Do you want to work in medical office administration? Some skills are necessary to succeed in this role. The following hard and soft skills will help you manage a medical office, coordinate patients, and keep the medical facility running smoothly.
What Skills Does a Medical Office Administrator Need to Be Successful?
There are hard and soft skills that will help you succeed in a medical office administrator role. These skills include:
Medical Office Administration Soft Skills
Soft skills help medical office administrators excel in their workplace and are essential for success in this role. These soft skills include:
Communication – one of the most essential skills to master. Medical office administrators will talk with coworkers, supervisors, and patients. Their communication must be clear and concise, so errors are not made, and misunderstandings are averted. Part of good communication is active listening. Only after you hear what someone is saying can you respond appropriately.
Attention to Detail -in medicine, the details matter. Medical errors can cause catastrophic consequences, so the goal is to keep them to a minimum. Even the smallest detail can make a big difference. A medical office administrator must be able to focus on every area of the role and lead by example.
Confidentiality – medical professionals are responsible for adhering to HIPAA guidelines. Personal and sensitive information must be kept confidential, and only specific people with authorization may be privy to a patient’s records. Medical office administrators ensure that staff adhere to HIPAA guidelines and don’t allow patient records to be seen by unauthorized people.
Problem-Solving – a medical office administrator must be organized when solving problems. They must define the problem, determine the cause, select the best alternative, and implement the solution promptly.
Medical Office Administration Clerical Skills
A medical office administrator will support the medical staff with clerical tasks. They will also delegate these clerical tasks to medical assistants and secretaries. Some of the clerical skills that a medical office administrator is responsible for include:
Medical Billing and Coding – coding is essential for many aspects of a medical office administrator’s job. They are responsible for coding patient claims using ICD-10, HCPCS and CPT protocols.
Medical Terminology – understanding medical terminology is essential for a medical office administrator. They will need to know anatomy, physiology, word-building principles, and phonetic pronunciation terminology.
Computerized Billing – it is essential for a medical office administrator to accurately input patient demographics, procedures, and diagnoses to generate claims and post payments. They will help compile standard insurance claim forms, maintain patient accounts, and manage finances.
Microsoft Office – part of the Medical Office Administrator program curriculum includes Microsoft Office, specifically for Word and Excel.
- Microsoft Word – an essential program for medical office administrators to create and navigate documents. Some of the functions they will use include saving documents, selecting and formatting text, using mini toolbars and ribbons, utilizing document templates, and navigating documents. Some editing functions include cutting, copying and pasting, finding and replacing, spell and grammar checking, information research, hyperlinks, and document properties.
- Microsoft Excel – another crucial program for medical office administrators is to design and manipulate spreadsheets. Some topics they must understand include identifying window components, formulas, print options, simple and complex formulas, relative and absolute cell references, formatting values, renaming and moving worksheets, inserting and deleting rows and columns, and creating and formatting charts.
How Do You Learn Medical Office Administrator Skills?
Completing the Medical Office Administration training program at Hunter Business School is a great way to learn the skills necessary to successfully complete your role as a medical office administrator. We have been helping students start new careers for over 50 years. Let us prepare you for career advancement and start working toward your dream job today.
Want to Learn More?
Hunter Business School graduates of the Online Medical Office Administration training program can obtain entry-level employment as a medical office specialist or patient coordinator in a hospital, clinic, or physician’s office. Additional possibilities include a billing, admissions, or health unit coordinator in private firms, medical offices, legal offices, or government organizations.
Contact us today to learn more about becoming a medical office administrator in Nassau and Suffolk County.