Medical Receptionist Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a medical receptionist job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a medical receptionist. Feel free to use our medical receptionist job description template to produce your own medical receptionist job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a medical receptionist.
Who is a Medical Receptionist?
Medical Receptionists are highly trained professionals whose responsibilities are to coordinate the daily administrative affairs of staff, visitors, doctors, and patients at the hospital or any healthcare facility. They are also responsible for scheduling appointments, receiving patients, handling their emergency inquiries, and monitoring stock and supplies of health care wares in the clinic.
A Medical Receptionist is employed at the clinics and hospitals to facilitate recordkeeping and communication in the health sector. Their primary duty is to function as a point of contact for patients before and after appointments, documenting interactions and keeping track of files as required. The same patients are treated by private practices and laboratories that are not part of the medical system by medical receptionists. They inform Doctors of test results or schedule modifications. They securely collect patient data and input it into electronic and physical databases for easy access, providing hard copies of patient files to additional doctors and insurance when required.
Their primary duty is to function as a point of contact for patients before and after appointments, documenting interactions and keeping track of files as required. The same patients are treated by private practices and laboratories that are not part of the medical system by medical receptionists. We all visit the doctor at some point in our life. The first person you interact with when you come through the clinic doors is a medical receptionist, whether it’s with a wailing baby fighting an ear infection, for an annual screening, or for a quick routine flu vaccination. Even if some patients’ conditions can make going to the clinic downright awful, being greeted by a friendly and accommodating medical receptionist can greatly improve the visit. A solid and exciting job is available as a medical receptionist. Securing an opportunity to become a medical receptionist could be a wonderful fit for your career if you’re looking for chances in a secure industry.
Patient coordinators, unit secretaries, and medical receptionists are other names for the same position. It is important to remember that they are administrative professionals working in the healthcare industry. Medical receptionists are most frequently employed in doctor’s offices, general medical and surgical institutions, and dental offices, according to the BLS. Medical receptionists can work in both busy settings like emergency rooms and more serene settings like outpatient clinics that provide therapy because they have a good number of alternative opportunities. Possessing strong interpersonal skills, technical expertise, and meticulous attention to detail is necessary for a medical receptionist. These abilities can be acquired through formal schooling or on-the-job training. These are the medical receptionist abilities that are most in demand, per our study of over 146,000 job posts for the position: administrative assistance, customer or patient support, client billing, digital health record keeping, the input of data, and clerical tasks.
To validate your abilities or become a highly sought Medical Receptionist, you should consider obtaining certification. When applying for jobs, this could show potential employers your skills and set you apart from other applicants. Although there aren’t any specific certifications for medical receptionists, the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) offers some that would be worthwhile to take into account and they are; The Certified Medical Administrative Assistant which represents your understanding of areas like first aid, CPR, health insurance remitting, health terms and procedures. Secondly; The Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS) certification shows your experience in health recordkeeping and management. It also represents your ability to handle insurance-related tasks
Medical Receptionist Job Description
What is a medical receptionist job description? A medical receptionist job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a medical receptionist in an organization. Below are the medical receptionist job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a medical receptionist 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 medical receptionist include the following:
- Taking calls and transferring them to the appropriate office or unit
- Scheduling and confirming patient diagnostic visits, treatment or caregiving procedures, or medical consultations
- Utilizing office tools such as voice mail message systems, word processing, spreadsheets, or other software to create reports, bills, financial statements, letters, case histories, or medical records
- Maintaining medical records, technical libraries, or correspondence files
- Welcoming patients and their relatives, learning about their visit’s objective, and sending them to the proper unit or staff
- Working with other people makes up a sizable percentage of a medical receptionist’s responsibilities. They facilitate patient’s access to care or health care professionals
- Keeping records of visitors or patients’ relatives and ensuring the ward is not crowded. This particular duty may vary from hospital location and ownership. It is most likely going to be in practice for privately owned hospitals that keep to their visiting hours
- Assisting doctors, visitors, staff, and patients professionally
- Maintaining clinical inventory such as equipment supplies, scheduling meetings with suppliers
- Performing all duties following the HIPAA rules
- Maintaining confidentiality of all patient, doctor, and staff information
- Liaising between health care departments and units with professionalism and discretion
- Adhering to procedures and policy while carrying out all duties
- Assisting with treatment and admissions if that was the agreed terms or policy
- Communicating medical reports or results to patients or their relatives under the concept of the clinic head
Qualifications
Given what the position includes, you may be wondering what education or training you’ll need to begin working as a medical receptionist. Below is the basic qualification for this position.
