Your Office Skills Can Lead to Great Healthcare Job Opportunities
Posted On April 4,2022
Are you interested in a career with great benefits, job stability, and the opportunity for advancement? Do you already have administrative experience? If so, choosing to become a medical assistant is an excellent way to explore a new career while building upon your office experience.
What is an Administrative Medical Assistant?
Administrative medical assistants work in an administrative role within hospitals, clinics, and healthcare facilities. Their common job titles include unit secretary, medical office assistant, patient coordinator or admissions coordinator. They use their extensive knowledge of medical terminology, procedures, and applications to perform the duties of their job. For someone who already has experience working in an office setting, this can be a great opportunity for a rewarding career.
What Does an Administrative Medical Assistant Do?
Administrative medical assistants perform a variety of daily tasks, requiring both clinical and administrative knowledge and cross-training. The primary goal of an administrative medical assistant is to help keep the facility operating smoothly. Your daily tasks may change depending on the type of practice you work for, but you can expect to handle a lot of paperwork and filing, in addition to interacting with patients and physicians.
Administrative duties may include:
- Greeting patients and checking them in at the front desk.
- Answering phones and scheduling appointments.
- Filing, updating, and organizing patient records.
- Managing budgets.
- Taking inventory of supplies and placing supply orders.
- Sorting, opening, and responding to mail.
- Transcribing medical information for physicians.
- Processing insurance payments.
- Operating computer software and office equipment.
- Transferring lab results to the physician.
Since it’s common for only one medical administrative assistant to be working in an office, the ability to multitask and prioritize is especially important. It’s not uncommon for the phone to ring while an MA is greeting a patient, as the doctor is also asking for something at the same time. A successful administrative MA will be able to execute all of their daily duties while keeping their composure.
Where to Find Employment as an Administrative Medical Assistant?
You can find jobs that utilize medical assistants for both clinical and administrative roles. There are also opportunities in larger healthcare facilities to focus on administrative roles and possible advancement opportunities on the administrative side of this career.
One of the many benefits of training to become a certified medical assistant is the program is relatively short compared to other healthcare careers, with many designed to be completed in one year or less. Once you become a certified medical assistant and gain experience working in the field, you can set yourself up as an ideal candidate for an administrative role. Those individuals certified for both clinical and administrative roles will have much greater opportunities for advancement overall.
Benefits of Working as an Administrative Medical Assistant
There are many benefits of working as an administrative medical assistant. An administrative MA is an ideal career choice for those who want to work in healthcare but prefer not to provide hands-on patient care, treatments, or procedures.
Administrative MAs have the advantage of choosing the work setting or specialty that’s best suited for them, and in the medical field there are always opportunities for advancement.
Interested in Learning More?
An administrative medical assistant career is perfect for people who want a career in healthcare and are well suited for working in an office environment. If you’re ready to enter this rewarding field, the first step is finding a great medical assistant program to begin your formal training. Contact Athena Career Academy to learn more about our accredited program, caring staff and faculty, and to schedule a campus tour.