So, you’re wondering, What does a Medical Assistant Do? Medical Assistants perform a variety of tasks that are both administrative and clinical. Medical Assistants help keep the office running and generally provide much of the labor. All types of doctors require Medical Assistants, including Chiropractors, Physicians, Hospitals, Dermatologist, Allergists etc.
A Medical Assistant’s Duties can vary greatly, depending on the size of the office and its location. In smaller offices, a Medical Assistant usually reports directly to the Physician or Doctor. In larger offices, a Medical Assistant will report to a manager or department administrator. Usually, a Medical Assistant will have a wider range of duties in a smaller office.
There are several main types of Medical Assistants including Administrative Medical Assistants, Clinical Medical Assistants and Ophthalmic Medical Assistants. Each type of Medical Assistant has different duties and responsibilities. These can vary by state and some of the required duties may overlap in more than one category.
What Does a Medical Assistant Do? | Administrative Medical Assistant
An Administrative Medical Assistant, maintains and updates patients records and files, takes care of the insurance forms, helps with hospital admissions and arranges for laboratory services. Administrative Medical Assistants will also answer the phone, greet the patients when they arrive, schedule appointments and handle billing inquires. Some Administrative Medical Assistants will also help with the bookkeeping.
What Does a Medical Assistant Do? | Clinical Medical AssistantIn addition to these duties, Clinical Medical Assistants will help get laboratory specimens and will perform basic laboratory tests in most states. Another common duty is to dispose of contaminated waste. You will usually have to undergo a state course before you are allowed to dispose of contaminated waste. Furthermore, another common duty is sterilizing medical instruments.
Frequently, Doctors will instruct the Clinical Medical Assistant to advise patients about special diets and treatments. This can include administrating medications, authorizing medication refills and phoning in prescriptions.
Depending upon the state and how much training, the Clinical Medical Assistant has had, drawing blood from patients may be part of the job duties. Other Clinical duties that require some training are taking X rays, Electrocardiograms, taking out stitches and changing bandages.
Lastly, Clinical Medical Assistants are usually in charge of keeping the offices clean and orderly and may also be in charge of ordering supplies and arranging medical instruments for the Doctor to use.
What Does A Medical Assistant do? | Medical Assistants for Specialists
Specialist doctors such as Optometrists and Podiatrists will require Medical Assistants to do much more specialized duties. Ophthalmic Medical Assistants will help provide eye care to patients. Providing eye care to patients involves measuring and recording vision, running diagnostic tests and testing the muscle function of the eye. Additional duties include applying bandages to the eye and instructing patients on how to put in their contacts, take them out and care of them. Depending on state laws, an Ophthalmic Medical Assistant may administer eye medications. Like other Medical Assistant positions, the assistant will be in charge of maintaing the medical instruments and may assist the Doctor during exams and operations.
Another Specialized type of Medical Assistant is a Podiatric Medical Assistant. A Podiatric Medical Assistant, will make molds of patients feet, take and develop Xrays and assist the Doctor during surgery.
Hopefully, now you will see, the answer to what does a medical assistant do, includes a wide variety of duties. The job will vary depending on the type of doctor you end up working for and the laws for your state. I recommend looking through job advertisements for various types of Medical Assistants to get an ever better idea of what your duties would be if you decide to enter this exciting field.
