Medical Administrative Assistant Job Description

Have you seen medical administrative assistant job descriptions? Have you been wondering how to get a career in the medical field? The aging population guarantees that there will be a continued need for workers in all capacities in the healthcare field. In addition to frontline providers of healthcare, there will also be a need for support workers who handle the paperwork and set appointments along with all the other ancillary duties. While technology may eliminate many of these jobs due to certain tasks that can be done more efficiently with computers there will still continue to be a need for human workers. Medical administrative assistant duties are to handle administrative tasks that medical personnel may not be trained for, or for which they do not have time.

Medical Administrative Assistant Job Description

The medical administrative assistant is one of several types of medical assistant. There are also clinical medical assistants whose job involves administering certain basic medical procedures and tests. The actual job description, however, may vary according to the laws in their states, but usually these medical assistants will have some clinical duties as well as some clerical tasks. The medical administrative assistant, has no clinical duties, the nature of their job is more along the lines of an administrative assistant in other industries, but with expertise in handling medical paperwork and the clerical tasks related to healthcare. Medical administrative assistant duties may include working as a receptionist, working on the frontline dealing with patients in addition to the clerical work of handling appointments, making office schedules and telephone reception. Another big area of the medical administrative assistant job description will be insurance, which often involves a lot of time on the phone and understanding the laws and rules governing health insurance, including medical assistance provided by the government. In some places the medical administrative assistant job description may also include bookkeeping and billing duties. Many aspects of the job will depend on the nature of the practice or institution in which the medical administrative assistant works. It can also depend on the specialty of the doctor or doctors for which they work as well. A podiatrist’s medical administrative assistant duties may be somewhat different from a neurologist’s.

Attributes of a Medical Administrative Assistant

As with most clerical positions, the person who wants to embark on a career as a medical administrative assistant will need to be organized and able to communicate well. They will need a familiarity with basic office equipment and the use of common office software including spreadsheets and word processors. The medical administrative assistant job description may call for a knowledge of medical terminology and coding as well. For those jobs where the medical administrative assistant duties include some accounting or bookkeeping tasks, a background in using bookkeeping software can be useful. Personal attributes that will be helpful in performing this job include the ability to interact well with a wide variety of people and to work well as a part of a team. It is possible to do this job with only a GED, but certified candidates are more likely to be hired.

A medical administrative assistant can make between $20,000 and $40,000 per year. The salary is largely dependent on location and the type of practice or institution in which they work. If you are wanting to change your career, now you know more about the medical administrative assistant job description, consider going online to find schools that offer a degree. Change your direction, enroll in school and begin your new career.