How To Become A Medical Office Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a medical office manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Pawn Johnson-Hunter MS, RN, AGPCNP-BC, GERO- BC, CM/DN

As a Medical Office Manager, you will be responsible for planning and overseeing the services of a clinic or hospital. You will ensure that patients receive the best service and care. You will also do administrative tasks like supervision of appointments, coordination of schedules, and monitoring of daily operations.

Since you will be doing an important job, there are special skills and traits you must possess. You need to have good analytical skills, which you will use in filtering out information and determining relevant information. Next is communication skills. You will be working and dealing with a lot of people, so you should know how to approach each person. You also need to be detail-oriented. You should commit little to no mistakes as a Medical Office Manager because your job is vital.

You can earn around $58,633 per year on average as a Medical Office Manager. The job growth rate is quite high at 18%, so you do not need to worry about the job demand. Lastly, from being a Medical Office Manager, you can further your career and be an Office Manager, a Case Manager, and a Clinical Manager after some time.

What general advice would you give to a medical office manager?

Pawn Johnson-Hunter MS, RN, AGPCNP-BC, GERO- BC, CM/DN

Nurse Educator, Nclex Mentor/Coach

A few ways to maximize earning potential as a new graduate nurse is through skillful negotiations and previous experience in healthcare, such as degree level, nurse externships, phlebotomy skills, or certifications. Many, if not all, employers appreciate that new graduates are equipped with clinical skills that are strongly recommended for the practice area. While many nurse certifications require experience, some are for entry-level, such as advanced life support (ACLS and PALS) and IV insertion. There are also some specialty practice certifications that new grads can obtain without years of experience; although they may recommend the experience at times, this is optional. All of this demonstrates the applicant's commitment to the profession and interest. Other ways are to work overtime hours, learn about clinical career ladders, or continue formal education.

ScoreMedical Office ManagerUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $46,435

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.1

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.73%

Asian 7.49%

Black or African American 11.41%

Hispanic or Latino 14.90%

Unknown 4.28%

White 61.19%

Gender

female 89.02%

male 10.98%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

7.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.9

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a medical office manager

Explore medical office manager education requirements

Most common medical office manager degrees

Bachelor's

36.3 %

Associate

27.2 %

High School Diploma

11.7 %

Start to develop specific medical office manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	23.58%
Office Procedures	7.08%
Payroll	5.41%
Medical Billing	4.48%
Patient Care	3.86%

Complete relevant medical office manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New medical office managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a medical office manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real medical office manager resumes.

Gain additional medical office manager certifications

Medical office manager certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific medical office manager certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for medical office managers include Medical Assistant and Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS).

More About Certifications

Research medical office manager duties and responsibilities

Manage and facilitate manuscript preparation of oncology clinical trials results arising from currently market and pipeline drugs.
Provide educational materials to patients and communicate with patients regarding inquiries and complaints to ensure patient satisfaction.
Attend many seminars concerning insurance procedures and updates on HIPPA regulations.
Maintain patient records, adhering to confidentiality policies and HIPPA regulations.

Prepare your medical office manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your medical office manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a medical office manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable medical office manager resume templates

Build a professional medical office manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your medical office manager resume.