Medical Administrative Assistant Job Overview

Medical administrative assistant or medical office assistant is someone especially trained to assist medical practitioners by taking the responsibility of office work. The job requires necessary skills in performing duties in a medical facility as secretaries, insurance clerks, receptionists and the like.

Job Description

Medical administrative assistant duties vary depending on the location and size of the practice and practitioner’s specialty. Medical office assistant job calls for the following tasks: keeping patient’s records, carefully updating and filing them for easy reference. These records include patients medical records, insurance forms and other pertinent documents. They also set arrangements for hospital admissions and laboratory services. In a way, being a medical office assistant is similar to working as a member of the office staff. There are also other tasks not specifically related to the medical setting such as the usual answering of telephones, being courteous to patients, scheduling meetings, and handling billing and bookkeeping.

Work Environment

Since the job of a medical administrative assistant is in line with healthcare, the workplace must be kept organized, well-lighted, and clean. It is inevitable to handle more than one task at the same time, so multitasking ability is a requisite.  Most full-time medical administrative assistants work a regular 40-hour week but there are also those who may work part time in the evenings or weekends.

Medical Assistant Education Requirements

Some medical office assistants are trained on the job, but having completed one or two-year programs give the candidates an advantage. Almost all medical assistants have at least a high school diploma but there is actually no formal education or training required to get the job.

Formal medical administrative assistant training, although not required, is preferred.  Since many medical administrative assistants are trained on the job, they usually just need a high school diploma with courses that include mathematics, health, biology, basic computer skills, and bookkeeping. Having volunteered in the healthcare field adds up to the credentials.

The first few months are spent attending trainings and working closely with more experienced workers so as to personally observe how the job is done, most especially in dealing with patients and the medical team.

As mentioned above, medical administrative assistants deal with the public and it is a must to be courteous so as to help ease troubled patients. And because there are times when they will be required to explain physician’s instructions to patients or family members, it would definitely help to have a pleasant manner always. Confidentiality of each patient’s case should be given high regards since each case is personal. Clinical duties require keen perception and dexterity.

Certification also helps distinguish an experienced medical administrative assistant from an entry level assistant. This leads to probably higher compensation and job opportunities. American Association of Medical (AAMA) and Association of Medical Technologists (AMT) are some of the associations that award certification credentials to medical assistants. The certification process varies by association. It is also possible to become certified in a specialty, such as podiatry, optometry, or ophthalmology.

Medical administrative assistants have opportunities to advance their position by becoming instructors of medical assisting while others pursue further education to become nurses or healthcare workers. They may advance to office managers position or qualify for a variety of administrative support occupations.