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The differences between home health aids and medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a medical assistant has an average salary of $34,900, which is higher than the $27,249 average annual salary of a home health aid.
The top three skills for a home health aid include home health, patients and companionship. The most important skills for a medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.
| Home Health Aid | Medical Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $27,249 | $34,900 |
| Hourly rate | $13.10 | $16.78 |
| Growth rate | 36% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 248,490 | 189,915 |
| Job satisfaction | 4.29 | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 32% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Average age | 50 | 37 |
| Years of experience | - | 12 |
Home health aides provide care and assistance to patients who have chronic illnesses, injuries, disabilities, or age-related challenges inside the patient's home. They monitor the patient's condition and help them in any activity they may need assistance in. They provide support to both the patient and the family to manage the patient's condition. Home health aides care for the patient by providing personal services like bathing and basic grooming, designing nutritional plans, cooking and preparing meals, running errands, maintaining the cleanliness of the home, managing medication intake, and ensuring the home is safe and secure for the patient.
Medical assistants provide support to medical practitioners in both administrative and clerical tasks. They keep and update the patient's medical records, administer medicines under the supervision of a physician, assist during medical examinations, prepare medical samples for laboratory testing, manage the schedule of appointments, and assist the patients with their bills and in filling out needed forms, such as insurance-related documents. Medical assistants should have good communication skills and analytical skills, be organized, and be flexible. They should also have knowledge of how to operate some medical equipment such as x-ray machines.
Home health aids and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Home Health Aid | Medical Assistant | |
| Average salary | $27,249 | $34,900 |
| Salary range | Between $20,000 And $36,000 | Between $27,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Reading, MA | Vancouver, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Alaska |
| Best paying company | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | Columbia University in the City of New York |
| Best paying industry | Health Care | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a home health aid and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:
| Home Health Aid | Medical Assistant | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 32% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between home health aids' and medical assistants' demographics:
| Home Health Aid | Medical Assistant | |
| Average age | 50 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 13.6% Female, 86.4% | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 24.0% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 23.4% Asian, 10.5% White, 35.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1% | Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 25.7% Asian, 8.8% White, 49.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |