Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between medical record assistants and lead medical assistants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 6-12 months to become both a medical record assistant and a lead medical assistant. Additionally, a lead medical assistant has an average salary of $38,303, which is higher than the $34,870 average annual salary of a medical record assistant.
The top three skills for a medical record assistant include patients, data entry and HIPAA. The most important skills for a lead medical assistant are patients, vital signs, and patient care.
| Medical Record Assistant | Lead Medical Assistant | |
| Yearly salary | $34,870 | $38,303 |
| Hourly rate | $16.76 | $18.41 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 91,238 | 163,228 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Associate Degree, 27% |
| Average age | 45 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 12 | 12 |
A medical record assistant is responsible for the proper documentation of the patients' information and medical records for reference to the attending physician or other medical professionals. Medical record assistants also track the patient's medical treatments and progress, as well as their health insurance details and coverage. They also respond to the patient's inquiries and concerns, including scheduling physician's appointments and updating the patients for any released medical results. A medical record assistant must have excellent communication and organizational skills, categorizing documents, and retrieving files for medical needs.
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.
Medical record assistants and lead medical assistants have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Medical Record Assistant | Lead Medical Assistant | |
| Average salary | $34,870 | $38,303 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $43,000 | Between $23,000 And $63,000 |
| Highest paying City | Napa, CA | - |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | - |
| Best paying company | Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough | - |
| Best paying industry | Government | - |
There are a few differences between a medical record assistant and a lead medical assistant in terms of educational background:
| Medical Record Assistant | Lead Medical Assistant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 34% | Associate Degree, 27% |
| Most common major | Business | Medical Assisting Services |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | - |
Here are the differences between medical record assistants' and lead medical assistants' demographics:
| Medical Record Assistant | Lead Medical Assistant | |
| Average age | 45 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 17.3% Female, 82.7% | Male, 11.9% Female, 88.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 16.9% Asian, 8.5% White, 60.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% | 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% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 6% |