Medical Assistant's Responsibilities

The responsibilities of medical assistants may vary from state to state, facility to facility, and office to office. However, one thing that never changes is that all medical assistants must stay within their scope of practice, pay attention to detail, and always carry themselves in a highly professional manner. Naturally, having compassion is also very high on the list! Medical assistants are dealing with people in adverse conditions and with diverse health concerns. Nowhere, is the need bigger for empathy, caring, professionalism, and proper conduct.

Your Certification is Important!

Aim for success! Success means progress. What if we told you that you might already qualify for the RMA medical assisting certification exam based on your vocational training, time on the job, or other certifications you already have... wouldn't you want to find out?

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List of Duties

The medical assistant's responsibilities will always include pulling and filing medical charts, preparing patients to be seen by the doctor, explaining upcoming medical and diagnostic procedures, and often taking vital signs, setting up therapeutic devices, helping during examinations, monitoring patients, maintaining equipment, answering phones, calling in prescriptions to the pharmacy, and administering medications as ordered by the doctor.

On 04/29/2008 Illy shared the following with us:
"CMAs are very vital to a clinic or hospital. We do it ALL. I room up to 30 patients a day by myself. When I am not rooming, I am helping the receptionist answer multiple phone lines, medical records, faxing prescriptions, filing, preparing charts for future appointments..."

My list is long:

• Maintain patient’s safe passage in and out of the clinic, and ancillary services
• Greet, assess and interview patients
• File paperwork, lab slips, and insurance information into the medical charts
• Obtain past medical and surgical history, family history, social history, vital signs
• Review present medications, allergy history, chief complaint, and brief interrogation of complaint
• Act as a liaison between doctor and patient
• Explain medication, side effects, treatments, diets, diseases and disease processes
• Update medication list and current problem list
• Prepare and assist patients for examination, treatment, or procedure by medical staff
• Anticipate needs of patients, and the doctor under whom I work
• Monitoring of patient during examination, or procedure
• Maintain and update level of skill for pertinent medical assistant duties
• Maintain patient care areas
• Stocking and ordering of supplies as needed
• Charge and code supplies, medications, and procedures
• Respond to patient’s concerns in person or by telephone while simultaneously documenting the problem
• Maintains patient confidentiality
• Participate in training and skills development of new medical assistants
  

MAs Administering Controlled Substances

Wherever controlled substances are used in a medical office, or facility, medical assistants can only administer such drugs under a physician’s direct order, control, and supervision. Direct supervision requires the physical presence of the supervising doctor in the office before, during, and after the administration, and includes the diagnosis, authorization, and evaluation of the patient. Any other use and means is illegal and will be taken very seriously, with very SERIOUS consequences. It has been asked whether a medical assistant can be entrusted with the key to the controlled substances locker. This decision is left up to the discretion of the supervising physician. Read: Medical Assistant Scope of Practice.