What Do Medical Assistants Do?

Learn about the essential day-to-day duties and responsibilities of a medical assistant:

What are the daily responsibilities of a medical assistant?

Daily responsibilities vary due to the versatility of medical assistants and the differences in the way they are utilized from one organization to another.

Clinical Responsibilities

Examples of clinical responsibilities of medical assistants include taking vital signs, gathering information about the chief complaint, taking histories, administering medications (this will vary by state and organization), assisting with minor surgical procedures, performing EKGs and pulmonary function testing.

Laboratory Testing

In some settings, medical assistants perform laboratory testing including phlebotomy (drawing blood), urinalysis testing, rapid strep & flu testing and pregnancy testing. Of course, in specialty practices, duties will be a bit different, based on the specialty.

Administration

Administrative duties of the medical assistant may include checking patients in for their appointments, answering phone calls, scheduling appointments, posting patient payments as well as some billing and coding responsibilities.

Coaching

Medical assistants working in advanced roles may have additional responsibilities including some health coaching, flow management or clinical supervisor responsibilities.

A day in the life of a clinical medical assistant

Upon arrival at the office, the medical assistant will often turn on the equipment and make certain rooms are stocked and ready to go for the day as well as review the schedule.

Prior to seeing patients, the MA, provider and other team members may have a huddle to discuss the game plan for the day and go over the patient schedule together, during which, they will discuss any special procedures that are on the schedule or patient concerns.

Following the meeting, the MA will room patients which may include measuring the patient’s height and weight and obtaining their vital signs. Gathering the chief complaint, reviewing medications, updating the patient’s medical history and preventative screening sections of the EHR are additional responsibilities that may be included in the rooming process.

Once the rooming process is completed, the MA will provide disrobing instructions for the patient and set out any necessary equipment and supplies that the provider may need during the exam.

While the provider is examining patients, the MA will usually continue to fill all of the provider’s rooms with patients so that the provider can stay on schedule.

The MA will read the electronic order’s screen for each patient to see if the provider has any special instructions in regards to lab work or procedures that need to be performed as well as any discharge instructions to share with patients.

Between patients, the MA will return phone calls and perform other tasks requested by the provider or patient.

A day in the life of an administrative medical assistant

Medical assistants that work in an administrative capacity work a great deal in the electronic health record. They may greet the patient as they enter the reception room, update demographic information on the patient and collect and post co-payments from the patient.

They may answer phone calls, scan information into the EHR and schedule new appointments for the patient, following their current visit. If the medical assistant has a coding and billing background he or she may assist with the coding of claims and claim generation.

What should someone expect when entering the role?

What are the challenges they will face and what do they need to be prepared for? Realize that no two practices are the same. Steps for performing procedures, equipment, and organizational policies will differ from one practice to another. Many practices will have onboarding procedures and training that will need to be completed before being assigned to a specific area.

Testing is usually involved so reviewing normal values, dosage calculations, the actions of common medications and steps for performing clinical and administrative procedures is a great way to prepare for the training.

During the training period, take good notes and listen attentively to everything that is stated. Never tell a supervisor or trainer that they are doing something incorrectly, just because you learned it differently.

Realize that members of the leadership team and other peers will be sizing you up during the first few months. They will want to know that they can trust you with patients, that you will be dependable and that you have great essential or soft skills.

Patients will also be sizing you up. Do you exuberate confidence and do you look like a professional? Do you follow through with what you say you are going to do? But also realize that you are going to make mistakes and that is ok as long as you own the mistake and learn from it. If you dwell on your mistakes, you will be more likely to make more mistakes.

Find ways to connect with your peers, whether it is giving someone a card that went out of their way to help you or bringing in goodies for members of the staff, find those connection opportunities.

What can medical assistants do to evolve their careers over time?

Be a great citizen in your organization. Be kind and friendly and always extend assistance to others when opportunities arise. Treat everyone in the organization with respect and make patients feel/know that you genuinely care.

Get certified and keep your credential/s current. Take advantage of micro-credentialing opportunities offered through credentialing organizations and build a great brand for yourself.

Medical assistants are the blood and soul of a medical office

They make or break the office “vibe.” Their expertise goes way beyond simply taking vital signs, calling in prescriptions, and dealing with insurance challenges.

