Medical Assistants: The Backbone Of A Medical Office

Author:

Danni R., Owner/Founder Advanced Medical Assistant Custom Web Design, LLC

Backing The Medical Office Team

Most medical offices consist of a team of allied health and medical professionals, non-licensed assisting staff and skilled workers. The team may consist of doctors, licensed clinicians, senior care specialists, nurses, physician assistants, lab technicians, phlebotomists, CT Scan technologist, ultra-sound tech, etc… often all under one roof in a lager group practice, HMO, or comprehensive medical care establishment. All are very important members of a medical team, but the medical assistant can only be considered the backbone of the entire team.  All of the professionals mentioned above rely heavily on the medical assistant in order to do their jobs more efficiently.  Some may consider MA’s as the cornerstone, or foundation of the office.  The entire process of receiving medical care starts with the medical assistant (MA).

Important Contributions of the Medical Assistant (MA)

The first step is taking or scheduling the appointment. This task is usually handled by the MA.  They don’t just pencil in a time on the doctor’s schedule, a lot of this is done via computer entry and data processing systems. A medical assistant collects vital information and patient demographics, including healthcare and medical insurance, the patient's reason for the visit, or complaint of injury, quickly assesses if the illness, or injury should be immediately addressed by the doctor or nurse, or should be escalated to emergency services requiring a 9-1-1 call.

First In Line at the Point-Of-Service Front and Back

Once the patient enters into the medical center, the first one at the Point-of-Service is the medical assistant, also know as the medical office receptionist. After the patient has been registered at the front desk, he or she is taken in by a medical assistant from the back, to read and record vital signs,  and then escort the patient to the doctor’s office, or care specialist, each of which are briefly interviewed by the MA prior to seeing the patient.

Heroes Are Defined by the Role They Play – Not By Medals

The duties of an MA are extensive and he or she must be able to be swift and multitask. Some of these task include but not limited to; sorting mail, filing, updating patient charts, electronic medical data records (EMR), handling doctor and medical specialist referrals, disposal of bio-hazards, replacing and emptying prescription pads, etc…, because of the hard work of the  MA, doctors, nurses and other medical professionals have more time to evaluate and treat more patients, more efficient and effectively.

So MA’s be proud to know, like the backbone in your body, or the linebacker of the football team, it is you who holds up the medical center, or office.  You most likely won’t get a commendation medal, raise, promotion, or not even a pat on the back, but what does in matter? Pride is a personal experience anyway, so STAND TALL. It often is the unsung hero that makes a world of a difference to people, and you are one of them.

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More at Medical Assistant NET website.

A Gentle Touch a Day Keeps White Coat Syndrome At Bay

A medical assistant should know how and be able to provide a personal and caring touch that helps a patient feel comfortable, or at ease. This does not have to always be a physical touch, but can be as little as a friendly gesture and positive attitude. Establishing a pleasant environment can be very important when measuring vital signs; for instance, did you know  that a person’s blood pressure reading will tend to be higher in a hospital, or medical center environment? Yes this is correct. With all of the hustle and bustle on the floors, phones ringing, conversations everywhere, white walls and the pre-mindset, or the hypochondriasis of medical office and hospital settings, these will definitely cause ones blood pressure to rise.

A medical assistant must have the pre-mindset that this hypochondriasis, or more commonly known as white coat syndrome anxiety exists in most patients to varying degrees. The vital signs are the doctor’s window to a persons body, condition, and mindset.  The blood pressure typically rises and falls with the effect of external stimuli, but  the healthcare provider is looking for a BP that is obviously to high, or too low.
The physician is also looking for consistency in blood pressure (BP) readings. The medical assistant can assist the doctor and the patient in getting a more accurate and consistent reading. This can be done by first starting a conversation with the patient; a little friendly talk. Make sure the patient realizes that you are listening.

