Medical Secretary

Answer 1

Medical secretaries perform crucial office tasks that enable a doctor’s office to run smoothly. Sometimes underestimated, the medical secretary helps to make the modern medical office a pleasant place to be for patients, doctors, and co-workers. This is a career that has evolved a lot over the years and the responsibilities of a medical secretary aren’t small.

Medical secretaries must be familiar with computer programs that they’ll need to use during the course of the job, as well as be expert typists that can quickly document information from patients and doctors. Scheduling will be another important task, as the medical secretary will inspect patient schedule frequently so that all appointments are made only when available and missed appointments are caught quickly by the secretary so that the doctor can decide whether to keep a patient or not. Medical coding, basic medical terminology, and insurance practices are other facets of the job that medical secretaries must learn.

Medical secretaries are sometimes responsible for more specific tasks. While some secretaries can expect to work as a general office secretary, others will be asked to specialize in one specific area of the office, for example medical records or scheduling. This is usually determined by the size and needs of the office.

Medical secretaries usually make between $20,000 and $30,000 per year. Keep in mind that additional benefits, such as health benefits, are sometimes included in addition to the annual salary.

A medical secretary will inevitably work in some part of the health industry. It is possible to acquire one of these jobs without a degree but more and more doctors prefer secretaries with a higher education degree. To gain a competitive edge, it’s advised that aspiring medical secretaries hold an Associate degree. Fields like health care management and health information technology are especially helpful in obtaining a good job as a medical secretary.

Medical secretaries should have good communication skills because of their frequent communication with patients. A people person with an associate’s degree in one of the health care fields will make an excellent medical secretary. Anyone that loves to work with people and is interested in working in a health setting should learn more about a career as a medical secretary.