Medical office administrative assistant vs office assistant

The differences between medical office administrative assistants and 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 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 $31,517 average annual salary of an office assistant.

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

Medical office administrative assistant vs office assistant overview

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Office Assistant
Yearly salary	$33,856	$31,517
Hourly rate	$16.28	$15.15
Growth rate	16%	-5%
Number of jobs	136,278	103,293
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Average age	37	47
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 office assistant do?

Office assistants perform various tasks to ensure that the business runs organized and efficient. An office assistant must possess excellent communication and multi-tasking skills to handle essential duties such as scheduling meetings, monitoring office supplies, storing documents and necessary paperwork, handling customer inquiries and appointments, coordinating in company events, and accomplishing other clerical tasks and administrative support. Office assistants are also required to communicate any observation that would possibly make an impact on the company's performance.

Medical office administrative assistant vs office assistant salary

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

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Office Assistant
Average salary	$33,856	$31,517
Salary range	Between $27,000 And $41,000	Between $24,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	-	Washington, DC
Highest paying state	-	Vermont
Best paying company	-	Analysis Group
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between medical office administrative assistant and office assistant education

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

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Office Assistant
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 28%	Bachelor's Degree, 42%
Most common major	Health Care Administration	Business
Most common college	-	Western Carolina University

Medical office administrative assistant vs office assistant demographics

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

	Medical Office Administrative Assistant	Office Assistant
Average age	37	47
Gender ratio	Male, 10.6% Female, 89.4%	Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7%
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, 10.1% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 21.0% Asian, 8.3% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between medical office administrative assistant and 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.

Office assistant example responsibilities.

Manage filing, photocopying, collating, and faxing public and seal case documents.
Manage CI s SharePoint pages and serve as CI s subject matter expert on SharePoint working groups.
Manage operational FedEx relationship through order fulfillment, shipment tracking, and communication with parties involve in shipment transaction.
Compile payroll records, detect and reconcile discrepancies, accurately report outcomes using QuickBooks.
Maintain office services by organizing office operations and procedures, preparing payroll, controlling correspondences, and designing filing systems.
File client paperwork upholding HIPAA standards.

Medical office administrative assistant vs 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 office assistant skills

Data Entry, 16%
Patients, 14%
Customer Service, 9%
Telephone Calls, 7%
Scheduling Appointments, 6%
Front Desk, 6%

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

Updated January 8, 2025

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