Give the patient feedback when they tell you about how their day is going, share their health concerns, or describe the pain they are experiencing.  Give a smile or tell a joke if the moment calls for it.  We are not saying that you have to be a psychiatrist. You don’t need to try to solve people's personal problems.  Your objective, in your role as a medical assistant, is to get the patient to relax and get good vital sign readings. You will find that the elderly and young children would need a little more of your personal touch than others.  If you can get them to smile, it might just make their day a little brighter, and therefore yours, and the doctor's as well.

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More at Medical Assistant NET website.

The Medical Assistant Unsung Super Hero

Based on my own first-hand experiences as a former Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) I agree with the study mentioned in the recently published article on the CNN News website titled Why Physicians Lie, and find the statement that the doctor-patient relationship is a complex one to be accurate.

Difficult Situations In A Medical Office

Dealing with people who are sick, or have health concerns and feel out of control can be difficult and stressful. Certain medical and healthcare establishments are busier than others by nature, and some experience a higher stress level internally or among their patients depending on the medical specialty and sub-specialty focus area. A pediatric hematology and oncology department, or an OB/Gyn clinic, where the work load is heavy, the hours long, the liability high, and the outcome of a treatment plan not always easily predictable can quickly drive the stress level up on both sides. Certain seasons, like the cold and flu, or allergy season can leave both, the patient and the medical office staff flustered, hoping for better days, especially in a pediatric or internal medicine practice. This is where the doctor’s medical assistant can make a world of a difference. 

Medical Assistant: I've Got The Power!

Remember the old-school classic by Snap! "I've got the power"? This definitely is a song a medical assistant can sing a song about, however, often the medical assistant remains the unsung hero of the medical office.

Medical assistants are the first line representative and “point of service” of the modern medical practice and in an excellent position, often in a better one than the doctor, to recognize, alleviate and ease some of the daily stresses and frustrations through courteous interactions and excellent interpersonal communications skills; as a matter of fact, the medical assistant is often the ONLY person who can put patients at ease even BEFORE they are seen by the doctor in the examination room through mindful interaction and a gentle touch.

How the Medical Assistant Makes a Difference
Doctors generally agree that they depend quite heavily on their medical assisting staff member's knowledge and skills to make the day go over well and keep their practice on track.

As far as difficult situations, no one wants to be the bearer of bad news, and doctors are just as human as their patients. To tell a mother her child has a serious disease is never easy. This is where true empathy will make a world of a difference to the patient, and make the doctor’s job and day a little easier.

A friendly “hello, how are you” can go a long way, along with a gentle reminder discretely passed on to the doctor that he/she is on running on schedule, that a patient didn’t show and there is room for a brief break, or that h/she is starting to fall behind the schedule and need to speed up the pace a little to catch up. You can learn more about the

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More at Medical Assistant NET website.

Choosing the Right Medical Assistant School to Succeed on the Job

Where so many qualified medical assistants are graduating from formal training programs, only to find themselves competing with their peers for available medical assistant jobs, obtaining medical assistant certification takes on a whole new meaning. Many medical assistant schools gear their program and curriculum toward their own preferred certification organization with which they have a contract or agreement, however, what they are not always sufficiently explaining to their student body is that there are additional other well recognized medical assistant certification sponsors offering their services and professional membership opportunities to those medical assistants who qualify.

Selecting a Better School for Your Vocational Training

"After paying $9,000, I have nothing!" When Silvia Pascu laid out $9,000 to attend the Canadian Aesthetics Academy in 2007 she shared the aspirations of many new looking for a foothold in a promising career. While we have never visited this school and don't know the owner or faculty of this particular school, we know that similar consumer reports, disappointed student's statements and complaints on message boards and forums is on the rise and also happening all over the USA. Unsuspecting students sign up for training at questionable schools assuming they are fully qualified, accredited and affiliated with a real campus school, and then, when they apply for jobs, they realize they were indeed not getting the training that would prepare them for meaningful employment. Considering the magnitude of this problem, this unfortunate situation gets very little media cover.

