Medical office administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant

The differences between medical office administrative assistants and administrative office assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-12 months to become a medical office administrative assistant, becoming an administrative office assistant takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a medical office administrative assistant has an average salary of $33,856, which is higher than the $33,318 average annual salary of an administrative office assistant.

The top three skills for a medical office administrative assistant include patients, CPT and patient care. The most important skills for an administrative office assistant are customer service, data entry, and phone calls.

Medical office administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant overview

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$33,856	$33,318
Hourly rate	$16.28	$16.02
Growth rate	16%	-8%
Number of jobs	136,278	81,528
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Average age	37	50
Years of experience	12	2

What does a medical office administrative assistant do?

Medical Office Administrative Assistants are responsible for providing administrative support to a medical facility. Their duties include documenting case histories through patient interviews, updating patient health records, scheduling appointments, processing insurance claims adhering to legal regulations, assisting patient paperwork, and managing receivables and payables accounts. They also attend to patient inquiries and assist nurses and doctors with test scheduling, supplies ordering, and medical examinations. Medical Office Administrative Assistants use medical software to process transactions and keep abreast with changes in insurance and medical legislation.

What does an administrative office assistant do?

An administrative office assistant is responsible for performing administrative duties to assist in daily management operations. These duties include taking calls and responding to client and customers' inquiries and concerns, scheduling meetings and conferences, organizing files and submitting required documents, sorting invoices for release, processing travel arrangements, receiving emails, forwarding reports to the appropriate department, and coordinating with company's events. An administrative assistant must be detail-oriented, as well as having excellent time-management and multi-tasking skills to perform duties even under minimal supervision.

Medical office administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant salary

Medical office administrative assistants and administrative office assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average salary	$33,856	$33,318
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $41,000	Between $25,000 And $43,000
Highest paying City	-	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Buckley King
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between medical office administrative assistant and administrative office assistant education

There are a few differences between a medical office administrative assistant and an administrative office assistant in terms of educational background:

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 46%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	Western Carolina University

Medical office administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant demographics

Here are the differences between medical office administrative assistants' and administrative office assistants' demographics:

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Administrative Office Assistant
Average age	37	50
Gender ratio	Male, 10.6% Female, 89.4%	Male, 14.7% Female, 85.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 23.2% Asian, 9.3% White, 50.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.1% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between medical office administrative assistant and administrative office assistant duties and responsibilities

Medical office administrative assistant example responsibilities.

Create and maintain confidential patient files according to HIPAA regulations, and implement log books to automate patient records management.
Provide front and back office support for surgeons by administratively managing and monitoring patients.
Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
Prepare employee schedules, assist with patient triage, assist with cosmetic and medical procedures as needed.
Verify and process patient insurance coverage and handle tasks relate to insurance information of patients.
Recommend and/or initiate patient management in cases of acute distress with medications, laboratory orders and initiation of CPR when necessary.

Administrative office assistant example responsibilities.

Develop and manage external financial relationships between clients and the IRS.
Manage the receptionist area, including greeting visitors and responding to telephone and in-person requests for information.
Establish and maintain effective communications and cohesive working relationships with company associates, telephone and walk-in customers, and site visitors.
Dust offices and clean windows and doors.
Update information in CATT database, as well as make appointments for therapists and psychiatrists in Sharepoint.
Create electronic filing system to alleviate paper copies and recruit fellow co-workers to get on board with SharePoint.

Medical office administrative assistant vs administrative office assistant skills

Common medical office administrative assistant skills

Patients, 32%
CPT, 5%
Patient Care, 4%
Patient Appointments, 4%
Phone Calls, 4%
Insurance Verification, 4%

Common administrative office assistant skills

Customer Service, 14%
Data Entry, 13%
Phone Calls, 7%
Payroll, 5%
PowerPoint, 4%
Database Management, 4%

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Healthcare Support Industry
Medical Office Administrative Assistant
Medical Office Administrative Assistant vs Administrative Office Assistant

Updated January 8, 2025

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