Clinical Medical Assistant Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a clinical medical assistant. You can use our job description template in this article to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a clinical medical assistant.
Who is a Clinical Medical Assistant?
An advanced medical assistant who has earned certification is known as a clinical medical assistant (CMA). The main goal of a clinical medical assistant is to support patient care, from helping doctors conduct physical exams to collecting samples for the lab. Although clinical medical assistants have a wide range of responsibilities, their focus is always on the medical rather than the administrative parts of the business. In clinics, hospitals, and other medical settings, medical assistants perform both clinical and administrative duties. In contrast, CCMA duties are more concentrated on the clinical aspect of these activities. These could involve taking vital signs, documenting medical histories, setting up exam rooms, cleaning medical equipment, taking blood samples, providing injections, and dispensing medicine to patients. All of this is often carried out under a doctor’s supervision. You may collaborate closely with the doctor and provide a hand when necessary so that they can examine patients.
Clinical medical assistants’ jobs might vary substantially depending on the sort of doctor they support and the state’s regulations regarding the field. The fact that these medical support staff members, who are often unlicensed, always operate under the direct supervision of a doctor, a doctor’s assistant, or sometimes a registered nurse, is what never changes.
A clinical medical assistant assists doctors and other health care providers with patient care, procedures, and medical care. To carry out this function, you could work at clinics or medical facilities. You’ll need to gather and record vital signs while aiding the doctor with the examination. Additionally, you are required to keep patient data records for insurance and assessment reasons, deliver injections and drugs as prescribed by the doctor, and approve prescription refills. Along with informing patients about drugs, special diets, and other instructions, your role also includes walking patients through the clinic’s numerous facilities and processes. Additionally, by keeping a clean and sanitary workplace and sterilizing medical equipment, you increase patient safety.
Clinical Medical Assistant Job Description
Below are the clinical medical assistant job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of a clinical medical assistant include the following;
- Examine a certain amount of patient files.
- Check records for detail and appropriate documentation.
- Enter document requests into a system for medical professionals, experts, and other staff.
- Take action on unresolved questions or delayed responses from the past.
- Ensure that the hospital or doctor’s office receives the appropriate Medicare payment.
- Use medical language and practice expertise to assess clinical documents.
- Update medical records and gather medical data from healthcare professionals.
- Check the accuracy of patient medical data and gather any gaps in knowledge.
- Monitor the documentation of diagnoses, therapies, and follow-ups in medical records.
- Analyze and put together clinical reports for medical experts and public health officials.
- Discuss results and support action, and schedule a meeting with healthcare stakeholders.
- Ensure that medical records are stored legally and that their content complies with applicable laws.
- Teach medical and administrative staff how to maintain standard medical records.
- Keep up with developments in the clinical documentation field and modifications to regulations.
- Clean, sterilizes, and disinfects equipment;
- Provide administrative and clinical assistance at the clinic (health center).
- Maintain precise medical and financial data through the procedures for electronic health records.
- Clean and disinfect the lab and exam rooms.
- Use the patient activity tracker to monitor a patient’s time spent in the clinic.
- Collect medical history.
- Enter all financial transactions related to the visit into the Billing Module of the EMR system.
- Collect and record in EMR systems all co-pays and payments for services.
- Recommend therapeutic strategies.
- Prepare test samples, carry out fundamental lab procedures, and sterilize medical equipment.
- Supply for over-the-counter contraception is distributed.
- Perform as necessary as a Patient Services Representative.
Qualifications
- Experience working in a General Medical, Internal Medicine, or Occupational Medicine clinic setting is desirable.
- Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the value of cooperation and worker satisfaction.
- Vital signs and patient evaluation.
- Meeting state criteria or possessing medical assistant certification or registration.
- Strong communication abilities in both writing and speaking are necessary.
- Must be organized, detail-oriented, skilled at multitasking, and able to operate under time constraints.
- CPR certification is necessary.
- A GED or a high school diploma is necessary.
- A certificate in medical assisting, completion of a recognized curriculum, or the equivalent in the armed forces.
- The capacity for autonomous labor.
