What Are the Career Options for a Medical Administrative Assistant?
Medical administrative assistants may work at physicians' offices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, insurance companies and an assortment of other facilities. They provide administrative support to medical staff such as medical coders, medical transcriptionists and billing clerks. Read this article to learn more about career options for the medical administrative assistant.
About Medical Administrative Assistants
<p>The primary role of the medical administrative assistant is to ensure efficient operations in medical office settings. These workers provide general administrative support by answering phones, greeting patients, filing, ordering supplies and preparing invoices. At times, it is their responsibility to perform some specialized office duties such as coding, transcribing, filing insurance forms and maintaining patient records.
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<h3 id="section---ImportantFactsAboutThisOccupation">Important Facts About This Occupation</h3>
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<table border="1"><tr><th> </th><th> Medical Secretaries </th><th> Clinical & Administrative Medical Assistants</th></tr>
<tr><td> Median Salary (2021) </td><td> $37,450</td><td> $37,190 (<i>For Medical Assistants</i>)</td></tr>
<tr><td> Entry-level Education </td><td> High school diploma or equivalent </td><td>Postsecondary non-degree award</td></tr>
<tr><td> On-the-job Training </td><td> Short-term </td><td> None</td></tr>
<tr><td>Job Outlook (2021-2031) </td><td> 8% </td><td> 16% (<i>For Medical Assistants</i>)</td></tr>
</table><p><i>Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</i>
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<h3 id="section---SpecificCareerOptionsAndDuties">Specific Career Options and Duties</h3>
<p>Medical administrative assistants might start in receptionist or secretarial positions and progress to others that involve greater responsibility. Some specialize in applying medical codes to patient charts. Others translate medical dictation into text. This might include medical histories, physical examination or operative reports, referral letters and discharge summaries. Administrative duties may include using coded medical reports to submit bills to insurance companies. Many medical administrative assistants enter patients' medical information into electronic systems or manage the systems themselves. Some careers related to this field include:
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<ul><li>Medical Coder
</li><li>Medical Transcriptionist
</li><li>Physicians' Office Assistant
</li><li>Health Information Administrator
</li><li>Records Clerk
</li><li>Admissions Clerk
</li><li>Billing and Insurance Specialist</li></ul>