The importance of Medical Assistants in a medical office

Medical Assistants are an important part of a clinic or medical practice. Their main function is to ensure that the offices of the medical centers in which they work carry out their daily tasks without any interference or obstacles.

The work of Medical Assistants may continue to change depending on where they are employed or the need for the prevailing situation at the time.

Roles of Medical Assistants

Typically, in smaller clinics or medical practices, Medical Assistants perform different clinical and administrative functions. However, in a larger hospital, where many Medical Assistants are employed, they may be assigned to specialized tasks. Usually, the job of a Medical Assistant can be classified as:

• Administrative medical assistant.
• Clinical medical assistant.
• Specialized medical assistant.

Administrative Medical Assistant

An Administrative Medical Assistant is usually in charge of tasks that specifically pertain to medical therapy and the administrative part of it.

Although the tasks of the Administrative Medical Assistant are repetitive, they are usually crucial for the proper functioning of a hospital or clinic, since it encompasses all the visible and invisible tasks that have to do directly with the correct functioning of the activities, both visible and invisible to users. internal and external customers.

Among the tasks of the Administrative Medical Assistant are:

• Patient and provider care.
• Answer or make phone calls.
• Agenda and scheduling of appointments and exams.
• Review and respond to emails, memos, and letters as dictated by physicians and administrative heads.
• Manage and update medical forms and patient files.
• Organization for admission to the clinic or hospitals.
• Organize the billing and accounting of the clinic.

Clinical Medical Assistant

The Clinical Medical Assistant fulfills a more medical professional role than the administrative one, quite even close to the technical nurse functions. Their job includes:

• Preparing patients for diagnosis.
• Assembling the patient's medical history and assisting the physician during the respective examination.
• Explaining medical procedures to the patient.
• Calling the pharmacy for prescription prescriptions.
• Taking samples for laboratory tests.
• Ensuring that all clinical equipment is properly sterilized.

It's also worth looking at the differences between medical assistants vs. CNAs in terms of their roles and responsibilities. While both positions involve direct patient care and support, medical Assistants often take on more clinical tasks similar to technical nursing functions, such as preparing patients for diagnosis, assembling medical histories, assisting during examinations, and taking samples for laboratory tests. On the other hand, CNAs primarily focus on providing basic patient care, including assisting with activities of daily living, monitoring patient vitals, and ensuring patient comfort.

With this experience you can also draw blood, remove sutures, and take EKG readings, if necessary.

Specialized Medical Assistant

Specialized Medical Assistants are those who have gained experience in a certain field. In this way, a medical laboratory assistant is expected to perform specific laboratory tasks, such as testing and documenting bacterial species.

In addition, Medical Assistants who have experience in the field of ophthalmology will work in close coordination with area medical personnel on testing the patient's eyes, instruction on various aspects of eye care, and proper use of lenses.

The job opportunities for the Medical Assistants sector are immense and growing every year. With rapidly expanding healthcare centers and the enormous growth of outpatient treatment facilities, there are more jobs for physician assistants each year.

At FHCA Orlando we are honored to train quality health professionals and committed to the well-being of their patients. Dare to enroll!