A Day in the Life of a Medical Administrative Assistant

A medical administrative assistant is a career option for those who want to work in an office setting within the expanding healthcare field.¹ Is the life of a medical administrative assistant right for you? One way to help answer this question is to learn what a typical day may look like in a medical administrative assistant entry-level role.

Medical Administrative Assistant Work Settings

Medical administrative assistants (MAA) spend their workdays in doctors’ offices, hospitals, outpatient care centers, assisted living facilities, and other types of healthcare facilities. Medical offices such as these come in all different shapes and sizes.

Depending on the size of the office, a medical administrative assistant may work with several other healthcare professionals or only a few. Their duties can also vary based on office size and whether there are others on staff who share the responsibilities.

Medical Administrative Assistant Duties

Another factor to consider when looking at a day in the life of a medical administrative assistant is the types of tasks they perform. Overall, medical administrative assistants play an important role in helping to ensure smooth business operations and contribute to quality healthcare service.

The way they do this is by assisting with certain administrative duties. It may help to think of this role as a medical office administrative assistant, or an assistant who helps with medical administrative tasks.
Some of the daily responsibilities of medical administrative assistants may include:

• Scheduling appointments and confirming appointment times
• Answering phones and returning messages
• Maintaining patient charts
• Providing medical and insurance forms to patients
• Submitting insurance information
• Bookkeeping and sending out bills and invoices
• Logging medical and patient information into an electronic data system
• Processing healthcare claims and medical records

Why Become a Medical Administrative Assistant?

Although administrative medical assistants are not involved in direct patient care, they touch the lives of patients in a number of important ways.

They contribute to the quality of healthcare delivery by providing good customer service. By helping to take care of facility operations, medical administrative assistants help doctors, nurses, and other primary healthcare providers focus on patient care.

A career in healthcare is a career where you can help make a difference and feel good about what you do. UMA offers an online Medical Administrative Assistant diploma program and Health Sciences – Medical Administrative Assistant associate degree program, both of which provide the education and skills necessary to pursue this healthcare role.

If you’d like to learn more about UMA’s healthcare programs and services, contact us today.