Matching Your Medical Assistant Job Application and Resume With the Posted Wanted Ad

With so many applying for the same jobs, showing in your medical assistant resume that you have successfully graduated from a medical assistant training program from a reputable community college, or accredited vocational training institution will not only positively influence the time it takes for you to land your very fist  job, but also positively affect the medical assistant salaries employers are willing to offer you.

Remember, that when you fill out your medical assistant job application or submit your resume to make sure to add all your previous and present skills, knowledge and qualifications so that it matches the advertised medical assistant job description as closely as possible, emphasize the type of medical assistant training  and any outstanding achievements you have accomplished and mention that you are confident and a good candidate to handle the medical assistant duties as posted in their ad.

Get Epocrates Online On Your Hand-Held PC Tablet iPhone Thing

What Doctors Want...

A Medical assistant must know a wide variety of skills pertaining to medical office administration routines and clinical tasks revolving around patient intake procedures, patient record management, medical history taking, setting up EKGs, spirometry, immunizations, blood draws, charting, measuring orthopedic fittings and such. Some situations may involve biohazard risks where Universal Standard Precautions must be practiced. Also, doctors WANT their medical assistants carry a mobile smart phone to be used under certain circumstances to benefit the medical practice and patients.

And Medical Assistant Schools Don't Know!

Written by a practicing physician!

by M.D. on Jun 24, 2009 - 12:49AM
M.D., a doctor who posted on the medical assistant forum, tells us:

"One overall thing I have a gripe about as a practicing physician, which is that the medical assistant schools are not teaching what I want."

1. Do I want you doing my billing? In all honesty, no/zero. I do not want someone with only a high school education keeping track of my billing, reports & posting deposits, that had 2 months of training in it. On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate this a 2 (nearly non-important). MA schools don't know this.
2. Do I want you to be able to work computer appointments, or know manual appointment methods? Yes, in a pinch, but that is, in my opinion, the job of the front office person.
3. Do I want you to know and understand medical terminology & abbreviations? Yes, absolutely.
4. Would I *love* to have you be knowledgeable enough to know how to get Epocrates Online on your hand-held PC tablet iPhone type thing (that you should be having)? Yes, absolutely. You should know how to use apps like this when looking up & giving meds. By the time a book is published, it is out of date. So forget those hard copy nursing drug manuals - ancient history. (MA schools don't know this either).

Room a patient? Yes, clean up the room from the last pt, get the chart, take VS, hgt, wgt, etc.!
Know what is sterile? And what is not (& how to clean it up)? Yes absolutely, or we both get in trouble (financially or morally).

Give injections? Yes. Know sites for various injections/ age group; IM, SQ, needle sites, gauge, syringe size.

Know math? Absolutely. Don't kill my patients with a wrong dose EVER.
Draw blood? Not super important as most offices send patients out to a lab. On a scale of 1-10 this is a 3. (MA schools don't know this).

Phone triage? Yes. Know what is an emergency & what is not, and let me know right away.
In-house small tests (ie: Accucheck, Urine dip, PT, do an ECG)? Absolutely, & know to alert me STAT if any of these tests are really, in dangerous levels. Assist me with minor office surgeries/ procedures? Yes, if just to be there, be sterile, & hand me things, or put your finger over a bleeder. (Again, MA schools don't know this).

Loyalty? Yes. Don't trick me and I won't treat you badly either. We are a team.
5. Most of all, I would LOVE to have someone who keeps track of labs (ie: whether the pt went & got them. If so, on my desk promptly. AND let me know if 3-7 days has passed & I don't have the labs/ x-rays etc.! Then we need to get after the patient/ lab company/ hospital & find out what is going on).

6. To have someone who gets the discharge summary & orders from the hospital when a patient of mine comes back to the office (before they suddenly show up under my shingle). This they don't teach you in MA school. This test follow-up is one of my biggest gripes about MA schools. And, they don't even mention it, but that is far more important to me than your even doing a blood pressure (which I can do myself, if push comes to shove).

