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The differences between lead medical assistants and medical scribes can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a lead medical assistant and a medical scribe. Additionally, a lead medical assistant has an average salary of $38,303, which is higher than the $30,045 average annual salary of a medical scribe.
The top three skills for a lead medical assistant include patients, vital signs and patient care. The most important skills for a medical scribe are patients, medical terminology, and excellent organizational.
| Lead Medical Assistant | Medical Scribe | |
| Yearly salary | $38,303 | $30,045 |
| Hourly rate | $18.41 | $14.44 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 163,228 | 80,035 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 27% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A lead medical assistant performs administrative support tasks for clinical teams to provide optimal care and services to patients. They work under the supervision of a clinical manager whom they report to regularly. Among their responsibilities include establishing staff schedules and guidelines, conducting research and analysis, coordinating staff, reviewing medical charts and reports, organizing documents, and training new members of the workforce. Moreover, they may also assist patients by answering inquiries, performing follow-up calls to confirm appointment schedules, and preparing patients by giving them the information they need.
As a medical scribe, their main responsibility is to follow a physician's daily work and do charting of patient encounters in real-time by accessing their medical electronic health record (EHR). It is their duty to make sure the patient schedules are followed, generate referral letters for physicians and manage and sort medical documents within the EHR. Medical scribes can be held as data custodians, medical assistants, and nurses to focus on patient in-take and care throughout clinic hours. In addition, they manage patient flow through the clinic and increase productivity to cater to more patients.
Lead medical assistants and medical scribes have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Medical Assistant | Medical Scribe | |
| Average salary | $38,303 | $30,045 |
| Salary range | Between $23,000 And $63,000 | Between $23,000 And $38,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | - | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | - | Boston Medical Center |
| Best paying industry | - | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a lead medical assistant and a medical scribe in terms of educational background:
| Lead Medical Assistant | Medical Scribe | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 27% | Bachelor's Degree, 77% |
| Most common major | Medical Assisting Services | Biology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between lead medical assistants' and medical scribes' demographics:
| Lead Medical Assistant | Medical Scribe | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1% | Male, 28.4% Female, 71.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 26.6% Asian, 8.7% White, 49.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 24.3% Asian, 9.7% White, 50.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |