Medical Office Assistant Jobs in Canada
By
March 9, 2020
4 min
In This Article
Medical office assistants are an integral part of a medical office. They’re the first person you see when you walk in the door and the last person you interact with before you leave. It’s their job to make patients comfortable in their environment and also take care of medical records, billing and other administrative duties. There are plenty of medical office assistant jobs available in Canada.
Medical office assistant careers:
- Medical Office Assistant
Salary Range: $22,000 to $54,000
The Medical Office Assistant greets patients when they enter a medical facility and even performs minor clinical procedures like checking weight, height, blood pressure, or temperature. Medical office assistants also do a lot of behind-the-scenes work to ensure the clinic is running smoothly, which could be anything from scheduling appointments and organizing medical records to basic office accounting and communications. If you’d like a detailed rundown of their typical day-to-day, read our blog post.
- Medical Transcriptionist
Salary range: $21,000 to $66,000
Medical transcriptionists transform doctor’s notes or recordings into medical records, abstracts or summaries and they do this by interpreting medical code. Health conditions, diseases and other procedures all have a medical code associated with them. Transcriptionists will use these codes to record patient treatments and diagnoses in medical documents so they must have a strong understanding of this specific terminology.
If you’re interested in pursuing this role, you should have excellent listening skills, strong typing abilities and should be motivated to continue learning as new codes are introduced. Graduates can find jobs in medical offices, hospitals and sometimes work remotely.
- Medical Billing Clerk
Salary range: $23,000 to $40,000
As a Medical Billing Clerk, you would handle the accounting side of the medical office. Medical Billing Clerks are responsible for collecting payment from patients and coordinating billing with insurance companies, Medicare and hospitals. They do everything from working out disputes with patients, organizing billing records and reporting payment information to medical staff.
If you’re thinking of pursuing a role as a Medical Billing Clerk, it’s a huge asset to have excellent customer service skills, knowledge in accounting software and an understanding of insurance procedures.
- Medical Secretary
Salary range: $23,000 to $53,000
Medical secretaries do work that’s very similar to medical office assistants, although their focus is more on the administrative tasks within the office. The Medical Secretary manages the happenings in the office, starting with greeting people as they arrive. They answer the phones and schedule patient appointments, file medical reports and charts as well as handle patient intake forms and insurance.
The Medical Secretary interacts with medical professionals and passes along appropriate reports and documentation, but the main focus of their job is the patient experience. If you’re interested in this role, it’s an asset to have strong customer service and communication skills and enjoy working with people.
What are the key skills needed to get Medical Office Assistant jobs?
As a Medical Office Assistant, there are four key skill groups that you will apply in your day-to-day work. Let’s get into them!
Office Skills
These are the skills you’ll use most when you’re at your desk: answering phone calls, booking appointments, using Microsoft Excel and Word and of course, communicating with patients.
Medical Administrative Skills
These skills are more specific to a medical setting and include things like filing patient insurance, entering data from assessments, arranging hospital admissions and ordering clinic supplies.
Clinical Skills
If you take our course at Robertson, you’ll be certified to complete minor clinical tasks like taking temperature and blood pressure. You’ll also ensure the medical facility you work at is following the proper sterilization and infection control procedures. You may even assist the doctor with other minor clinical tasks.
Patient Care Skills
Patient care skills are tricky because they’re hard to teach. It all comes down to you. It takes a patient, compassionate person to be successful in this field. Sometimes you’ll have to deal with stressed patients who want encouragement or comfort. If you have to bring a patient into an exam room, you’ll need to explain the procedure in plain language so they understand what’s about to happen. The opportunity to help people is one of the most rewarding parts of the job so the patient care skills you bring to the table are a huge asset.
There are plenty of Medical Office Assistant jobs available in Canada for Robertson graduates. If you want a rewarding career that keeps your skills sharp and has something new every day, consider taking the Medical Office Assistant path.
If you’re interested in starting your career journey with Robertson, you can apply online and one of our Student Admissions Advisors will be in touch.
