#GreenKeyUnlocked: Become a Medical Assistant

06Jun

medical-assistants | Green Key Resources

Green KeyGeneral Interest, Green Key News, Healthcare

The work of healthcare professionals is essential to all communities. In many settings, doctors rely on medical assistants to deliver consistent, quality healthcare to their patients.

Medical assistants often serve as the first point of contact between healthcare providers and patients. They work directly with doctors to triage patients, take their vital signs, and collect information about their health concerns.

The profession has grown in importance since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, medical assistants are highly sought after across a range of healthcare settings, including hospitals, hospice care facilities, nursing homes, dental offices, physical therapy clinics, and more.

What are the job duties of a medical assistant?

According to WebMD, a medical assistant must be able to balance several clinical and administrative duties to succeed in the role.

The clinical duties of a medical assistant include:

Recording symptoms
Updating medical history charts
Performing basic lab tests
Assisting doctors during physical exams
Handling prescription refill requests

Examples of administrative duties include:

Scheduling appointments
Greeting patients
Organizing medical records
Coding and completing insurance forms
Handling billing, bookkeeping, and general office mail

What are the required skills and training?

Because medical assistants work directly with patients and medical records, they must possess the appropriate combination of education and training to work in the medical field.

The educational component may require up to two years of school. Interested students can apply to accredited programs through vocational schools, universities, and junior colleges. Most programs are split up into three segments: administrative education, clinical education, and an externship at an approved healthcare facility.

While medical assistants themselves do not need to be certified to work in the healthcare field, many choose to pursue a certification, e.g. through the American Association of Medical Assistants. Certifications demonstrate expertise and can expand future career options for medical assistants.

Why should you consider a career as a medical assistant?

Medical assistants are an invaluable resource to healthcare providers across the board. Not only is the work crucial to the field, it is also extremely fulfilling.

Although medical assistants cannot give medical advice, they do work directly with both doctors and patients. Thus, the role provides a good starting point to explore additional career paths in healthcare, including nursing, medical coding, and healthcare administration.

What’s next?

Green Key Healthcare recruiters are committed to matching the best healthcare professionals to the right opportunities to help unlock potential in your career, teams, and patient care. Visit our jobs board to begin your healthcare job search today.

CRA_pay_skills_comparison.width-500 | Green Key Resources

Healthcare, Pharma

Jun 6, 2023

Clinical Research Hit By High Turnover

Healthcare, Pharma

Jun 6, 2023

Clinical Research Hit By High Turnover

Clinical research associates in the US are leaving jobs at the rate of 30% a year, says a new report from the consulting, tax and advisory firm, BDO.

Where turnover rates for these clinical monitoring professionals had been holding steady at 25%, the rate jumped between 2017 and 2018 by 4%. Outside the US, the global average is a modest 16%.

Turnover has plagued clinical / contract research organizations (CROs) for several years, but the increase in the US promises to heighten the problem. The BDO report says the impact to a CRO can be severe: “Losses of team members can disrupt clinical trials, and ultimately damage the relationship with the trial sponsor. High levels of turnover may deter sponsors from engaging in a strategic partnership with a contract research organization.”

There are multiple causes behind the increasing CRA turnover, though compensation and competition for these professionals is at the top of the list.

“If CROs hope to retain key talent, they must do a better job of linking pay raises to an employee’s level of contribution and re-assess merit budget increases,” said Judy Canavan, Global Employer Services Managing Director at BDO. “Competency models can help companies quantify this linkage.”

BDO’s analysis found CRA compensation levels remained “largely unchanged during the last five years” while CRAs have significantly increased their skills relative to their rate of pay. Likewise, annual incentive programs, a tool to attract and retain talent, haven’t changed much in the last five years. Payouts as a percentage of salary, have actually decreased, the report says.

“Quite simply, says Canavan, “Companies need to link the size of the raise to the increase in an employee’s contribution. This may mean increasing the size of the merit budget. Utilizing a competency model can help companies quantify this linkage.”

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