They get to know patients and their families (and pets!) and are often the best advocates for patients in need in a busy office where all too often, the meaning of true healthcare is overlooked.

I am blessed to work with the best medical assistants one could ever ask for.

Non-surgical “MedSpa” treatment assistance

These can include skin tightening, laser resurfacing, chemical peels, cellulite reduction. We noticed years back that hiring aestheticians for this ended up in a high turn over rate. We were noticing that many aestheticians were expecting very high salaries for the work, and though I believe in getting paid fairly, it was not something a cosmetic practice could afford to do.

There was also no loyalty to the business as they would only work as long as you had clients. When the season slowed down in Sept, they would jump ship and go somewhere else.

Hiring MA’s provided the practice with skill medical labor, loyalty, and people already familiar with medical practice salary structure.

Cosmetic surgery assistance

We use MA’s within our procedure suites to assist with cosmetic surgery. Duties include prepping the surgery room, assisting during surgery as both sterile and non-sterile help, post-surgical wound dressing, and for office duties on follow up days.

Stem cell processing

In the stem cell therapy practice, we hire MA’s to help process the stem cells from the patient sample during treatment. In stem cell treatment, a general sample of tissue is harvested from the patient when they come in. This sample of fat (about 50 cc’s) needs to be processed in order to separate out the untapped stem cells.

The job is very detailed and MA’s have shown to be very good at doing this type of work. Their medical experience allows us to have multiple lab stations running at the same time, which increases our ability to treat patients.

Once again, pay and loyalty come into play when making the decision. We could hire LVN’s, RN’s, or Surgical Tech, and each are excellent options. But, the cost to hire such an employee is incredibly high right now. RN’s, in particular, expect a salary of $90k or more, and with the increased demand for them in cosmetic practices, these salaries usually come with commissions of $100-$300 per patient seen.

For a business, this is a killer to the bottom line and makes it incredibly hard to keep the doors open, while charging a fair market price for services.

If we raise prices, we can hire more expensive employees, but the cost increase would destroy the volume of patients seen. (this is all out of pocket) High paid workers also have less loyalty to the practice, and many demand flexible work hours/schedules, extra vacation time, etc.

Medical assistants either does paperwork or direct patient care

What medical assistants do can vary significantly based on the facility or the specialty healthcare the medical assistant (MA) works in.

If the MA is doing patient care some of their job duties could involve getting patient vital signs, sitting with patients for those that require 1:1 care or bed baths, and assisting patients with ambulating. If the MA is doing paperwork it could involve charting patient information in medical records.

As a medical assistant and now manager of a large, thriving medical practice I have experienced both being in the trenches as a medical assistant and mentoring others as their leader. I can’t emphasize enough to my students the tremendous responsibility and role they have in the medical field.

Medical assistants set the tone of the practice

Not only do we have the responsibility of collecting the patient’s vitals and their PMH ( Personal Medical History), but we set and deliver the tone of the practice by being confident, polite and caring. Patients must feel confidence and trust going into a medical office.

To be a good medical assistant, one always has to be a step ahead; for example knowing the schedule, preparing for everything that your doctor might need and paying attention to every small and great detail.

Medical assistants have to be compassionate

Also, a medical assistant has to learn how to put his or herself in the patient’s shoes and understand that the patient might have certain insecurities and doubts about putting their trust in the doctor but also the assistant.

A medical assistant always has to be aware of the surroundings and their personal conduct as you would never want to make the patient feel uncomfortable; by laughing or talking loud outside the patient’s room as it can send the wrong message.

The medical assistant’s ultimate goal should be to deliver exceptional care to their patient and to be the most helpful and reliable assistant to the doctor.

Medical assistants are what form the medical support team

A medical assistant’s role can change depending on the day and what tasks need to be completed. In other words, they require a broad set of skills.

A medical assistant’s duties can vary from scheduling appointments over the phone, to doing laboratory work such as analyzing blood or urine tests. Medical assistants are typically in charge of keeping all patients files up to date and in order. At times, medical assistants can also help physicians with actual patient examinations.

Overall, medical assistants are what form the medical support team. They help where they can and are a crucial part of assuring that everything in the hospital or clinic is running smoothly and with ease.

Frequently Asked Questions