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What are the different types of jobs that involve working in front desk and answering people’s questions/ assisting them- like customer service, secretary, etc.
I see people in dentists and other places that sit in front and deal with the people that come in. What types of jobs are those? Thanks #human-resources
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6 answers
paula lempart
Director, Provider Engagement and Risk Adjustment Ops
23
Answers
Updated
paula’s Answer
A Medical Front Office Assistant is usually the first person patients or clients come into contact with at the doctor's office. These professionals make up the front lines of a doctor’s office or hospital setting. They help coordinate the patient visits and facilitate the smooth running of the office.
Medical Administrative Assistants perform various administrative tasks depending on the day-to-day demands of the office. Using your knowledge of medical terminology and software applications you will be charged with checking in patients at the front desk, answering the phones, scheduling patients for appointments, conducting interviews with patients regarding their case histories before the scheduled appointment, compiling medical records and charts, operating computer software and office equipment, transferring lab results to the appropriate clinic and maintaining supplies and the appearance of the office.
Where does a Medical Administrative Assistant Work?
A Medical Administrative Assistant typically works in a hospital, clinic or private practice setting. Your duties as a Medical Administrative Assistant will also vary depending on the location and the size of the facility.
Hospitals
In hospitals, the roles may be more specialized and clearly defined due to the magnitude of the facility. Here, you find yourself working on a larger team that coordinates with other teams throughout the hospital system. As a result, there is often more than one medical administrative assistant on a team. Hospital settings provide a greater advantage because there are more opportunities for career advancement.
Clinics
Clinics are typically smaller and limited to a few specialties such as primary care and pediatrics, which allows you to focus on one area of expertise and specialize in it. Since clinic hours are typically done by dinnertime, you have the opportunity to develop a better life-work balance. In a clinical setting, customer skills are of great importance and you will most likely not encounter any life or death situations, as in a hospital.
Private Practices
In a private practice, the roles are less clearly defined so as a medical administrative assistant you may find that your responsibilities go beyond, the standard responsibilities listed above. You may find yourself expected to answer questions a patient may have when no one else is available. This “all hands on deck” approach is practiced widely in private practice and builds your knowledge of the healthcare field.
In most cases, you will be the only medical admin in the office and you will find yourself greeting patients, answering phones and taking doctors’ requests all at once. The ability to maintain remain calm and carry out tasks without becoming overwhelmed is very important in this role.
Medical Administrative Assistants perform various administrative tasks depending on the day-to-day demands of the office. Using your knowledge of medical terminology and software applications you will be charged with checking in patients at the front desk, answering the phones, scheduling patients for appointments, conducting interviews with patients regarding their case histories before the scheduled appointment, compiling medical records and charts, operating computer software and office equipment, transferring lab results to the appropriate clinic and maintaining supplies and the appearance of the office.
Where does a Medical Administrative Assistant Work?
A Medical Administrative Assistant typically works in a hospital, clinic or private practice setting. Your duties as a Medical Administrative Assistant will also vary depending on the location and the size of the facility.
Hospitals
In hospitals, the roles may be more specialized and clearly defined due to the magnitude of the facility. Here, you find yourself working on a larger team that coordinates with other teams throughout the hospital system. As a result, there is often more than one medical administrative assistant on a team. Hospital settings provide a greater advantage because there are more opportunities for career advancement.
Clinics
Clinics are typically smaller and limited to a few specialties such as primary care and pediatrics, which allows you to focus on one area of expertise and specialize in it. Since clinic hours are typically done by dinnertime, you have the opportunity to develop a better life-work balance. In a clinical setting, customer skills are of great importance and you will most likely not encounter any life or death situations, as in a hospital.
Private Practices
In a private practice, the roles are less clearly defined so as a medical administrative assistant you may find that your responsibilities go beyond, the standard responsibilities listed above. You may find yourself expected to answer questions a patient may have when no one else is available. This “all hands on deck” approach is practiced widely in private practice and builds your knowledge of the healthcare field.
In most cases, you will be the only medical admin in the office and you will find yourself greeting patients, answering phones and taking doctors’ requests all at once. The ability to maintain remain calm and carry out tasks without becoming overwhelmed is very important in this role.
paula, thank you!
Ivana
Updated
Gabriel’s Answer
I think generally you're either looking at a receptionist job, administrative assistant, IT, or product/service representative like the folks at the apple store. If not administrative assistant or where you're working a front desk type job retail type careers where you are customer facing might be what you're looking for.
