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Medical office secretary skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
5 min read
Quoted experts
Allison White,
Allison White
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical medical office secretary skills. We ranked the top skills for medical office secretaries based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 34.9% of medical office secretary resumes contained patients as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a medical office secretary needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 medical office secretary skills for your resume and career

1. Patients

Here's how medical office secretaries use patients:
  • Job Responsibilities: * Register patients and verify demographic and insurance information * Collect co-pays * Schedule procedures and appointments
  • Direct patients into rooms* Operating telephone calls, resolving issues, communicating information courteously.

2. Patient Appointments

Here's how medical office secretaries use patient appointments:
  • Scheduled patient appointments, arranging authorizations and referrals for other medical practices.
  • Scheduled outpatient appointments and input of referrals, prior authorizations.

3. Front Desk

Here's how medical office secretaries use front desk:
  • Oversee computerized front desk management and patient relations for an extremely busy Cardiologists office.
  • Assist with all daily day to day operations of scheduling and front desk.

4. Medical Terminology

Here's how medical office secretaries use medical terminology:
  • Attended and taught computer/medical terminology classes for hospital staff.
  • Maintained a strong working knowledge of medical terminology and ICD-9 / CPT coding.

5. Check-In

Check-in is the hospital process of registering new patients to the hospital database. It also refers to where patients get their information registered or where patient's kin check for their patient's whereabouts.

Here's how medical office secretaries use check-in:
  • Greeted and check-in patients, including obtaining accurate patient demographic information, patient registration, and checking insurance eligibility.
  • Processed patient check-in and checkout paperwork for medical imaging procedures and responsible for various secretarial duties.

6. Data Entry

Data entry means entering data into a company's system with the help of a keyboard. A person responsible for entering data may also be asked to verify the authenticity of the data being entered. A person doing data entry must pay great attention to tiny details.

Here's how medical office secretaries use data entry:
  • Answer phones, faxes, and data entry of patient demographics.
  • Provided data entry, reception, and other clerical support.

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7. Patient Care

Patient care entails the diagnosis, recovery, and control of sickness as well as the maintenance of physical and emotional well-being through the use of healthcare providers' services. Patient care is described as services provided to patients by health practitioners or non-professionals under guidance.

Here's how medical office secretaries use patient care:
  • Improved office efficiency, patient care and customer service, in redesigning scheduling system, cut missed appointments by a third.
  • Organize patient care including registration, intake interviews, providing referrals, verifying insurance, and collecting payments due.

8. Insurance Coverage

Here's how medical office secretaries use insurance coverage:
  • Retrieved and verified patient information and insurance coverage using an Epic System.
  • Charted patient information, gathered documents, and verified insurance coverage.

9. Appointment Scheduling

Here's how medical office secretaries use appointment scheduling:
  • Transcribed office notes, appointment scheduling, phones, medical records, and refill of prescriptions.
  • Provided patients' with maximum allowable provider time and maintained maximum utilization of treatment room by effective appointment scheduling.

10. HIPAA

Here's how medical office secretaries use hipaa:
  • Demonstrated knowledge of HIPAA Privacy and Security Regulation.
  • Complied with all HIPAA laws and patient privacy policies.

11. Insurance Verification

Here's how medical office secretaries use insurance verification:
  • Served as the front office secretary, greeter, chart handler, scheduler, and insurance verification coordinator.
  • Complete patient services, high volume telephones, insurance verification, multiple scheduling and hospital admissions.

12. Patient Demographics

Patient demographics carry basic information about a patient admitted to a healthcare facility. These demographics help in patient identification and allow the hospital management to categorize the information. This characterization helps in making the process of statistical analysis easy. Patient demographics normally include; date of birth, gender, ethnicity, sex, address, contact information, and medical history.

Here's how medical office secretaries use patient demographics:
  • Updated physician's schedules and patient demographics.
  • Reviewed accounts to determine the accuracy of patient demographics and the eligibility of insurance to ensure proper billing.

13. Insurance Forms

Here's how medical office secretaries use insurance forms:
  • Verify and complete insurance forms.
  • Generated revenue by recording billing information of services rendered; completing insurance forms; responding to insurance and other third-party inquiries.

14. Patient Registration

Patient registration means a complex system that needs an acceptable and considerable level of preliminary data input for a patient, including collecting patients' demographic data, getting patients' contact and personal information, and getting the patient's health history.

Here's how medical office secretaries use patient registration:
  • Transcribe all patient registrations, workmen's compensation, and any malpractice cases.
  • Performed a variety of functions such as greeting patients, patient registration, Insurance eligibility verification, scheduling and telephone management.

15. Telephone Calls

Telephone calls are a communication means through which a caller is connected to the called party. The call is done through a telecommunications device called a telephone. The caller can use a landline, mobile phone, or satellite phone to make the call.

Here's how medical office secretaries use telephone calls:
  • Answered telephone calls and directed accurate messages to the recipient who could best address the patient's needs.
  • Receive, screen and direct physician telephone calls and respond to basic inquiries as needed.
top-skills

What skills help Medical Office Secretaries find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on medical office secretary resumes?

Allison White

Associate Professor, Ohio University

Knowledge of spreadsheets software such as MS Excel is a commonly sought-after skill. Employers want word processing and spreadsheet skills but often say they want high school graduates and pay accordingly. These skills aren't always taught in high school. Those in the field should seek these skills. Additionally, medical and legal assistants have highly sought after. Terminology courses for these specialized areas are sometimes offered at the vocational schools but are usually offered at the post-secondary level.

What hard/technical skills are most important for medical office secretarys?

Allison White

Associate Professor, Ohio University

In addition to production software skills, including MS Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, we often taught database skills using MS Access. Every employer has an employee database and a customer/client database that requires input and sometimes maintenance by office personnel. Keyboarding (65+ wpm), basic bookkeeping/accounting, and filing skills are a must.
Do you want to know more?
Read more about what experts have to say about medical office secretary

List of medical office secretary skills to add to your resume

Medical office secretary skills

The most important skills for a medical office secretary resume and required skills for a medical office secretary to have include:

  • Patients
  • Patient Appointments
  • Front Desk
  • Medical Terminology
  • Check-In
  • Data Entry
  • Patient Care
  • Insurance Coverage
  • Appointment Scheduling
  • HIPAA
  • Insurance Verification
  • Patient Demographics
  • Insurance Forms
  • Patient Registration
  • Telephone Calls
  • Computer System
  • CPT
  • Medical Billing
  • Vital Signs
  • Insurance Eligibility
  • Hippa
  • Clerical Support
  • Medicaid
  • Patient Insurance
  • Test Results
  • ICD-9
  • Patient Accounts
  • Patient Scheduling
  • EKG
  • Office Equipment
  • Medical History
  • Direct Calls
  • Insurance Benefits
  • EHR
  • Patient Payments
  • Epic
  • Multi-Line Phone System
  • Insurance Billing
  • MRI
  • Insurance Authorizations
  • Patient Referrals
  • Physical Therapy
  • Medical Charts
  • Exam Rooms
  • Word Processing
  • EOB
  • Financial Statements
  • PowerPoint
  • Insurance Claims
  • Medical Procedures

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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