What is a Medical Office Assistant?
As a medical office assistant, you are the key point and the first one who links the patient with the office, and contribute a lot to the patient first experience.
Job Description of a Medical Office Assistant
The daily work of a medical office assistant involves a lot of tasks and daily responsibilities such as offering guidance to the patients as well as coordinating lab test reviews, updating charts, referrals, and insurance reimbursements.
If you are working in the administrative part, then your job will include handling correspondence as well as scheduling appointments, fill out insurance forms, and manage billing and other. If you are working in the clinical setting, your job will be to record vital signs, as well as to monitor them. You will also need to discard of dirty supplies, gather lab samples and make sure that the patients are prepared for medical exams.
There is a difference between the tasks that might be given to one of these professionals. For example, if you are present in a small practice then the doctor can entrust you with significant roles and activities. As an opposite, a large medical practice or even a hospital will rely on a medical office assistant to fulfill only a little number of tasks and more specialized tasks.
There are some job advancement opportunities. For instance, if you have enough experience in the field then you can advance from the position of a medical office assistant to the one of a clinical supervisor or office manager. You can also take this further and do some more training in order to become a nurse or even a medical laboratory technician in a laboratory or a hospital, or other healthcare facilities.
How to Become a Medical Office Assistant?
When it all resume at working as a medical office assistant, you can rest assured that it all starts with having a high school diploma or the GED taken. This first educational requirement is enough for providing you with an entry-level as a medical office assistant position.
Many of the employers prefer that those who hire in this field should possess at least an associate’s degree or training at a vocational school. The courses of vocational schools consist mainly of subjects such as biology and medical terminology, as well as accounting and insurance practices. You’ll also learn how to keep records.
Every office varies a lot in the procedures that they follow, and, in this case, the hands-on job training will not miss from your daily work. As a medical office assistant, who works in a smaller practice, you’ll need to cover a variety of tasks. For a future medical office assistant, you can enroll in a training program that is indicated to have an accreditation offered by the CAAHEP or else known as the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.
This will allow you to go much further and become a certified medical administrative assistant also known as CMAA. The certification that you earn will allow you to increase the chances of getting hired. You can find a lot of practice tests, and materials for test preparations on online sites.
For this job, you’ll need to develop necessary skills as well as qualities that will allow you to manage the daily activities of a day. For instance as a medical office assistant you certainly need to be organized and ready to interact with others during the day. As a good candidate for any job for a professional career in this field, you’ll need to possess some of the basic computer skills, such as basic word programs and other.
You will have to be willing to learn new methods and software, such as working with some of the specific scheduling as well as billing software since these are most encountered among other in the medical practices. A must in this job is the attention to the details that will always lead to good results and solution solving.
Work Environment and Schedule
The working environment of a medical office assistant is often encountered in doctor’s or dentist’s offices, surgical centers, hospitals, or even in governmental agencies. Their work assumes a constant interaction with other specialist or healthcare providers such as nurses, doctors and even with patients. Their work mainly is around other people.
If you are working as a medical office assistant in one of the small practices, then your job will likely involve tasks such as taking patients to their exam rooms. You will also be required to record their weight, and even take their blood pressure. In this kind of job, the process of interrupting one task in order to perform another one is very common.
Pros and Cons of Being a Medical Office Assistant
Before embarking on any professional career, it is important to consider every aspect of a job. The most essential aspect is to discover whether this job is suitable for you or not. If, for instance, you are working inside of a medical office then their opening hours might involve being opened at night, or even during the weekends.
As a medical office assistant, you have the granted benefit of flexible working hours. To satisfy your needs, you can find a part-time position or a full-time position. For instance, some physicians will allow a medical office assistant to work only at night, or do some exchanges within the working hours.
Even if you are not involved as a physician working as a medical office assistant also means being around the people and making a difference in their lives. Your job can even involve being there for an ill patient and comforting him or her. Other times, you’ll just need to help them face things and go through a tough insurance case, and this work will always beat the economic aspect of the job.
On the other hand, a con of this job is the factor of stress since you’ll have to face deadlines or to juggle around changing priorities. The work of a medical office assistant will assume a lot of times a triangle that will involve physicians, insurance companies and patients who want that their needs will be fulfilled very fast.
There is also room for promotion, but it will go in every doctor’s office as far as a managerial role. All in all working as a medical office assistant can be a good thing since you’ll be there to help other and bring improvement to their condition.
Medical Office Assistant job growth
The employment job growth, for the next five to ten years for medical office assistants is projected at 31% rate of increase, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This rate of increase is considered to be faster than the average for all occupations. One of the major factors that affects and impacts this increase in the percentage is represented by the number of demanding and the nature itself of the job, since it is expected that the baby boomer population will start aging, this leading to a significant increase in the medical services as well as in the job opportunities. Many more physicians and other medical providers will expand their businesses and hire a huge number of medical office assistants. The job outlook for this profession has a very satisfactory level, with plenty of job opportunities.
Medical Office Assistant Salary
The actual earning of a medical assistant in the United States is estimated to be around $34,010 per year. The years of experience at the working site will lead to a salary that will gradually increase. Working between five and nine years in the field will lead you to an annual income between $19,792 per year and $36,471 per year.
The median medical office assistant salary is estimated around $27,751 per year while the annual income ranges from $24,792 per year and up to $39,992 per year. If you are new in this field, then your hourly wage is estimated to range from $9.62 per hour and $16.42 per year.