Hopefully that helps!
Hopefully that helps!
Updated
Rebecca’s Answer
Thank you for your question. I am glad to hear that you would like to interact and assists people. There are many different jobs that you could answer people question and / or help people. Below are a few examples :
- Client Services of different industries and corporates
- Social Workers
- IT Application Support
- Hotel Front Desk
- Sales
- Consultants
In fact, there are the similar jobs in various industries. I suggest you could explore what industry (ies) that you are interested on and find out the relevant jobs. All of these jobs require excellent communication skills. You may also find out the relevant subjects that you would like to pursue in the college.
Hope this helps! Good Luck! Happy New Year!
- Client Services of different industries and corporates
- Social Workers
- IT Application Support
- Hotel Front Desk
- Sales
- Consultants
In fact, there are the similar jobs in various industries. I suggest you could explore what industry (ies) that you are interested on and find out the relevant jobs. All of these jobs require excellent communication skills. You may also find out the relevant subjects that you would like to pursue in the college.
Hope this helps! Good Luck! Happy New Year!
Racheal Noble, Ph.D., LMFT, LPC, NCC
Mental health, education, research, care coordinator
93
Answers
Updated
Racheal’s Answer
Hi there! I current work in as a care coordinator, however it is virtual. Should I be in the office, a care coordinator would be one of many jobs that front desk personnel have working with doctors. It involves problem-solving for clients, scheduling appointments, providing referrals to see specialist, taking messages to provide to the clinical team, checking insurance for coverage, providing cost of testing (labs), prioe authorization for medication or certain imaging procedures, billing, and still meeting with the team. Other positions may be front desk, however you could still require an advance degree. For example, some people who work at mental health facilities have master degrees and are considered intake coordinators. They are the ones to assess if a person is right for treatment. Tye typical positions would be a secretary or office administrator who handles the paperwork, billing and coding and record keeping. Hope this helps!
Updated
Marlissa’s Answer
Ivana - This type of role can be in a few different environments, typically the customer or consumer facing, or the internal supportive role, or executive level administrative support.
In the fields that I have worked I have seen all of these different environments. Dependent on the person's personality and their comfort level, this will dictate how well they will do in each environment.
The front desk receptionist for a medical/dental/vision office often has multiple responsibilities like scheduling and answering phones but also assisting with billing insurance companies and assisting with prior authorization requests, potentially prescription refills as well. This kind of set up requires a ton of organization and ability to mulitask, pivoting between items with ease.
The front desk for a dealership can be busy as well as this is the first face people see as they enter the building, and you may directing people where to go, and paging sales people.
Non-customer facing executive administrative assistant can be quite hectic, as they are managing executive schedules, scheduling meetings,
responding to emails as the delegate of the executive. Lastly, the administrative assistant may be asked to perform more high level tasks like dashboards, tracking and paying high dollar invoices and finalizing presentation decks for executives.
I hope this gives you a general idea of the diverse role that front desk/administrative assistants play in the day to day.
In the fields that I have worked I have seen all of these different environments. Dependent on the person's personality and their comfort level, this will dictate how well they will do in each environment.
The front desk receptionist for a medical/dental/vision office often has multiple responsibilities like scheduling and answering phones but also assisting with billing insurance companies and assisting with prior authorization requests, potentially prescription refills as well. This kind of set up requires a ton of organization and ability to mulitask, pivoting between items with ease.
The front desk for a dealership can be busy as well as this is the first face people see as they enter the building, and you may directing people where to go, and paging sales people.
Non-customer facing executive administrative assistant can be quite hectic, as they are managing executive schedules, scheduling meetings,
responding to emails as the delegate of the executive. Lastly, the administrative assistant may be asked to perform more high level tasks like dashboards, tracking and paying high dollar invoices and finalizing presentation decks for executives.
I hope this gives you a general idea of the diverse role that front desk/administrative assistants play in the day to day.
Updated
Angela’s Answer
Hello! I work for a big software company and visitors (customers, partners, etc.). The role you're describing is very important to everyone in the office. Their title is Guest Services Ambassador.
Keep in mind that companies will have different job titles for that position, so be aware of that when you're applying for jobs. Good luck!
Keep in mind that companies will have different job titles for that position, so be aware of that when you're applying for jobs. Good luck!