Medical Administrative Assistant Career Specialty

Before patients can receive care from doctors, nurses, medical assistants, and other health care professionals, they must check into the medical office they are visiting. This requires the help of a medical administrative assistant. Medical administrative assistants play a major role in many clinics, hospitals, and other health care institutions. You may process insurance information, schedule appointments, inform patients if the doctor is running behind, reschedule appointments as needed, and take phone calls. During slow times, you may also file paperwork for doctors and nurses.

If you want to be part of the health care field but don’t necessarily want to spend all of your time performing medical procedures, this may be a great career choice for you. You get to spend lots of time interacting with patients, ensuring that they have a good first impression of your institution, and helping the institution run smoothly every day. To learn more about how you can become an Administrative Medical Assistant, look through the schools on our site and request information from those who offer this program.

Medical Office Assistant Training

It’s clear that office medical assistants have a wide range of duties that they are responsible for. That’s why it’s so important to get the appropriate education. Many schools offer an Associate’s degree program in this field. In two years, you can get a good general education in addition to completing your specialized medical administrative assistant education.

As someone who comes into contact with patients in a medical setting, you will need some basic medical training and background knowledge. To that end, you may take courses like Medical Terminology, EKG Interpretation and Techniques, Phlebotomy, and Medical Terminology. These courses prepare you for your front desk duties. However, you can also work in the exam room if that’s where you’re needed.

Since much of your time may be spent filing, checking computer records, and processing insurance information, you may take many classes on computer usage and computer systems. Common courses in this area include Keyboarding for Medical Assistants, Document Production, Medical Transcription, and Spreadsheet Applications.

Customer service is a crucial aspect of this job. As a medical administrative assistant, you may be the first clinic or hospital employee that patients come into contact with. Part of your curriculum may deal with communication skills and customer service skills. You may take classes like Business Communications, Medical Office Procedures and Management, and Customer Service in Healthcare Settings.

Licensing and Career Information

Your licensing requirements depend on what type of job you want and what state you live in. Some office medical assistants only plan on working in an administrative position. Others want to be able to work at the front desk and in the exam room. If you want to work in a strictly administrative setting, you likely do not have to pursue any type of licensure or certification. However, you may choose to pursue optional certification through the National Health Careers Association. You must pass a thorough test that looks at your administrative skills. Your certification is valid for two years; you can renew it by completing 10 hours of continuing education in every two-year period.

If you plan on working in both the office and the exam room, you will need to pursue medical assistant licensure through your state’s medical board. This process typically involves passing a written exam, passing a skills exam, and registering with the state medical board. There are often extensive continuing education requirements with this path.

According to BLS, the demand for medical secretaries is significant with over 300,000 medical secretaries currently working in the U.S in healthcare settings . They report that the average salary for a medical secretary is $34,330 per year (BLS, 2017).

Look into office medical assistant schools near you if you’re ready to work in a fast-paced environment that can really benefit from your services. We’ve provided links to contact schools directly, to save you both time and effort as you look for programs.

Medical Administrative Assistant Schools By State