The Average Medical Assistant Salary Can Vary Greatly
A medical assistant is an allied health professional who aids a physician/doctor in carrying out various administrative as well as clinical tasks, such as record keeping and administrating injections.
Depending on the type of physician they work for and the location of the office, the duties of a medical assistant may vary from one office to another. In order to effectively and efficiently manage various front as well as back end operations of a health care practitioner’s office, the medical assistant is required to be well versed with the industry relevant knowledge and should also posses good organizational skills and computer handling expertise. You can read more about the detailed Job Description of a Medical Assistant.
Work Environment Of A Medical Assistant
The latest US statistics show that as much as 50% of all the Medical Assistants work in a Physicians office. Besides that you can also see them providing a helping hand to a Bakersfield Chiropractor’s office, a podiatrist and other healthcare practitioners. They also extend their services in outpatient care centers, long-term healthcare facilities, private and public hospitals as well as in various colleges and universities.
A Typical Medical Assistant Work Schedule
You will find a Medial Assistant working 40 hours a week and depending on the clinic or the healthcare facility they work for, they may be required to work in the evenings, and during weekends and holidays.
How Much Does A Medical Assistant Make?
The average annual Medical Assistant salary is about $30,780. The top 10% of the Medical Assistants exceed $41,910 mark whereas the lowest 10% earn less than $21,280. On hourly basis, the average salary of a medical assistant comes out to be around $14.80. It is quite evident that the annual income of a medical assistant is much lower than that of many other healthcare professionals and technicians. Medical Assistants who work in scientific research services, in insurance carriers or in personal care services tend to make more money than those working in private clinics or hospitals. Those who can relocate from one state to another or from one country to another may be able to make even more money. Medical Assistants working in San Francisco, Chicago, Wisconsin, California, Illinois and Oakland are the highest paid.
Job Outlook For Medical Assistants
With an expected job growth rate of 29% which accounts to almost 162,900 new jobs in the US alone, a career as a medical assistant is very bright and promising. No wonder it is one of the fastest growing healthcare occupation in the US today, thanks to the advancements in the medical field, rising population of baby boomers and increase in the number of health care facilities. As the numbers of healthcare physicians grow due to the increase in the number of patients, physicians will have lesser time to attend to their patients and as a result the role and responsibilities of medical assistants is likely to grow. Another factor that contributes to the growing demand of these professionals is the prevalence of some chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity.
Experience, certified and well-trained medical assistants will have no problems at all finding a good job. Certified medical assistants who have completed a two-year training program are likely to enjoy a distinctive advantage over the non-certified ones when applying for a entry level job.
Medical Assistant Salary – Some Influencing Factors
With the increase in the demand of medical assistants, their salaries also tend to follow the same upward trend. This is quite evident from the past and current statistics, which suggest that the medical assistants were able to earn an average of $25,000 per year in the year 2004, whereas their average salary rose to $31,000 in the year 2014, which is almost a 15% increase. According to the findings by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were almost 571,690 medical assistants working in various parts of the country and making an average of $30,780 in the year 2015. The main reason behind the increase in the salary structure of these professionals can be attributed to the growing demand of more skilled medical assistants and stricter regulations and controls implemented by the healthcare industry. Other than that experience, industry employment and the geographical location also contribute to the increase in salary of these medical professionals.
Experience and Education
Experience and education can help medical assistants to double their salaries, as it is an indication of their specialized skills in different settings and different environments. Normally the fresh medical assistants start with a salary of about $20,000 per year, but the experienced ones can expect to earn an average of about $41,570.
Medical assistants with minimal education usually start by completing general work in a Physician’s office; more educated and more experienced ones tend to acquire more responsible positions beyond a Physician’s office. The more educated medical assistants enjoy better chances of being hired and they are usually hired at higher starting rates than the untrained ones. You can expect a boost of as much as 15% in your starting salary, if you are a certified medical assistant. In Kern County, those who complete one of the accredited Medical Assistant Programs in Bakersfield Ca typically make 20% more than those who don’t have formal training. UEI Medical Assistant training & Kaplan Bakersfield Medical Assistant programs guarantee higher pay upon completion of the program.
Industries With The Best Medical Assistant Salary
It is roughly estimated that over half of all the medical assistants end up working in a Physician’s office, which by no means falls in the top five highest paying market sector for this profession. The number of Medical assistants who end up working in highest earning industries is not more than 4,000, which suggests that education and experience plays an important role in getting a better job. Insurance carriers are considered the top paying industry for medical assistants followed by medical assistants working for personal care services and scientific research and development services. This is a clear indication that experience and skill set can greatly affect the salary structure of a medical assistant in a great way.
Medical assistants offering their services in a hospital usually get a better pay structure than those working in a Physician’s office. The duties of medical assistants working in a hospital setting are more specialized, and as a result extensive on-job training and knowledge is mandatory for them. The various specialized departments are radiology laboratory, postoperative care, surgery and ambulatory. The medical assistants working in these departments are paid anywhere between $15 to $18 per hour.
Based on the duties they perform, medical assistants can be easily classified into two main categories, administrative and clinical. The former ones generally work in the front desk and deal with day to day clerical tasks, such as answering phones, receiving fax and mail and maintaining patient charts. Due to the nature of the duties they perform, these individuals are not required to be well experienced and trained, and this is the reason that they earn lower income of about $9-12 per hour. Whereas the later ones perform more complicate tasks such as gathering a patient’s medical information, administrating injections and medication and taking vital signs, therefore they tend to make more money, which is about $11-14 per hour. Because of the nature of duties they perform, they are required to be highly trained and accredited unlike the administrative medical assistants. Bilingual Medical Assistants can also look forward to a significant boost in their pay.
States With The Highest Medical Assistant Salary
The irony of the matter is that the States with the least number of medical assistants are the top paying locations for these healthcare professionals. Alaska is one such example, which is the highest paying state for these professionals with a mean annual salary of about $39, 610 but only 1,340 out of the 571,690 medical assistant are employed here. Same is the case with Washington, Columbia and Massachusetts, which are among the top paying states, but none of them contain any significant number of these healthcare professionals.