As Maya Angelou once said, “They may forget your name, but they’ll never forget the way you made them feel,” medical assistants do not get a lot of credit, but they do work very hard and make a lasting impression on their patients. In fact, I would say that besides making an impression on the patient medical assistants do a lot of the charting and taking vitals. A medical assistant wears many hats and is educated on many different things, which makes the setting the work in after their training determine what tasks they may do on a daily basis.
Medical assistants can do many different types of writing throughout the day depending on the position they choose to take or the office they chose to work in. The biggest portion of a medical assistant’s job is to assist the physician and make the patients feel comfortable; whether it be by preforming administrative tasks such as scheduling patient appointments, filing new patient forms, or taking calls, or by preforming clinical tasks such as taking patient vitals, recording patient vitals/symptoms, or inquiring about patient histories to help the physician properly identify, diagnose, and treat a patient.
When you walk into a Medical Office the person who greets you makes the biggest impression on you, and typically that same person is the one who will put your information into the computer. A medical assistant is the person who greets you asks you how you are doing or how your day is going. This is the person who “breaks the ice” and makes you more comfortable while you are checking in or waiting for an appointment (Things Every Medical Assistant Must Do When Taking Patient Histories, n. . ).
Often, if you are a new patient to a medical office the medical assistant will be the one to hand you the new patient forms and help you if you have any questions. Which can also put them in the position to remind you of appointments or remind you to schedule appointments, and to answer in calls coming in whether they be to schedule an appointment or try to answer your questions (Medical Assistant Careers: Duties, Training & Job Outlook, n. d. ).
When doing administrative duties, the medical assistant is the first person you make contact with, and the person that will help you to the best of their ability; they are the person who gains your trust. Medical assistants can go from being the person you met at the front desk to the person who is checking your vital signs, recording your symptoms and vitals into a chart, and assisting the physician in minor procedures or preforming minor medical procedures.
Before the physician comes into examine the patient the medical assistant will ask the patient about the medical history, any medications they may be taking, their current symptoms and health concerns, and anything else that could help the physician treat the patient. Though medical assistants are not qualified to do certain tasks, they are qualified to do things like: informing the patient on what the exam or procedure the physician has planned may entail, phlebotomy, redressing wounds, and taking vital signs (Medical Assistant Careers: Duties, Training & Job Outlook, n. . ).
This portion of medical assisting also makes patient interaction important, because you want the patient to trust you while taking their vitals. Another thing that a medical assistant might do is dispense medication under the physician’s orders (Scherman, 2014). Being as a medical assistant primary clinical duties are to assist the physician and record vitals, it is important that they are properly trained and prepared for their tasks.
During the day to day tasks of a medical assistant they do many types of writing including but not limited to charting, making notes for the physician, scheduling patient appointments or whatever their daily tasks may require. One of the most important types of writing a medical assistant does is charting, which gives the physician the basic things and some major things they need to know about the patient.
Another important form of writing the medical assistant does is make ote and take notes for the physician, which is important to help a physician diagnose or treat a patient. The notes you make for a physician can be anything from medical histories, to recording something you see wrong with the patient, or even something the patient make claim is wrong (Medical Assistant Careers: Duties, Training & Job Outlook, n. d. ). Medical assistants can also do administrative writing whether it be filling, billing, assisting patients with forms or simple questions, and in some cases basic office tasks.
The type of writing a medical assistant does is based on the setting they work in or the type of practice (Scherman, 2014). Due to the fact, a medical assistant can wear many hats the type of writing they do genuinely depends on what they are hired to do. Charting is important for many reasons like patient identification, recording symptoms, helping the physician understand what is going on with the patient/ diagnose patient, to help the physician properly prescribe prescriptions, and to help keep record in case the patient brings you to court.
What the physician knows about a patient’s medical history, from previous procedures to prior/current medications, can help the physician identify possible things that could be wrong with a patient. The chart includes things like height, weight, lab results, vitals, notes of symptoms, prior conditions, or prior family medical history (Brown, n. d. ). When charting properly recording what sort of medicines that the patient has been taking and how often.
It is also good to go over the dates of past procedures to keep a good record, really just knowing the simple details is helpful (Things Every Medical Assistant Must Do When Taking Patient Histories, n. d. ). Other helpful things that charting provides is “risk factors” the patient may have, and to help clear up concerns that the patient or physician may have about the patient (Medical Assistant Careers: Duties, Training & Job Outlook, n. d. ). If something is not in the chart than there is no proof that it happened, which is another reason proper charting is important.
In the case that a patient brings up legal charges against the medical office or physician you work for you need to make sure what you chart you are doing so properly. You can be called to court years after you treat the patient, so the chart will be the only evidence you have about treating the patient (Brown, n. d. ). Charting is something you should never take lightly whether it just be so the physician can properly treat the patient, or if you must defend your actions in court.
Medical assistants are important because they are versatile, the field is constantly growing and they can be very helpful to physicians and nurses. Being as medical assistants are often trained in both clinical and administrative duties they are very versatile, medical offices, such as hospitals, are becoming more dependent on their abilities. The ability to do both administrative and clinical duties allows medical offices helps keep things around the office efficient, and makes the job easier on physicians (Scherman, 2014).
The versatility is making medical assisting a growing career, “According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are roughly 560,800 licensed MAs currently working in the United States — and between 2012 and 2022, the sector is expected to increase by roughly 29%, which is “much faster” than the projected rate of growth for all occupations” (Medical Assistant Careers: Duties, Training & Job Outlook, n. d. ). A medical assistant is good at doing many things which makes the jobs of nurses and physicians easier, and the office function fluidly.
Becoming a medical assistant means taking on many roles in a medical office, from helping the patient to assisting the physician. Some of the most important things a medical assistant does is greeting the patient, making the patient comfortable and assisting them in scheduling an appointment or questions about a form. On the clinical side of things, a medical assistant will assist the physician, preform minor procedures, and chart patient vitals/symptoms.
Since a medical assistant wears many hats they do many types of writing, whether it be charting, scheduling appointments, making notes or a physician, or taking messages. The most important type of writing a medical assistant does is charting, because it helps the physician treat the patient and it helps you remember events or thing about the patient when they are called into question. The field of medical assisting is quickly growing, because medical assistants help keep medical offices function efficiently. In conclusion, medical assistants are helpful to any medical office whether it be a hospital or clinic, because of their many different skills.