Medical Assistant Skills

 The spectrum of duties and skills is broad and ranges from procedures that are simple to those that are uncommon and complex. It may include wrapping of injuries, applying therapeutic modalities, operating high tech diagnostic screening equipment, trouble shooting and calibration of medical devices, life-saving emergency crash cart utilization, first aid procedures, diagnostic screening procedure.

Examples of Daily Medical Assistant Routines

  Opening the office first thing in the morning, then...

• Print patient appointment list and pull charts
• Answer and direct incoming calls
• Take and document messages for the doctor
• Schedule patient appointments
• Open and sorting mail
• Compose business letter
• Transcribe medical dictations
• Conduct patient education
• Put together and copy medical record charts
• Documenting vital statistics and SOAP notes
• Post credit, charges, or payments to accounts
• Diagnostic and procedural coding
• Complete the HCFA 1500 claim form
• Maintaine the waiting room and clinical areas
• Sanitize equipment and wrapping it
• Clean and document biohazardous spills
• Obtain a brief medical history from new patients
• Take and document vital signs
• Monitor or caring for a patient during a procedure 
• Administer medications as prescribed
• Irrigate ears, eyes, and install nasal medications
• Assist with excisional surgery, incision and drainage, or removing sutures
• Apply dressings and bandages
• Assist with ambulatory and therapeutic procedures
• Laboratory procedures and STAT diagnostic screening
• Back up computers, turn off lights, close the office

Medical Assistant Responsibilities

Some of the medical assistant's most important daily responsibilities are explaining reasons for prescribed treatment procedures and preparing, positioning and draping patients for their examinations, while also assisting the physician during a procedure if necessary. In your role as a medical assistant you will respond to patient's concerns, route their messages to the provider, or intended person, and respond back with an answer if so instructed, help patients obtain their prescriptions, show them how to correctly take medications and make them feel welcome and cared for during the entire visit.

Watch a day in a medical assistant's life video.