Medical Assistant Success: Important Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities to Develop

To succeed on the job as Medical Assistant, there are important knowledge, skills and abilities you must develop.

These do not only make it easy for you to gain employment, it would also put you on top of the industry, and to attract higher salaries.

You should possess knowledge of:

• the principles of growth and development over the life span and the skills necessary to provide age appropriate care to the patients served
• medical practice and organizational policies to administer patient care
• examination, diagnostic, and treatment room procedures
• medical equipment and instruments used in administering patient care
• safety hazards and precautions to establish a safe work environment
• computer usage
• instrument sterilization techniques
• personal protective devices to be utilized when operating radiology systems
• OSHA, CLIA, and ADA
• ICD-9 and CPT coding
• insurance plans and third party payers.

Skills in:

• assisting in a variety of treatments as directed
  taking vital signs
• documenting and maintaining records and recording test results
• establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with patients, employees, physicians and the public
• identifying and communicating problems to the supervisor
• following medical quality assurance and quality control standards
• bilingual communication
• basic math.

Abilities to:

• assist nursing and medical staff with routine examinations and patient treatments. This includes pediatric, adolescent and geriatric patients and the general patient population
• position and prep patients for office procedures
• assist physicians with procedures and perform services requiring technical and manual skills under the direction of an RN/LPN and/or physician
• maintain a good working relationship with all staff members of the office
• manage and operate equipment safely and correctly, and to perform preventative maintenance
• be flexible, organized and function under stressful situations
• use medical equipment and instruments to administer patient care
• maintain quality control standards
• react calmly and effectively in emergency situations
• understand, interpret, adapt and apply instructions, guidelines and procedures
• communicate appropriately and clearly to coworkers, physicians and Office Manager
• work rapidly with good manual dexterity
• work in a culturally diverse environment
• use an Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system, including EPIC
• lift/push/pull up to 50 pounds/22.7kg
• stand for many hours in a protective lead apron
• work well under pressure and stressful situations
• prioritize and multi-task
• use computers and computer systems.