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Daily Clinical and Administrative Tasks of Medical Assistants

By Jennifer Williams, allied health world Contributing Writer
Published: October, 21 2010

What does a Medical Assistant do?

Medical assistants are multitasking individuals that work in fast paced clinical environments. For this reason, it can be said that no two days are the same for the medical assistant. One day may be spent primarily answering phones and scheduling appointments, while the next day may be chock-full of collecting specimens, performing urinalyses, and drawing blood. It is the responsibility of the medical assistant to be engaged in patient care, dedicated to the effective functioning of the medical facility, and adaptable to changes in facility protocol or physician needs.

Medical assistant schools prepare graduates to work in almost any medical specialty, so the job duties may be different in any given facility. Overall, however, medical assistants are typically responsible for the completion of both administrative and clinical tasks.

Administrative responsibilities include:

• Scheduling and coordinating patient appointments
• Assisting patients on the phone and in person
• Setting up referrals for surgical procedures or laboratory testing
• Setting up referrals to specialists
• Communicating patient messages to doctors
• Entering and updating patient information in EMR systems
• Verifying insurance coverage for procedures and medications
• Explaining medical procedures to patients
• Sending prescriptions to pharmacies

Clinical responsibilities include:

• Capturing and noting vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, respirations, O2 saturation)
• Updating patient medical and family history (weight changes, surgeries, medications, diagnoses, allergies, concerns, births, deaths, family medical conditions)
• Assisting with clinical procedures by preparing instruments and sealing and labeling specimen samples (colposcopy, pap smear, mole removal, fluid aspiration)
• Wound care (bandaging, removal of bandages, cleansing, flushing, medicating)
• Suture removal
• Immunization administration (Prevnar, hepatitis B, RotaTeq, MMR, DTaP, Hib, IPV, seasonal influenza, H1N1, varicella, MCV4, HPV)
• Drawing blood samples
• Medication administration (bolus injections used to jumpstart oral antibiotics for viral and bacterial infections)
• Patient education (dietary restrictions, medication administration and interactions)
• Sterilizing exam rooms

Where do Medical Assistants Work?

Medical assistants are the administrative and clinical support system of every medical facility. It is their dedication to patient care and safety that makes their expertise paramount to a smooth, effective healthcare practice. Wherever there is a patient in need of diagnostic care, preventative care, or treatment, there is a medical assistant working in both a hands on and administrative capacity. Because medical assistants have skills in both administrative and clinical tasks, they are qualified to work in the following healthcare settings:

• Family medical centers - where medical assistants predominantly assist MDs and FNPs with daily tasks.
• Group practices - where medical assistants may work for physicians in different medical specialties, or their assistance may be directed toward just one medical specialty within the practice.
• Multi-specialty medical clinics – similar to group practices, but medical assistants in multi-specialty clinics generally serve several medical specialties
• Public or private hospitals – CNAs, LPN, and RNs usually assist in acute care settings, but medical assistants with advanced training and education may advance to acute care positions.
• Specialty medical clinics – where medical assistants work in a clinic that supports only one medical specialty.
• Outpatient care centers – where medical assistants assist physicians or surgeons with minor outpatient surgeries, procedures, or visits.
• Urgent care centers – where walk-in patients present with immediate, minor issues that cannot wait until the opening of their primary care physician's office, but do not warrant emergency room treatment.

What Types of Specialties do Medical Assistants Work With?

With the variety of courses included in medical assistant programs, these professionals are trained to work in any type of medical specialty that demands their services. In 2008, about 62% of all medical assistants nationwide were employed in physicians' offices, with just 13% employed in hospitals.

Through group practice, multi-specialty clinics, specialty medical clinics, outpatient care centers, urgent care centers, and family medical practices, medical assistants find themselves working to specialties that include:

• Pediatrics
• Internal medicine
• OB/GYN
• Urgent care
• Urology
• Gastroenterology
• Oncology
• Radiation oncology
• Dermatology
• Ophthalmology
• Neurology
• Orthopedics
• Psychology

Naturally, the duties and responsibilities of a medical assistant will change depending upon which type of specialty they are working under. A medical assistant working in OB/GYN may assist with annual gynecologic examinations, an urgent care medical assistant may assist with fluid aspiration from a concerning abscess, and a dermatology medical assistant may assist with mole or bunion removals. This is profession that allows for many opportunities to work in a broad array of specialized medical fields.