Medical Assistants have many responsibilities, so it isn’t surprising how frequently people ask, “What does a medical assistant do?”.
Primarily, they support the physician in medical offices and clinics including hospitals, physician offices, specialized health clinics, emergency rooms and a variety of other healthcare facilities.
Medical Assistant duties vary by location, size of clinic, and specialty. Keep reading to learn all of the clinical, administrative, and patient duties.
Images: What Does a Medical Assistant Do?
Medical Assistant Duties and Responsibilities
Medical assistants are trained through medical assisting programs that teach MA students to perform both clinical and administrative duties. Additionally, they play a strong role directly with patients and serve as a liaison between physicians and patients.
Administrative Duties of Medical Assistants
- Managing computer applications
- Greeting patients
- Answering phones
- Correspondence, billing, and bookkeeping
- Handling hospital admissions processes and laboratory services
- Appointment scheduling
- Completing insurance codes and forms
- Filing and updating patient medical records
Patient Duties of Medical Assistants
Medical Assistants are also vital in easing patients to make them feel at ease in the physician’s office. Additionally they help communicate the physicians instructions to the patients.
Clinical duties of Medical Assistants
- Taking medical histories
- Drawing blood
- Creating electrocardiograms
- Explaining procedures for treatment to patients
- Getting patients ready for examination
- Assisting the physician during examination
- Obtaining and preparing lab specimens
- Recording patient’s vital signs
- Performing basic lab tests
- Educating patients on special diets and medication regimens
- Administering medications as directed by a physician
- Removing stitches (sutures)
- Changing bandages and dressings
As you can see, there isn’t a short answer to “What does a medical assistant do”
Due to the variety of tasks and responsibilities, what a medical assistant does will depend on where they work.
The main determining factor will be whether or not the MA position is more focused on clinical tasks or administrative tasks. That said, many Medical Assisting positions will require some of both.
If you are concerned about performing certain tasks such as giving injections then you can get advice from our community to learn about MA positions that won’t require you to perform injections.
If you are still asking, what does a medical assistant do? Then you will want to read our FAQ page, what is a clinical medical assistant, to learn more about the hands-on patient responsibilities that Medical Asssistants perform.
Questions About What Do Medical Assistants Do?
If you have any other questions about the duties, responsibilities, day to day tasks etc. for medical assistants, then ask our community in the comments below.
