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The differences between hospital medical assistants and medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a hospital medical assistant and a medical assistant. Additionally, a hospital medical assistant has an average salary of $35,545, which is higher than the $34,900 average annual salary of a medical assistant.
The top three skills for a hospital medical assistant include patients, vital signs and customer service. The most important skills for a medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.
| Hospital Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $35,545 | $34,900 |
| Hourly rate | $17.09 | $16.78 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 164,640 | 189,915 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
Hospital Medical Assistants offer a variety of services like clerical, technical, and patient care as long as they work under nurses or medical practitioners' supervision. While their specific tasks vary depending on the hospital, practice, or medical facility, they generally support medical practitioners and members of the health care team by recording vital patient information and occasionally assisting with minor, office-based procedures. Working as a hospital medical assistant requires skills like organizational skills, professionalism, confidentiality, and people skills to reach top performance levels for the role.
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.
Hospital medical assistants and medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Hospital Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Average salary | $35,545 | $34,900 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $45,000 | Between $27,000 And $43,000 |
| Highest paying City | Woburn, MA | Vancouver, WA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Student Conservation Association | Columbia University in the City of New York |
| Best paying industry | Education | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a hospital medical assistant and a medical assistant in terms of educational background:
| Hospital Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 45% | Associate Degree, 24% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between hospital medical assistants' and medical assistants' demographics:
| Hospital Medical Assistant | Medical Assistant | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 31.9% Female, 68.1% | Male, 10.4% Female, 89.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 22.7% Asian, 9.5% White, 51.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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 | 6% | 6% |