There was a time when you didn’t have much hope of getting a job as a medical office assistant in a doctor’s office or other medical facility without at least an LVN degree. But times have changed. If you want to work in the field of health care don’t want to do direct patient care your might consider becoming a Medical Office Assistant.
Doctors have discovered that much of the work that needs to be done in their offices does not require the training and education of an RN or even an LVN. Generally training for a medical office assistant takes about a year. It doesn’t require the heavy science background that nurses need.
Medical Office Assistant Tasks
A medical office Assistant will have essentially two types of duties. First she will work in the front office. She might act as secretary or receptionist or both. Her tasks might include medical billing and collections, scheduling appointments, filing medical records.
She might be called upon to update and maintain electronic medical records and transcribe medical records. Much of the work of a medical office involves insurance. This might mean the office assistant will obtain insurance verification and authorization and process insurance claims.
She might also arrange for hospital admissions and laboratory services. Sometimes she will have to adjust the appointment schedule to fit in emergency cases. The type of tasks can vary depending on the type of facility where she works. Tasks can vary from day to day and from hour to hour.
Medical Office Assistant Knowledge
The medical office assistant will need to know medical terminology, and insurance coding. She will need to be able to use all office machines and have good computer skills. Essentially she will need to be organized and good at multitasking. She should be able to keep her head when all about her are losing theirs.
The Medical Office Assistant will also have clinical duties. These tasks are similar to what a traditional office nurse does. Some common tasks include taking the patient’s medical history and recording information such as height and weight, pulse, blood pressure and temperature. She might prepare patients for examinations and assist the physician during examinations.
Importance of a Medical Office Assistant
Sometimes a medical assistant will collect samples such as blood and urine for laboratory tests. The assistant will probably be expected to keep the examining rooms clean and orderly. She might sterilize the instruments. She might be in charge of purchasing supplies and making sure that things are where they need to be.
They might phone in a prescription to the patient’s pharmacy and authorize refills. Sometimes they take out stitches or change bandages. A medical office assistant has a busy life but for someone who doesn’t like to do the same old thing every day it could be very appealing.
