The Various Roles Played By Medical Assistants

Inquisitive about what Medical Assisting is? Well, medical assisting is one of the fastest growing careers nowadays. Figures show that this career is expected to increase for the next ten years due to the innovation of medical technology and the increase number of inhabitants around the globe.

Becoming a medical assistant is very easy for it only needs a high school certificate or a GED equivalent and there is no formal lessons or training requirements needed not like other jobs such as nursing. Those who wish to be certified must simply undergo six months to two years of medical assisting course or program that is approved by the Department of Education and other supporting organizations.

Program courses include medical terms, anatomy, and physiology. Students are also educated to have the understanding on keyboarding, recordkeeping, accounting, insurance processing and transcription. Besides, students ought to be trained some laboratory techniques, pharmaceutical doctrine, clinical measures as well as diagnostic procedures.

Program courses are specifically designed to give them a general angle in medical field to help them complete their errand productively and effectively. This is because medical assistants' nature of work is to carry out or to keep medical establishments structured and to keep it running smoothly. Also, since medical assistants are directly working with patients and with other medical staff like doctors and nurses, their program courses also include patient relations, values and medical laws and principles.

Medical assistant is different from a physician assistant or a nurse. Medical assistants perform clerical and clinical responsibilities while nurses are more on treatments and patient handling.

In general a medical assistant handles administrative duties and or clinical duties.

1. Administrative Duties and Responsibilities

- Taking telephone calls
- Receive and serve patients
- Planning of engagements
- Do patient's billing
- Clerical
- Managing correspondence
- Filing and updating patient's medical records
- Managing insurance forms
- Arranging hospital admissions
- Assisting in lab proceduries

2. Clinical Duties and Responsibilities
- Taking patient's health history
- Recording patient's vital signs
- Preparing patients for medical examinations
- Assisting doctors in health examinations
- Explaining to patients the procedures that are to be done to them
- Collects and prepares the laboratory specimens
- Purchasing medical supplies and equipments
- Disposing of infected medical supplies
- Preparing medical instruments
- Making sure that hospital rooms such as waiting rooms and examination rooms are clean and tidy

In some hospitals, medical asssistants are allowed to perform basic medical responsibilities under the supervision of doctors:
- Basic laboratory tests
- Prepare medications and administer medications as well
- Instructing patients in taking medications and some diets
- Drug refills
- Draw blood
- Changing of dressings
- Removing sutures

With these large range of duties and tasks, medical assistants should be well-organized and can do multi-tasking at the same time. They must possess pleasing personality and must be good communicators for they must make the patients feel comfortable and at ease before and or during examination. Also, medical assistants must be dainty and well groomed for they should look presentable when dealing with patients.

Duties and tasks of medical assistants vary depending in the hospitals they work. In small hospitals or clinics they are to perform both administrative and clinical duties while in large hospitals where there are other medical staff, medical assistants are encouraged to performed specific responsibilities under the direction of the department administrators.

Regardless where medical assistants work, they are very expedient in helping healthcare workers to perform their jobs more effectively and efficiently. As a consequence, the growing needs of people's medical attention are met through them.

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