As mentioned earlier, the pay of a medical office assistant is influenced by the years of experience. For instance, those professionals who are new in the field and are working for less than one year can expect to take home an annual income, which is lower. For them, it is comprised from $24,792 per year and up to $34,394 per year. One who has gained a practical experience and has been at work between 1 and up to 4 years can expect to a yearly income from $20,028 per year and up to $38,492 per year.
If you are practicing for more than ten years and up to 19 years you can expect at a total yearly payment, which is great. Your gain is to be estimated between $20,068 per year and up to $47,842 per year. At the same time, those professionals who are working for more than 20 years can expect to gain a yearly income that is comprised between $25,436 per year and up to $39,993 per year.
Another constituent that will influence the salary of a medical office assistant is according to the geographical location. The best salaries are to be found in various states such as Ohio with an income that varies between $23,452 per year and up to $41,952 per year. At the same time, in Texas one individual who works in this field can expect to an income estimated to range from $27,618 per year and up to $49,667 per year.
Other top paying states where there can be found very good salaries for these professionals can be found in New York, Georgia, Pennsylvania, California and a few other. The hourly rate of salaries will also differ according to the popular industries in which these professionals have found work. For instance, if you are operating in a hospital your hourly payment can be fixed between $9.67 and $17.13 per hour. At the same time, if you are operating in a physician office your hourly wage is estimated to be from $9.54 per hour and up to $16.59 per hour.
Salary of a Medical Office Assistant in 2015
In 2015 in the US, the salary of a medical office assistant has an estimated average that reaches at $30,010. The salary continues to grow constantly due to the years of practical experience that is gained in this career as well as according to the type of institution in which one is employed. The economic flux in this field also varies from state to state and from a location to another.
For instance, those who are in larger cities, as well as towns, have the opportunity to gain a lot more than those who found work in smaller cities. Those individuals who found work across both coasts is more likely to earn more. Those industries which provide the majority of jobs are to be found in fields such as hospitals, doctor and dentist offices.
Medical Office Assistant Salary in 2016
In the United States, for the year 2016, the wages of a medical office assistant reach at an average of $12.77 per hour, with a usual hourly rate that starts from $9.81 per hour and up to $16.56 per hour. The median annual average income for these professionals is estimated at $30,132 per year, with a starting point that gets around $20,293 per year and up to $42,136 per year, according to the salary data surveys provided by PayScale.
The bonuses attributed in this job tend to reach at $606, while the profit sharing is estimated to climb up to $602, this leading in the end after all these benefits added to incomes that start from $20,504 per year and up to $35,886 per year.
A medical office assistant salary in mainly influenced by several factors such as the geographical location one, where earnings tend to vary from state to state, region to region, as well as according to the type of employment and the years of experience that are gathered in the field. The vast majority of employees in this field tend to be females rather than males.
The earnings of these professionals are also affected by a number of skills. The most popular and needed at the working site that influence their incomes are: Billing, EMR or else known as Electronic Medical Records, followed by Data Entry, Scheduling, Customer Services and other as well.
When it comes to the years of experience in the field, the incomes for these professionals tend to vary as well, having a continuously increase overtime. For instance, a medical office assistant with less than five years in the field, can expect to receive an annual income that gets around $26,010 per year, while one individual with 5 and up to 10 years of practice at the working site will earn around $28,010 per year.
Those professionals who are viewed as Experienced, with 10 and up to 20 years of experience in the field will take home around $30,010 per year, while those who are the veterans in this field with more than 20 years of experience and work will gain around $31,010 per year.
The national average for medical office assistants reaches at $27,115 per year, with a best attractive salary package offered in New York, where the total median payment is estimated at $31,226 per year. Figures that are usually situated above the national average. The next in line with good salaries is Charlotte with a median total payment that gets around $29,554 per year.
According to Indeed, the median average income for a medical office assistant gets around $30,010 per year. The average salaries of jobs with related titles, differ as well. For instance a medical assistant family practice can expect to earn around $29,010 per year while a medical records field technician will earn around $44,010 per year.
Medical Office Assistant Salary in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom
In Canada, the salary of a medical office assistant is estimated to have an annual range between C$24,687 per year and up to C$44,073 per year. The median expected medical office assistant salary reaches at about C$33,010 per year. A medical office assistant is also measured by the years of experience that an individual has gained in the working field. For instance, those who are working in this field in Canada for less than a year can expect to a salary that is comprised between C$20,010 per year and up to C$39,742 per year. At the same time, those who are in this field for 1 and up to 4 years of work can expect to another salary. Their wage is estimated to range from C$23,492 per year and up to C$42,576 per year.
One professional who is working between 5 and up to 9 years of experience can expect to an annual payment estimated between C$27,362 per year and up to C$45,298 per year. Also, for those who are working for ten years and up to 19 years in the field can expect to gain an income that is comprised between C$26,472 per year and up to C$51,598 per year. Those, who can already be considered as veterans in this job, will take home a higher income. Their salary is estimated between C$22,624 per year and up to C$53,798 per year.
In Australia, a medical office assistant salary is estimated at an annual range between AU$33,593 per year and up to AU$49,923 per year. Half of the employees in this field can expect at an income that reaches at about AU$50,010 per year.
In the United Kingdom, the salary for these professionals is estimated to reach high, having the lowers point estimated only at about £15,810 per year. The median salary for someone who works in this field reaches about £26,838 per year.
Conclusion on Medical Office Assistant Salary
In the US, the annual income is estimated to range between $21,142 per year and up to $37,483 per year. According to some surveys, the median estimated salary reaches at about $27,010 per year. The salary also differs in other countries such as Canada, Australia and the UK.
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- First Published Date: 18 July, 2015
- Last Updated Date: 27 November, 2016