Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant Perform secretarial duties using specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Duties may include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence.
Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant is Also Know as
In different settings, Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant is titled as
- Clinic Office Assistant
- Front Desk Receptionist
- Medical Office Specialist
- Medical Receptionist
- Medical Secretary
- Physician Office Specialist
- Secretary
- Unit Clerk
- Unit Support Representative
- Ward Clerk
Education and Training of Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant is categorized in Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.
Education Required for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
These occupations usually require a high school diploma.
Degrees Related to Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
- Bachelor in Veterinary Administrative Services, General
- Associate Degree Courses in Veterinary Administrative Services, General
- Masters Degree Courses in Veterinary Administrative Services, General
- Bachelor in Veterinary Administrative/Executive Assistant and
- Associate Degree Courses in Veterinary Administrative/Executive Assistant and
- Masters Degree Courses in Veterinary Administrative/Executive Assistant and
- Bachelor in Medical Office Assistant/Specialist
- Associate Degree Courses in Medical Office Assistant/Specialist
- Masters Degree Courses in Medical Office Assistant/Specialist
- Bachelor in Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/S
- Associate Degree Courses in Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/S
- Masters Degree Courses in Medical/Health Management and Clinical Assistant/S
- Bachelor in Medical Reception/Receptionist
- Associate Degree Courses in Medical Reception/Receptionist
- Masters Degree Courses in Medical Reception/Receptionist
- Bachelor in Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller
- Associate Degree Courses in Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller
- Masters Degree Courses in Medical Insurance Specialist/Medical Biller
Training Required for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
Employees in these occupations need anywhere from a few months to one year of working with experienced employees. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant in different industries are
- Medical Records Specialists
- Receptionists and Information Clerks
- Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive
- Medical Assistants
- Office Clerks, General
- Patient Representatives
- Executive Secretaries and Executive Administrative Assistants
- Medical Transcriptionists
- Insurance Claims and Policy Processing Clerks
- Customer Service Representatives
- Medical and Health Services Managers
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
- Eligibility Interviewers, Government Programs
- Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping
- Administrative Services Managers
- Interviewers, Except Eligibility and Loan
- Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars
- First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers
- Pharmacy Technicians
- Billing and Posting Clerks
What Do Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant do?
- Schedule and confirm patient diagnostic appointments, surgeries, or medical consultations.
- Compile and record medical charts, reports, or correspondence, using typewriter or personal computer.
- Answer telephones and direct calls to appropriate staff.
- Receive and route messages or documents, such as laboratory results, to appropriate staff.
- Greet visitors, ascertain purpose of visit, and direct them to appropriate staff.
- Interview patients to complete documents, case histories, or forms, such as intake or insurance forms.
- Maintain medical records, technical library, or correspondence files.
- Operate office equipment, such as voice mail messaging systems, and use word processing, spreadsheet, or other software applications to prepare reports, invoices, financial statements, letters, case histories, or medical records.
- Transmit correspondence or medical records by mail, e-mail, or fax.
- Perform various clerical or administrative functions, such as ordering and maintaining an inventory of supplies.
- Arrange hospital admissions for patients.
- Transcribe recorded messages or practitioners' diagnoses or recommendations into patients' medical records.
- Perform bookkeeping duties, such as credits or collections, preparing and sending financial statements or bills, and keeping financial records.
- Complete insurance or other claim forms.
- Prepare correspondence or assist physicians or medical scientists with preparation of reports, speeches, articles, or conference proceedings.
- Schedule tests or procedures for patients, such as lab work or x-rays, based on physician orders.
Qualities of Good Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Tools Used by Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
- Credit card processing machines
- Desktop computers
- Dictaphones
- Hospital intercom equipment
- Laptop computers
- Laser facsimile machines
- Laser printers
- Multi-line telephone systems
- Notebook computers
- Personal computers
- Photocopying equipment
- Scanners
- Switchboards
Technology Skills required for Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistant
- Accounts payable software
- Accounts receivable software
- Addressing software
- Allscripts Payerpath
- Allscripts Professional PM
- Amazing Charts
- Billing software
- Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
- CPSI CPSI System
- Data entry software
- Database software
- dBASE Plus
- Desktop publishing software
- Electronic health record EHR software
- Email software
- eMDs Medisoft
- Epic Systems
- Google Docs
- Google Drive
- Graphics software
- Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
- Henry Schein Dentrix
- HMS
- IDX Groupcast
- Intuit QuickBooks
- Intuit QuickBooks Point of Sale
- McKesson Lytec
- MEDENT
- Medical condition coding software
- Medical procedure coding software
- MEDITECH Medical and Practice Management MPM Suite
- MEDITECH software
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Exchange
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Publisher
- Microsoft Windows
- Microsoft Word
- Microsys MicroMD
- NaviMedix NaviNet
- Patterson Dental Supply Patterson EagleSoft
- PracticeWorks Systems Kodak WINOMS CS
- Scheduling software
- Spreadsheet software
- Web browser software
- Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance CMS Secure Net Access Portal C-SNAP
- Word processing software