A
skilled support staff is a tremendous asset to any clinical, medical or dental
setting. Due to recent rapid advances in healthcare, well-trained personnel
are needed in a variety of areas such as physicians' and dentists' offices,
long-term care facilities, hospitals, and medical insurance companies. Both
medical assistants and medical administrative specialists are employed in administrative
services such as scheduling appointments, handling bills and payments, maintaining
medical records, and insurance forms.
Medical Office Personnel
As medical administrative specialists are responsible for front office duties, they must be knowledgeable in medical terminology, file maintenance, scheduling for both hospital admissions and out-patient procedures, and be proficient in typing and transcription. Medical assistants may be responsible for these front office duties and also clinical tasks such as preparing the patient for the examination and/or treatment, performing laboratory work, administering electrocardiograms, and performing x-rays. These personnel are very important members of the health care team.