- The minimum is one year in the medical industry.
Essential Skills
- Customer service: Patients often experience depression while they are in pain. An effective medical assistant will be able to engage with patients in a manner that makes them feel at ease. Small-town doctors often seek their medical aides for assistance with routine duties like washing or dressing patients. While carrying out these duties, medical assistants should know how to conduct themselves professionally.
- Phlebotomy: Before prescribing medication to a patient, a doctor has to be aware of the patient’s blood type. Therefore, a medical assistant should be adept at taking blood samples from patients for testing. She must be able to interpret the findings of blood tests so that they may be entered into the patient’s file.
- Heart and lung resuscitation: In an emergency, a medical assistant should be able to resuscitate a patient. Before medical personnel arrives, CPR can help save a patient’s life.
- Educating patients and families: It is not only the doctor’s responsibility to inform patients and their families about illnesses, safety measures, and harm prevention. A patient may feel more comfortable talking to you as their initial point of contact than they do a doctor. In such circumstances, instruct them on how to manage their diseases and the appropriate course of therapy. Patients are less inclined to question the course of therapy when they are well-informed about their diseases.
- Electrocardiogram: A tool used to assess a patient’s vital signs is an ECG. When caring for a new patient, a medical assistant must gather important data, such as the patient’s vital signs. Consequently, electrocardiography skills are required for a medical assistant.
- Preparing the patient: A medical assistant needs to be adept at getting patients ready for procedures and surgeries. This entails educating patients about foods to stay away from and interacting with them to put their minds at ease. The medical assistant must make the doctor’s instructions simpler if the patient has trouble understanding them.
- Injections: Injections should be given to the patient by a medical assistant. However, medical assistants are not permitted by law to inject drugs into an IV (Intravenous Therapy). Such procedures can only be carried out by doctors and nurses.
- Healthcare coding: A medical assistant should be able to handle patient transactions. He ought to be able to input patient medical information into the hospital’s database.
- Bookkeeping: A medical assistant should be able to handle simple accounting procedures. She should be able to handle budgets, monitor insurance claims, and identify debtors.
- Knowledge about computers: A medical assistant is in charge of managing hospital finances on computerized spreadsheets and handling medical communications. He has to be skilled with other technological skills, Microsoft Word, and Excel because of this. Today, hospitals use medical record software to keep the data on their patients. A medical assistant should be able to use these software programs with ease.
- Making appointment plans: The majority of physicians have a full schedule throughout the day. An effective medical assistant understands how to schedule a doctor’s many visits without bothering her. A capable assistant promptly tells the doctor when a patient calls to reschedule an appointment.
- Confidentiality: When patients confide in you, they do so because they know they can trust you to keep their information private. A top-notch medical assistant never betrays the trust of their patients.
- Telephone expertise: A good medical assistant knows and follows proper phone protocol. She pays full attention to the caller. A medical assistant must be able to talk loudly and effectively. She queries if the caller has fulfilled all of their requirements before hanging up.
- Collaboration: Supporting physicians and other medical professionals are the medical assistant’s main responsibility. For top-notch outcomes, a medical assistant has to be able to collaborate with other medical specialists. A medical assistant should assist as soon as he becomes aware of a problem. Effective medical assistants are aware that they can always do better. As a result, they often ask their coworkers for input on their job.
- Inventory control: Monitoring inventory flow is a skill that medical assistants must possess. They need to be allowed to decide when to add new supplies to the inventory.
- Empathy: When patients arrive at the hospital, some of them can be in discomfort. They could feel compelled to tell you what they are going through. You must be able to recognize their emotions so that you may console them with your words. Once you approach them with this mindset, they will feel comfortable putting their faith in you and the other clinic staff members.
- Stress reduction: Multitasking may be demanding. Medical assistants must put in a lot of effort, but they also need to know when to slow down and take a break.
- Endurance and tenacity: Medical assistants are required to stand for extended periods. As a result, they need a lot of endurance to be effective.
- Dependability: For the majority of their responsibilities, doctors must depend on medical assistants. Medical assistants must be trustworthy because of this. Medical assistants who work with integrity regularly monitor and gather patient data. They must use good judgment and maintain the privacy of patients’ personal information.
