A Fast-Paced Day in the Life of a Medical Office Administrator

Behind every successfully run healthcare office is an efficient wizard of a medical office assistant! This fast-paced position is both demanding and rewarding, but if you get a buzz out of details and organizing them, connecting with people and empowering a healthcare team, then medical office administration/medical assistant college may be for you.

Before you make that investment in your future and commit to those 48 weeks (max) to gain your medical administrative assistant diploma, you’ll want to know precisely what the career reward at the end looks like.

Here goes …

A Fast-Paced Day in Your Life as a MOA

Set the Tone for the Day’s Success

While some places you work may be open 24/7, typically you’ll be first to the office and opening the doors for business. Your responsibilities for launching the day may be:

• Turn off the alarm.
• Turn on the computers and most likely the coffee machine (if you want to be popular at the office!).
• Check voice messages and attend to in priority sequence, canceling appointments or booking in those on a wait list for the day.
• Gather files for the patients with appointments.
• Greet with verve, the doctors, nurses, other staff and give a brief of what the day will look like, and hand over the patient files they’ll need.

Doors Open and Ready for Patients

You’re the welcoming face patients see, and your customer service and work ethic often set the pace and bar for the office. Your responsibilities will vary based on the size of the office in which you work, but typically they will include:

• Help check patients in as they arrive, guiding them through the paperwork they need to complete and verifying their information.
• Beyond patient support, you may be tasked with bookkeeping, recording receipts, paying bills, tracking expenses, payroll processing, even patient billing and collection and depositing the days payments.
• Managing patient data, updating records with test results, from both the office you work in and other healthcare facilities that have supported the patient. Your medical assistant training program will ensure you are well versed in the procedures and standards for accurately keeping, archiving and shredding records, as well as working with electronic healthcare records.
• Answering phones, taking messages, booking appointments, fielding questions from patients, their families, other healthcare providers, pharmacies and insurance companies and communicating necessary info to your team.

Adapting to the Afternoon

At the beginning of the day, there is often a flurry of activity and then, once the team gets into the groove, patient appointments are in flow, there can sometimes be a lull in pace of activity. This is when your ability to be flexible and efficient really shines. You shift your pace and focus on proactive tasks such as:

• Taking inventory.
• Ensuring all inventory that is expired has been disposed of properly.
• Ordering supplies to add to items that are running low.
• Making appointment-reminder calls to patients, to ensure they know when they need to come in and relaying any special instructions, such as fasting requirements.

Wrapping Up and Readying for the Next Day

When patients are gone, finishing up necessary tasks that couldn’t be completed during busy hours and leaving the office well organized and clean sets the tone for success for the next day as well. These responsibilities may include:

• Refilling supplies.
• Cleaning work areas, disinfecting surfaces and preparing exam rooms for tomorrow’s patients.
• Setting up patient charts for the next day’s appointments.
• Check voice messages once more and attend to any lingering needs.
• Turn off computers and lights and set the alarm and lock up for the eve, knowing you’ve done an amazing job today and are ready for another!

While these tasks are typical, MOAs also need to be flexible and adaptable, as these responsibilities shift based on the needs of the patient and the team. If you are intrigued by learning a wealth of medical terminology and details that support those diagnosing and helping patients as they heal and deal with health challenges – and like the sound of this fast-paced day – then, do we ever have some exciting medical administration courses for you!

If you’re still considering if this aligns with your interests, take the “Anderson College Personal Support Worker Career Training Readiness Quiz”.

But when you’re ready to launch your Medical Office Administration career, we’re here to help you navigate your way. Book a virtual appointment with our Admissions team and let’s get you started; there may even be space in the next class!

Quick Links to Fuel Your Success!

We want to make sure you have what you need to succeed! Check out these reference links:

• Medical Office Administrator Courses & Programs at Anderson College
• 5 Skills to Give you the Leading Edge as a Medical Office Admin (andersoncollege.com)
• Patient Confidentiality and YOU – For Medical Office Admin Graduates