Medical assistants
also explain medication and procedures to patients, providing
them with the knowledge and understanding they need to better
care for themselves. The responsibilities and challenges, as
well as the opportunities, are endless. Many physicians are
unsure of what tasks are appropriate to assign to a medical
assistant and it is important to remember medical assistants
are not licensed to make independent medical assessments or
give advice. Although many Medical Assistants may have advanced
training in certain clinical areas it is ultimately the responsibility
of the supervising physician
other licensed health care provider to assure that their staff
and Medical Assistants working in the office are performing
duties in compliance with all governing laws.Therefore the physicians
must determine the skill level and capabilities of each employee
they supervise and take into account liability risk and quality
control when assigning them their responsibilities. Physicians
should provide initial direct supervision and periodically assess
the quality of their work. In practices with nurse managers,
medical assistants can receive additional supervision coordinated
to maximize workflow in a practice.
Communicating the employees' roles to other staff and clearly
delineating their responsibilities is important in maximizing
the productivity of the health care team. Although legal requirements
addressing the Medical Assistant scope of practice vary by state,
the Medical Assistant generally works under the license of their
supervising physician the managed care organization that employs
them. The formal education of medical assistants often occurs
in vocational schools, technical institutes, community colleges,
proprietary schools, online educational programs or junior colleges.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are
about 800,000 doctors in practice in the United States, with
only 500,000 medical assistants working for them.
As such, the medical assistant field is expected to grow substantially
within the next ten years, especially as more doctors become
overloaded with patients. The job is challenging, but there
are many rewards, not in the least the chance to provide patients
with the best care available. Copyright : St. Augustine School
of Medical Assistants (http://www.medassistant.org/)You
can reproduce this article as long as you leave this copy right
statement and links unchanged.Contact us: Ravi medicalassistant@linkssquare.com
About the Author Copyright: St. Augustine School of Medical
Assistants