- Sociable: Being a medical assistant may not be the best job choice for you if you are an introvert. Medical assistants need to speak a lot. They must greet patients, answer phones, engage with patients, and provide comfort when appropriate. However, extroverts are more suited for a job as a medical assistant than introverts.
- Compliance: It’s possible that medical assistants won’t always agree with what physicians or nurses say. They must, though, strictly adhere to the instructions of their superiors.
- Optimism: Patients often experience depression while they are in pain or dealing with a serious sickness. Patients could be inspired to have a more positive outlook on life if the medical assistant maintains a good attitude despite the circumstance. A career as a medical assistant might serve as a springboard for positions in the healthcare sector that pay more. Use these lists of medical assistant skills to enhance your professionalism at work, make a difference in patients’ lives, and succeed in your position to raise your chances of success.
How to Become a Medical Clinical Assistant
- Get a high school diploma or something like that: Your high school diploma is the required minimum level of education. You will succeed in earning your medical assistant certification if you took math and science studies in high school.
- Complete a curriculum for medical assistants that are accredited: You need to pass the CMA test to work as a medical assistant. A student must complete a medical assistant program that has been approved by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES) to find the test.
The course lasts between nine and twelve months, and many of them are given in colleges or career centers. Some community colleges provide a two-year curriculum with an associate’s degree.
- Utilize internships to gain experience as a medical assistant: You should finish an internship or externship after your medical assisting degree in addition to the curriculum and labs. You’ll get the chance to put the skills you’ve been learning in class into practice during this time at a clinic, specialized practice, or hospital. Students frequently take on activities like collecting blood from patients under supervision while being shadowed by seasoned medical assistants. You’ll have plenty of accomplishments to include on your CV as a result of this experience, and you’ll also feel confident going into job interviews following graduation.
- Become licensed: As we previously indicated, you might need to pass a certification exam based on company preferences and the state you wish to work in. The Certified Medical Assistant CMA test and the Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) exam are the two main alternatives for certification. Both will go through a wide range of important subjects, including anatomy and physiology, medical jargon, safety, and legal compliance. Sounds menacing? Don’t worry too much about it; a good medical assistant school will provide you with everything you require. Remember that pursuing one of these options is still a great way to help boost your resume and stand out as a candidate when applying, even if employers in your area don’t require certification.
- Apply for a job: It is in your best interest to seek out, show initiative, and pursue the type of profession you desire, regardless of the training you have. Your willingness to relocate may also have an impact on the certification requirements you must meet to become an MA. Continue going over your CV, practicing your interview replies, and honing your technical abilities. Consider volunteering at a nearby hospital or clinic to add extra healthcare expertise to your resume if your job hunt is taking longer than you’d like.
Where to work as a Clinical Medical Assistant
Work environments for clinical medical assistants include:
- Hospitals, outpatient clinics
- Medical practices
- Health centers
Job responsibilities may differ depending on the practice’s size, location, and expertise. Clinical medical assistants are in great demand as well; in fact, the area is predicted to expand by 29% by 2026.
Clinical Medical Assistant Salary Scale
Clinical medical assistants in the US earn an average salary of $29,069 to $134,811 per year, while the top 86% earn an average salary of $356,463 per year.
In the UK, a clinical medical assistant makes an average wage of £23,676 per year, or £12.14 per hour. The starting salary for entry-level professionals is £21,054, while the average yearly salary for experienced professionals is £35,193.
In Canada, the typical clinical medical assistant makes $46,693 a year, or $23.95 an hour. Most experienced professionals may earn up to $59,495 per year, while entry-level roles start at $39,988.
Australia’s national average for clinical assistant pay is $72,866 per year or $37.37 per hour. Most experienced workers can earn up to $119,345 per year, while entry-level positions start at $62,051 annually.
In Ireland, a medical assistant with 1-3 years of experience at entry level makes, on average, €23,464 per year. The average pay for a senior-level clinical medical assistant (8+ years of experience) is €37,083 per year.