Physician's Office Assistant

Physician's Office Assistants primarily work in doctor’s offices, clinics, outpatient settings, hospitals, and other healthcare settings. Medical assistants, medical secretaries, and medical records clerks are all positions in great demand. The growth and the complexity of the U.S. healthcare system have resulted in a substantial increase in the need for qualified physician's office assistants. This program covers information on medical administration and assistance, interpersonal skills, medical ethics and law, medical terminology, basics of insurance billing and coding, telephone techniques, scheduling appointments, medical records management and management of practice finances.

Certifications

This course assists learners in preparing for the following certifications. Note: Learners must pass a certification exam and, in some cases, document a specified amount of work experience, in order to be eligible for certification.

• National Workforce Career Association (NWCA) Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) Certification

(The NWCA exam can be offered both in groups of students in the classroom or individually online.)

Course Outcomes

At the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Provide an overview of the healthcare industry and expectations for a healthcare professional.
• Understand the role of the physician’s office assistant.
• Describe the history of medicine, medicine and the law, medical malpractice, medical ethics, and medical practice specialties.
• Understand ethical and legal issues, fraud abuse, and compliance.
• Employ office and patient communication techniques, conduct appointment scheduling and general office duties.
• Employ technology in the healthcare environment.
• Employ basic terminology used in the medical office.
• Assist with medical records management, confidentiality of the medical record, initiating a medical record for a new client and filing reports in the medical record.
• Implement HIPAA procedures and adhere to the patient bill of rights and confidentiality.
• Understand financial and practice management.
• Understand health insurance coverage, and billing and coding procedures.
• Understand professional fees, billing and collecting procedures, accounting systems and credit arrangements.
• Perform medical accounting, financial statements, cost analysis, and budgets for the medical practice.
• Understand the fundamentals of specimen collection, laboratory safety and federal and state regulations.
• Assist with medical emergencies.
• Discuss various reimbursement methodologies.