Medical Receptionist Degree or Certification

A friendly face at the welcome desk can make any patient's experience a bit more tolerable. But being a medical receptionist isn't just about smiling. Each patient's appointment with a physician generates a great deal of medical information - names, addresses and insurers must be charted along with each patient's medical history, condition and treatment. Since all these records are kept electronically, students in medical receptionist certification programs learn about these software and recordkeeping technologies as well as medical terminology, human anatomy and insurance laws. Actual degree programs for medical receptionists are rare; most programs last one year and lead to a certificate. With a medical receptionist certification, you might work as a medical receptionist, medical secretary or, with some further training, medical billing clerk.

Medical Receptionists

Medical receptionists perform many of the administrative duties associated with a doctor's office, surgical clinic or hospital. They are responsible for answering the telephone, filing medical records, completing insurance forms, billing and bookkeeping. However, greeting patients and other visitors is their most important responsibility, since it is often by this first impression that new patients make judgments of the organization. Medical receptionists, like most workers involved with the health care industry, can look forward to strong job growth in coming years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), www.bls.gov. Median wages for medical receptionists ranged from around $11 to $12 per hour in 2006.

Medical Secretaries

Like medical receptionists, medical secretaries may also handle phone calls as well as filing and bookkeeping tasks. Other responsibilities of medical secretaries include taking meeting minutes, setting up board meetings, planning travel for physicians and managing administrative correspondence. They may also conduct research and order office supplies. Medical secretaries work directly with physicians and administration and generally have a higher level of responsibility than medical receptionists. According to the BLS, medical secretaries earned a median of $28,090 in 2006.

Medical Billing Clerks

Medical receptionist certificate holders may also be qualified to begin careers as medical billing clerks. These workers process paperwork, including insurance forms and patient records, in order to determine the correct billing for different medical procedures. After calculating the amount due from a patient, they print invoices indicating the services and total cost for mailing to the patient's home or e-mail address. Some medical receptionists may have to acquire specialized training in coding and billing software in order to become medical billing clerks. As of 2006, medical billing clerks could expect to earn between $24,000 and $35,000 per year (BLS).