Medical Office Technology Careers: Job Descriptions, Duties and Requirements

Common careers in the area of medical office technology include those of medical assistants such as optometric assistants, administrative assistants and medical secretaries. Also included in this field are medical transcriptionists. Because of the complex nature of medical jargon and operational procedures, many employers strongly prefer these professionals to either hold 2-year degrees in related areas or complete 1-year training programs.

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Career Opportunities

Many colleges offer individuals the opportunity to complete either 2-year associate's degrees or 1-year training certificates in different areas of medical office technology. Certificate areas include billing specialist, medical administrative assistant and medical transcriptionist. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's O*Net online occupation database, many clerical jobs within the healthcare industry require some form of additional education past high school (www.online.onetcenter.org). Two such jobs include medical transcriptionist and medical assistant.

Medical Transcriptionist

Job Description and Duties

These professionals take recordings given to them by doctors and other physicians and transcribe them into documents. Documents produced include medical reports, autopsy results, medical studies, referral letters and many others. Transcriptionists must create error-free documents, which they then send back to their employers to be corrected or approved.

Requirements

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), many employers prefer to hire professionals with some form of further education. This is due to the complex medical subjects with which these workers must be familiar. Medical transcriptionists need to be able to identify anatomy and physiology terms, understand common abbreviations that medical professionals use and have a basic working knowledge of the procedures that they are transcribing. An experienced medical transcriptionist can pick up on errors within the report and move to research and correct them, saving employers time (www.bls.gov).

Medical Assistant

Job Description and Duties

These individuals are described by the BLS as having a wide range of job duties depending upon their employers and areas of specialization. Administrative assistants perform clerical duties such as pulling medical records, filing medical reports, scheduling appointments for patients and filling out insurance forms. Medical assistants with clinical duties also exist, and these workers often specialize. Examples include optometric assistants, podiatric assistants and ophthalmic assistants. An ophthalmic medical assistant would have job duties such as testing eye strength and muscle function, conducting vision tests and otherwise assisting his or her employer with providing eye care.

Requirements

Educational requirements vary depending upon how specialized an individual is and in which state he or she works. Many medical assistants either hold 2-year degrees or have completed a 1-year training program. According to the BLS, some states do not allow these assistants to specialize and perform clinical procedures, but others require professionals to pass an exam or take a specific course in order to do so (www.bls.gov).

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