A widely used EHR platform for scheduling, orders, documentation, and messaging. Unit clerks rely on it for quick access to the right chart details.
Why It's Important
Well-organized records mean fewer delays, fewer duplicate calls, and fewer mix-ups.
How to Improve Cerner Skills
Complete role-specific training: Focus on the modules you touch most—registration, scheduling, messaging, results.
Customize views: Favorites, quick orders, and templates reduce clicks and errors.
Learn keyboard flows: Navigation and shortcuts shave time in high-volume periods.
Partner with IT: Report slow screens, frozen tabs, or confusing layouts; request fixes or layout tweaks.
Share team tips: Collect what works across shifts and standardize best practices.
Stay current: Skim release notes so new features don’t pass you by.
How to Display Cerner Skills on Your Resume
6. Epic Systems
An enterprise EHR known for integrated scheduling, charting, and patient flow tools. Many hospitals run their day on it.
Why It's Important
It centralizes information, cuts phone tag, and helps teams coordinate without chaos.
How to Improve Epic Systems Skills
Map your tasks: Identify the handful of screens you hit constantly and master those first.
Use SmartTools: SmartPhrases, SmartLinks, and preference lists speed repetitive work.
Attend refreshers: Short, scenario-based sessions stick better than one-time bootcamps.
Join user groups: Swap tips with colleagues; adopt what saves clicks.
Offer feedback: If alerts or routing rules cause bottlenecks, speak up so they can be tuned.
How to Display Epic Systems Skills on Your Resume
7. Multi-Line Phone Systems
Hardware or softphones that let you juggle multiple incoming lines, transfer calls, park, conference, and page—without dropping the thread.
Why It's Important
Hospitals run on fast, accurate communication. A nimble phone handoff can save minutes when minutes matter.
How to Improve Multi-Line Phone Systems Skills
Practice call flows: Transfers, warm handoffs, voicemail routing, and priority ringing should be muscle memory.
Label smartly: Clear line labels and cheat sheets reduce misroutes during rushes.
Tune settings: Distinct ring tones, queues, and hunt groups help triage at a glance.
Integrate directories: Keep an up-to-date internal directory—roles, departments, on-call—within arm’s reach.
Review metrics: Track missed calls, hold times, and peak hours to adjust coverage.
How to Display Multi-Line Phone Systems Skills on Your Resume
8. Scheduling Software
Tools that coordinate appointments, rooms, and staff shifts—keeping clinicians and patients in the right place at the right time.
Why It's Important
Good scheduling reduces wait times, evens out workload, and avoids double-booking headaches.
How to Improve Scheduling Software Skills
Simplify the interface: Use clean views, color codes, and filters that spotlight conflicts and open slots.
Integrate with EHR: When schedules sync with charts and orders, everyone sees the same truth.
Customize rules: Visit types, lead times, prep time, and provider preferences should be baked in.
Go mobile when allowed: On-the-go access helps teams adjust quickly.
Secure and compliant: Role-based access and audit trails protect sensitive details.
Use reports: No-shows, cancellations, and capacity trends guide smarter staffing.
How to Display Scheduling Software Skills on Your Resume
9. Typing Speed
How quickly and accurately you enter data. In a role where orders, notes, and messages stack up, speed with precision matters.
Why It's Important
Faster, accurate typing shortens turnaround times and lowers the odds of costly typos.
How to Improve Typing Speed Skills
Learn touch typing: All fingers, eyes on the screen.
Drill daily: Short practice beats rare marathons. Track words per minute and error rate.
Prioritize accuracy: Speed follows clean technique.
Play typing games: A little fun helps repetition stick.
Master shortcuts: Navigation and editing keys save more time than you think.
How to Display Typing Speed Skills on Your Resume
10. ICD-10 Coding
A standardized system used to classify diagnoses and some procedures for billing, reporting, and analytics. Unit clerks often support accurate capture and routing of codes used by coding staff and clinicians.
Why It's Important
Clean codes mean cleaner claims, better data, and fewer back-and-forths with payers.
How to Improve ICD-10 Coding Skills
Study the basics: Medical terminology and anatomy are the foundation.
Follow current guidelines: ICD-10-CM updates annually; keep an eye on revisions and conventions.
Practice scenarios: Work through common case examples from your specialty area.
Use coding tools: Encoders and EHR prompts help narrow choices; still verify final selections.
Ask and review: Learn from coding audits and feedback to spot patterns and fix repeat errors.
How to Display ICD-10 Coding Skills on Your Resume
11. Patient Registration
Collecting and confirming demographics, coverage, and consent so care can begin without billing snags or identity mix-ups.
Why It's Important
Accurate registration supports patient safety, timely reimbursement, and clear communication across the care team.
How to Improve Patient Registration Skills
Pre-register when possible: Verify insurance and details ahead to cut lobby wait times.
Use EHR-driven forms: Standard fields reduce omissions and duplicate entry.
Communicate clearly: Plain-language explanations and teach-back build understanding.
Queue smartly: Digital tickets or text updates calm bottlenecks and uncertain waits.
Protect privacy: Collect sensitive information discreetly and follow HIPAA policies.
Gather feedback: Short surveys expose friction points you can smooth out.
How to Display Patient Registration Skills on Your Resume
12. EHR (Electronic Health Records)
A longitudinal digital record shared across settings, enabling clinicians and staff to view, update, and exchange information for coordinated care.
Why It's Important
EHRs connect the dots—appointments, meds, results, referrals—so the right details appear for the right person without hunting.
How to Improve EHR (Electronic Health Records) Skills
Keep training alive: Short, role-specific sessions on new features and common workflows.
Personalize layouts: Fewer clicks with tailored menus, favorites, and smart templates.
Champion interoperability: Work with your team to close gaps in information exchange between systems.
Report friction: Submit tickets for glitches, slow screens, or confusing alerts so they get fixed.
Audit your entries: Regular spot checks catch typos, duplicates, and mismatches early.
Reinforce security: Role-based permissions, careful sharing, and privacy awareness at every step.
How to Display EHR (Electronic Health Records) Skills on Your Resume
