Before you see the doctor at any office visit, you probably meet the Medical Administrative Assistant. From your point of view, they check you in and help you fill out some paperwork. But the Medical Administrative Assistant is responsible for so much more. They keep the office running smoothly so the doctor and other healthcare professionals can focus on patients. Check out some of the responsibilities you’d have if you decided to pursue this career:
Medical Administrative Assistants Communicate with Patients, Families, and Staff
As a Medical Admin Assistant, you are the communication hub of the office. You answer the phones, respond to voicemails, send and receive emails, and maybe even communicate through interoffice chats. You might send and receive faxes to vendors and insurance companies. You’re also the first person to greet incoming patients and welcome them into the office. You answer patient questions, explain how to fill out medical histories and contact info, and treat everyone with respect. You’re the face of the organization—and it should be one that smiles!
Medical Administrators Manage Calendars
From staff schedules to patient appointments, you handle all the moving parts of a medical practice’s calendar. You get phone calls from new and existing patients to make, cancel, and reschedule appointments. You schedule treatments, procedures, and follow-up visits. You may need to schedule interoffice meetings, specialist appointments, or vendor calls. And you do it all with finesse, making sure that you don’t overbook or double book the medical professionals in your practice.
Medical Administrative Assistants Update Patient Medical Records
Every time a patient comes in, you ask them to let the doctor know if there have been any changes since their last visit. But you also need to enter new medical information into the patient record. What treatment did they get? What are the next steps? For every patient symptom, diagnosis, procedure, and treatment, there is a special medical code. For example, J00 is the code for acute nasopharyngitis, more commonly known as the common cold. After a patient visit, you update the patient’s medical record with the appropriate codes, which are then used to fill out and submit insurance claims. And you make sure to include doctor notes from the visit.
Medical Administrative Assistants May Submit Insurance Claims
Depending on the size of your practice, you may also be the medical biller and coder. This is where you use recognized medical codes—like the one for the common cold—to submit billing information to insurance providers. The goal is to make sure that patients receive all the benefits to which they’re entitled, while your practice gets paid for the services you provide. If a claim is kicked back, you revise it and resubmit it. You bill for the unpaid balance using your organization’s software.
Other Administrative Tasks and Reports
As a Medical Administrative Assistant, you may also handle payments for vendors or some regular bookkeeping tasks. Or you might be asked to prepare reports that you create from data gathered at your facility. For example, your boss may want to see how many patients are seen in a particular month, or how many claims are filed. You access databases and pull the info to create the reports. Or you might set up meetings and take notes. Or file paper or electronic documents so they can be easily accessed by authorized personnel. And through it all, your job is to keep everything organized.
Does helping to run a medical office seem like an interesting career path? Charter Career Academy offers an online Medical Administrative Assistant training program that can prepare you for entry-level work at a doctor’s office, group practice, or a hospital. It can be completed in as few as 11 weeks and even prepares you to sit for the Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) exam administered by National Healthcareer Association. Fill out the form to learn more.