- High School Education: You might be able to find a job with just a high school diploma depending on the employment market where you reside, but many businesses may need further training and education from applicants. 41% of medical receptionist positions, according to the Department of Labor, require at least some college education. Another 20 percent call for a post-secondary qualification, such as the Medical Administrative Assistant Certificate, which can be earned in as little as nine months
- A degree in any of the Medical Science Courses: This will give you a better stance and ease your ability to carry out your duties as a medical receptionist because you are already conversant with the professional ethics and terms
- A minimum of two years of internship training that exposes you to the duties of a medical receptionist while under adequate supervision by senior medical receptionists or professionals
Essential Skills
- Strong interpersonal skills, technical expertise, and meticulous attention to detail are necessary for a medical receptionist. These abilities can be acquired through formal schooling or on-the-job training. These are the medical receptionist abilities that are most in demand, per our study of over 146,000 job posts for the position: administrative assistance, customer or patient support, client billing, digital health record keeping, the input of data, and clerical tasks. Although all of these abilities can be acquired before working as a medical receptionist, there are some more general characteristics and talents that can be particularly helpful in the line of work. The following are five crucial traits for those considering a career as a medical receptionist:
- Strong Communication Abilities: Medical receptionists explain to patients complicated facts regarding bills and scheduling. All patients can benefit from strong communication abilities, such as telephone etiquette and cultural sensitivity.
- Ability to Multitask: As a medical receptionist, you can balance drafting emails and checking in patients for their appointments, all while the phone is ringing. A medical receptionist must be able to balance conflicting demands while maintaining the right composure under pressure from multiple responsibilities or emergency occurrence
- Pay close attention to the details, as with all administrative tasks. Being able to identify even negligible errors can be quite important, especially when dealing with medical scheduling and records.
- Teamwork: The medical receptionist plays an important role in providing patients with optimum healthcare and assistance. Being able to maintain a good work relationship with other health care professionals can impact the patient’s hospital experience and streamline communication
- Positive Attitude to Work: Most patients who visit a doctor’s office are dealing with serious personal stress. The experience of both patients and healthcare practitioners can be enhanced by the calm and polite interactions that medical receptionists can offer.
How to Become a Medical Receptionist
The procedures to undertake to become a medical receptionist are as follows:
- Complete your education: A high school diploma, a GED, or an equivalent qualification is required to work as a medical receptionist. Consider seeking extra education opportunities to strengthen your credentials, albeit it’s not necessary. To learn about subjects like medical office technology and medical reception, several community colleges, technical institutions, or vocational programs offer degree and certificate programs.
- Acquire relevant expertise: Look for opportunities to get practical experience that will enable you to hone the abilities required for employment as a medical receptionist. Consider exploring general office work while concentrating on customer service-related opportunities. You might feel more at ease if you volunteered in a hospital or medical facility
- Complete training: Medical receptionists are typically given on-the-job training in most medical facilities. Patient confidentiality, rules, and procedures might be covered in this training. These experts might also need to finish an online or in-person training course, depending on the facility. These programs may cover subjects including medical language, medical software, and medical ethics.
- Take into account certification: To validate your abilities, consider obtaining certification. When applying for jobs, this could show potential employers your skills and set you apart from other applicants. Although there aren’t any specific certifications for medical receptionists, the National Healthcareer Association (NHA) offers some that would be worthwhile to take into account and they are; The Certified Medical Administrative Assistant which represents your understanding of areas like first aid, CPR, health insurance remitting, health terms and procedures. Secondly; The Certified Electronic Health Records Specialist (CEHRS) certification shows your experience in health recordkeeping and management. It also represents your ability to handle insurance-related tasks
Where to Work as a Medical Receptionist
Any healthcare facility with patient contact employs medical receptionists. They work in community clinics, hospitals, labs, and any other venue where you could seek medical attention. Medical receptionists are most frequently employed in doctor’s offices, general medical and surgical institutions, and dental offices, according to the BLS. Medical receptionists have a wide range of employment opportunities, allowing them to work in both busy settings like emergency rooms and more serene ones like outpatient clinics that provide treatment for everything from behavioral health to physical therapy. You can choose the job environment that best suits your needs and interests by exploring a wide range of workplace settings as a medical receptionist.
Medical Receptionist Salary Scale
The average annual salary for a medical receptionist in the United States as of September 4, 2022, is $31,992. That comes out to about $15.38 an hour, in case you need a quick salary calculator. This amounts to $615 each week or $2,666 per month. The majority of Medical Receptionist salaries currently range between $28,000 (25th percentile) and $35,500 (75th percentile), with top earners (90th percentile) making $39,500 annually across the United States, according to ZipRecruiter, which reports annual salaries as high as $42,000 and as low as $20,000.
Given that the typical salary for a Medical Receptionist can vary significantly (by as much as $7,500), there may be numerous prospects for growth and higher pay depending on skill level, location, and years of experience. The Medical Receptionist employment market is quite active in Chicago, Illinois, as well as the neighborhood, according to recent job posts. Your region’s average Medical Receptionist pay is $32,979 annually, or $987 (3%) higher than the $31,992 national average. has the highest medical receptionist salary out of all 50 states in the US. The Medical Receptionist employment market is quite active in Chicago, Illinois, as well as the neighborhood, according to recent job posts. Your region’s average Medical Receptionist pay is $32,979 annually, or $987 (3%) higher than the $31,992 national average. has the highest medical receptionist salary out of all 50 states in the US.
