Medical Administrative Assistant

What Is a Medical Administrative Assistant ?

A Medical Administrative Assistant is a professional who is essential to the front-office operations of a medical office, healthcare clinic and more. Certified Medical Administrative Assistants (CMAA) oversee and manage check-ins and electric health records of patients. 

With the plethora of industries, preferences, and job prospects, selecting the right career is not an easy decision. Have you thought about healthcare as an option? Careers in this field of healthcare are prevalent and offer many choices.

Not just confined to doctors and nurses, you can opt for medical support work after getting your certification as a medical administrative assistant. Although, Medical Administrative Assistant Certification is required, you can work in health clinics, hospitals, doctors’ offices, or specialty medical practices.

Pros and Cons of Being a Medical Administrative Assistant

Your job duties as a CMAA can range from maintaining administrative and medical records, corresponding with patients, billing fees, processing insurance claims, and more. However, you do not help conduct clinical tasks. As with any potential career, you have to assess if becoming a medical administrative assistant at Southern Careers Institute or other college is right for you. Here are some pros and cons to do work to help you decide:

Pros of Becoming a Medical Administrative Assistant

• You can easily transfer your skills to administrative jobs in healthcare or other related industries.
• The career outlook is projected to grow at a rate of 36% between 2012 and 2022.
• You have the potential to obtain work in any city or town where healthcare facilities exist.
• You can obtain relevant education is less than a year.
• After your certificate you can also obtain additional certifications.

Cons of Becoming a Medical Administrative Assistant

• The work may be a fast-paced, high-stress environment.
• Depending on the facility, you may be required to work nights and/or weekends.
• The median salary is in the lower range – under $32,000 as of May 2013.
• Advancement and salary increases are possible, but often requires additional, formal training.

Career Options in the Healthcare Industry

Being a medical administrative assistant is only one of many supporting careers in the healthcare industry. Other programs you can consider taking from Southern Careers Institute or other colleges include the following:

Certified Medical Assistants 

Medical assistants manage and complete both administrative and clinical duties for general practitioners, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health care professionals. While the tasks depend on the specialty and size of the facility, medical assistants typically record patient history, schedule appointments, measure vital signs, help with patient examinations, prepare blood for testing, administrator injections as directed by the supervising professional, and more. You can obtain your CMA training within two years in an accredited career college such as Southern Careers Institute.

Medical Office Specialist

A medical office specialist covers a wide variety of medical administrative tasks, technical work, and client service. For example, they may handle billing processes, schedule appointments, transcribe recordings, assist in patient treatment areas, renew prescriptions, and more. These specialists often have a certificate from a vocational college.

You Have Choices

Which career path is for you? If you want a profession in healthcare, you have many choices. You can get more details from Southern Careers Institute about the programs above and get ready for a rewarding career today.