Duties of a Medical Assistant In Bakersfield Ca
Medical assistant duties in Bakersfield Ca are based around assisting nurses, physicians and other health care professionals with their day to day tasks. This can include administrative and clinical work, which varies depending on the particular position and facility.
Most states do not include any formal education requirements to apply for the position and carry out medical assistant duties, except for a valid high school diploma in some cases. Employers may prefer to hire graduates of one of over 700 American Medical Assisting programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or the Accreditation Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES).
MA is a non-licensed allied health occupation, typically full-time, that presents opportunities for career growth after continued medical education. When applying for other jobs in the medical field, the work experience can prove beneficial during the review process and result in a better chance of landing a better position.
People who successfully complete one of the Medical Assistant Programs In Bakersfield Ca are usually found in a doctor’s office, with some of them employed in hospitals or other health care facilities. They can assist physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors and other health professionals, so they must receive on-site training to effectively deal with their medical assistant duties and are given additional responsibilities once they become more experienced.
As previously pointed out, Kern County medical assistant duties will vary from one medical facility to another, depending on its size, specialization and the state it’s located in. Smaller offices will generally have MAs who take care of both clinical and administrative tasks, and sometimes there will be only one person in that position.
A larger hospital with more patients and paperwork that needs to be handled on a daily basis is going to require more people in the MA position. In addition, they will usually specialize in either administrative or medical duties to improve efficiency. As it is common in large establishments, medical assistants will report directly to senior administrators or other managers in their department to keep the process in check.
Physicians’ offices and hospitals usually try to utilize MA work in routine work that does not require a lot of training, but is essentially to the medical facilities’ daily operations. As a result, they perform tasks that would have otherwise taken the time out of nurses’ and doctors’ day that could be used on taking care of patients.
The most common administrative medical assistant duties
• Answering Phones / Making Appointments
• Calling in Prescriptions
• Receptionist / Secretary Duties
• Customer Service / Help Desk
• Placing Orders for Medical and Office Supplies
• Storing and Pulling Patient Charts
• Contacting Insurance Companies
• Electronic Input of All Charts and Paperwork
This list is a pretty accurate reflection of what most MAs are used for in their daily work. At a typical hospital or medical office, you will most likely see them at the front desk or talk to them over the phone, as they make appointments and perform duties of a secretary.
Depending on their qualifications and training, some medical assistants are also involved in medical duties in a health care facility. Due to the convenient and largely automated diagnostic equipment available in most clinics in the country, MAs may be seen performing ultrasounds and other such procedures. Many Medical Assistants in Bakersfield Ca go on to complete a Medical Assistant to RN program.
An outline of the typical medical tasks
• Measuring Blood Pressure
• Recording Medical History
• Questioning Patients about Their Health Complaints
• Informing Patients About the Doctor’s Instruction
• Directing Patients to Their Rooms
• Checking Vital Signs
• Weighing Patients
• Collecting and Preparing Specimens For Lab Tests
• Drawing Blood
• Giving Injections
• Providing Additional Assistance during Medical Procedures
At a more specialized facility like an optometrist’s office, a medical assistant could be guiding patients through a standard vision test and instructing them on how to insert, remove and take care of their new contact lenses. It’s not uncommon for medical assistants in larger hospitals to specialize in either clerical or medical duties, but a typical health care facility will have work from both fields passed on to them for completion.
Unlike the work done by physician assistants, medical assistant duties don’t include actual any examinations, diagnoses or treatments of the doctor’s patients. Nevertheless, their work at doctor’s offices and hospitals across the United States has proved invaluable for relieving health care professionals of time-consuming duties that do not require advanced medical skills.
As a result of their usefulness, the demand for medical assistants in the country has grown significantly during the past decade. It’s expected to rise by 31% between the years of 2010 and 2020.
The busy health care facilities rely on them most commonly for carrying out basic tasks like taking blood pressure and recording medical histories. Recently, as the importance of immediate electronic records increased to the point of necessity, MAs have also reserved data entry duties.
Economy and affect on medical assistant duties
In spite of the bad economy of the recent years, MAs were among the few jobs that were still on the rise. As the profession becomes even more widespread, hospitals and doctors’ offices find more and more medical assistant duties for them to perform.
The typical pay of MA positions ranges from $25,000 to $35,000 in different parts of the United States. The median salary in the country was $28,860 in May 2010. When people receive certification from a CAAHEP or ABHES-accredited MA program and are given more responsibilities, they can expect to get paid more for their work.
Certified medical assistants can also rise to other positions in the health care industry by meeting a certain threshold of experience, qualifications and other criteria. However, the routine nature of most tasks carried out by MAs at a doctor’s office or hospital don’t offer a lot of options to distinguish themselves. Some Kern County medical assistants work at local chiropractor’s offices.
Someone who wishes to pursue a medical career should constantly be on the lookout for other openings and employment opportunities in the field.
Simultaneously, they should excel at medical assistant duties.