Relationships between job satisfaction and the perceived professional image of medical record administration

Members of four health care disciplines (medical record administration, nursing, physical therapy and radiology) participated in a study designed to assess their perceptions of the professional image of medical record administration and to correlate these perceptions with the job satisfaction of medical record administrators. The perceptions of professional image were measured on a researcher-developed tool based upon the five attitudinal attributes of a profession described by Hall (American Sociological Review, 1968, pp. 90-104). These attributes were: use of the professional organization as a major reference; a belief in service to the public; belief in shelf-regulation; a sense of calling to the field; and autonomy. Results of the study suggested there is a significant difference in the perception of the professional image of medical record administration by medical record administrators compared to this perception by the other health care disciplines surveyed. The medical record administrators as a collectively had a higher perception of the professional image of medical record administration than did the other health care practitioners. There was no correlation, however, between these perceptions and the job satisfaction of medical record administrators.