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I have called these medical assistant schools to find out what they are about education-wise (West Coast). Unfortunately, they do not even have 1 MD/DO on staff for clinical guidance. This is a BIG mistake because people with Masters in Education are the program directors, & really, they can only guess what clinical practice involves - they have never experienced it.

"Formal" talking/ meetings to ascertain what is necessary, with several M.D.s etc isn't going to cut it with what I want. You need to have been there. A nurse can't teach you really, what a physician needs either. So they do not make a good program directors. Lots of nurses *think* they know, but don't (unfortunately, some won't admit it to themselves).

What would I pay? $15 to $20/hr to start. A good MA is nearly priceless & guaranteed a job for life, IMHO. Be my "right Hand Man", so to speak, and I will reward you accordingly.
Thanks for reading.

by M.D. Jun 24, 2009 - 12:49AM

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More at Medical Assistant NET website.

Medical Assistant Job Description and Application Process

Medical assistants are sought for full-time, permanent, and per diem, part time positions everywhere. Per diem is just another word for as needed. Medical offices and other facilities offer per diem positions to fill in staffing gaps and  cover for shortfalls when one, or several of their full time personnel are suddenly sick or absent for other reasons. In this case, a per diem position opens for temporary work, where work hours are scheduled as needed.

Medical assistants who work per diem pretty much do the same thing the permanent medical assistant would do, which includes prepare patients for office visits, take their weight and height, vital signs, blood glucose check, medication list and document information in patient's chart. The per diem medical assistant might be asked to man the front office and reception area where they must process incoming and outgoing patient telephone calls and patient-related correspondence and manage the appointment schedule.

Medical Assistant Job Description

We recently spotted a typical medical assisant job ad on our affiliate partner site Indeed.com. It included a list of expected duites, qualifications and benefits:

POSITION OVERVIEW
The Medical Assistant is a key member of the Physician Practice and provides clinical expertise to ensure all patients receive high quality, efficient care.

DUTIES INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
·         Provide overall support for Physicians and office operations.
·         Prepares patients for examination and treatment.
·         Takes patient histories and vital signs.
·         Prepares exam and treatment rooms with necessary instruments.
·         Gives injections and assists with lab testing and Phlebotomy.
·         Prepares and maintains supplies and equipment for treatments, including sterilization.
·         Assists physicians in preparing for minor surgeries and physicals.
·         Assists with scheduling of tests and treatments.
·         Screens telephone calls for referral to physician.

EDUCATION
·         A high school diploma or GED is required.
·         Graduation from a Medical Assisting training program is highly preferred.

This example is typical for most medical assistant job announcements. Most doctors and facilities expect a certain amount of job experience before they are willing to hire someone new. Medical assistant job applicants should add into their application and cover letter that they are able to schedule appointments, accurately take and record vital signs in patient’s chart, explain policies and procedures and any medical office management software skills you have, such as MediTech experience. Also add in that you are highly organized, able to pay attention to detail, and very good at multi-tasking and computer skills.

If you are trained in drawing blood, point out your phlebotomy experience. Highlight your knowledge in customer services and care of patients, patient flow and properly taking and routing telephone messages. These are all important medical assistant skills doctors value and expect since these are areas where things can quickly go wrong and become a headache for the rest of the staff. So, again, make sure this is clearly marked in your medical assistant job application and medical assistant cover letter and resume.

Special Prerequisites and Requirements

Don't be surprised if a potential employer asks whether you have certified medical assistant credentials and many many also expect you have current CPR certification. If not, some doctors will stipulate that you obtain it within 3 months of hire. Furthermore, potential employers might ask you to take a pre-employment physical, and sometimes a breath alcohol and DOT drug screening test before or within 6 months of hire. Yes, they do have the right to do that.

Most medical assistants who land the job, whether full-time permanent, or part-time per diem, can expect excellent benefits packages, competitive salaries and growth opportunities.