1.1: Intro to Medical Assisting

Medical Assistant Roles and Responsibilities

  • Medical Assistants function as part of the healthcare team.
  • They perform administrative and clinical duties.
  • MAs screen patients before the provider visit.
  • They are responsible for the care and wellbeing of patients.
  • Medical Assistants work only under the direction of a licensed physician.

Administrative Duties

  • Greeting patients
  • Handling correspondence
  • Scheduling appointments
  • Answering phones
  • Maintaining medical records
  • Billing and insurance processing
  • Performing medical transcription
  • Arranging hospital admissions

Clinical Duties

  • Assisting during exams
  • Following infection control protocols
  • Performing diagnostic tests
  • Giving injections
  • Phlebotomy
  • Performing first aid
  • Administering medications
  • Recording vital signs
  • Removing sutures and changing dressings
  • Sterilizing medical equipment
  • Assisting in minor surgery
  • Patient education

Medical Assisting Credentialing Organizations

  • The Department of Labor projects a 23% growth in the medical assisting field from 2021-2031.
  • Certification is essential.
  • National Healthcareer Association (NHA): Offers the CCMA (Certified Clinical Medical Assistant) certification.
  • The CCMA exam evaluates mastery of medical assisting competencies and clinical knowledge.
  • Recertification is required every 2 years with qualifying Continuing Education Units (CEU).
  • Certification raises the standards of medical assisting to a more professional level.

Healthcare Licensure

  • Licensed medical professionals include medical doctors, practical nurses, registered nurses, and nurse practitioners.
  • Licensure for physicians is mandatory and controlled by a state board of medical examiners, accomplished by examination.

State and Federal Regulations

  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Ensures safety in the workplace.
  • Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA ‘88): Focuses on laboratory compliance.
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): Protects patient privacy.

Program Accreditation

  • MA programs are accredited by:
    • The Commission for Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP)
    • Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES)

Professional Development

  • Continuing professional development is necessary after certification and employment.
  • Additional training is offered through formal programs.
  • Cross-training helps to learn additional skills.
  • Continuing education (CEU) is required for CCMA certification and is available for free through NHA.

Scope of Practice

  • Scope of practice: the services that a medical assistant is deemed competent to perform and permitted to undertake, in keeping with the terms of their professional certification.
  • It is crucial to know and work within your scope of practice.
  • Medical assistants must work under a licensed healthcare provider.
  • Delegated duties must align with appropriate training.
  • There is no national definition of a medical assistant’s scope of practice.
  • Research the state in which you work to learn about your scope of practice.

Scope of Practice - New York

Tasks that MAY be performed by medical assistants in New York include:

  • Secretarial work such as assembling charts or assisting with billing.
  • Measuring vital signs.
  • Performing ECGs.
  • Assisting an authorized practitioner to carry out a specific task that does not require medical judgment or decision making.
  • Removing sutures or staples under the supervision of a physician or other appropriately licensed person.
  • Acting as scribe and enter History and Physical information, chief complaint, medications, allergies, and family history into a chart or Electronic Medical Record.
  • Collect and prepare laboratory specimens and transcribing results without interpreting.
  • Urine dipsticks.
  • Phlebotomy.
  • Finger Sticks.
  • Cheek & Throat Swabs.
  • Superficial cultures.
  • Performing basic hearing and vision tests.
  • Providing prepared family education and instruction.
  • Changing or applying wound dressings (not casts).
  • Applying allergen patch test but not interpreting it.

Scope of Practice - New York

Tasks that may NOT be performed by medical assistants in New York include:

  • Triage
  • Drawing up or administering vaccinations or immunizations, including preparing and administering allergens
  • Drawing up any medication in syringes
  • Administering medications through any route
  • Administering contrast dyes or injections of any kind
  • Placing sutures and other forms of wound closure
  • Taking x-rays or independently positioning patients for x-rays
  • Applying or removing casts
  • First assisting in surgical procedures
  • Inserting or removing IVs or catheters of any kind
  • Relaying positive test results to patients
  • Teaching patients self-injection of medications or self-catheterization
  • Performing nerve conduction studies

Key Terms

  • Scope of practice - Delegated clinical and administrative duties consistent with education, training, and experience.
  • Standard of care - The degree of care or competence expected in a particular circumstance or role.