Since the slot of modern technology the role of a Medical Secretary has changed more into managerial and professional staffing. In spite of this the core of the Medical Secretary duties has remained much the same.
Primary Objectives:
- The Medical Secretary is responsible in the coordinating of the office’s administrative activities.
- The Medical Secretary is responsible for storing retrieving, and integrating information for dissemination to staff and clients.
- The Medical Secretary is responsible for information and communication for the office.
- The Medical Secretary uses the computer to input information or to find information for the patient or attending physician.
- Medical Secretaries are expected to take specialized training programs that teach them the language of the industry.
The Medical Secretary is responsible for creating spreadsheets, compose correspondence and do other computer related projects. The Medical Secretary is usually responsible for the records of the patients making sure that all information has been correctly entered. The normal procedures are that they read into Dictaphone machine information about patient care, needs, and problems. The Medical Recorder then types up the information coding everything. The Medical Secretary then checks the information for accuracy and very often will enter the information into the computer for so that the physicians and other medical care people can get access to much need information for medical care. In some offices the Medical Secretary enters the information into the computer, the Medical Recorder codes the information and the process is cut down tremendously.
The Medical Secretary normally takes care of the front desk greeting patients as they arrive. They get important information such as Insurance, ID’s, and the patient’s medical history if they are new or patient complaints if they are a regular. In this manner they can prepare a sheet for the doctor to see before they enter the medical examining room. The Medical Secretary must make sure that everything is as accurate as possible because the doctor who has not seen a patient before needs to know the patients previous health records before prescribing any treatments. The doctor may also have lab work order to go along with the patients visit. The Medical Secretary performs many clerical duties. Often they are asking to take care of vendors and pharmacy sales people.
Medical Secretaries need to be able to use a variety of office equipment, such as fax machines, photocopiers, scanners, video conferencing and telephone systems. Many times they work as the communication center controlling the email accounts and the connection between the doctor’s office and the hospital. The Medical Secretary has to be able to pull off information about a patient when certain tests and lab work has been completed. They also need to be able to get information from the hospital when a patient paid them a visit on the weekend being seen at Urgent Care or Emergency Care Centers. The information highway is very important and the Medical Secretaries needs to make sure that this information network is fully functioning at all time. The Medical Secretary also takes care of transferring vital information between different types of doctor’s offices. The patient may need sports therapy for instance so the Physician has to make sure that all information is provided to the therapist. The patient may need testing etc. from a Neurologist for disorder that requires specialized type of doctor. The medical history and the doctor’s suspicion of the patient’s problem must be sent to the Neurologist. The information must be kept confidential so the manner of doing it is vital and the Medical Secretary is responsible for all this type of communications.
The Medical Secretary is responsible for many things while working with the physician and a lot of it is confidential materials. The Medical Secretary must always work with accuracy since people’s lives are at stake. The well being of physician’s patients depends on correct information, coded properly, and kept up-to-date in their files. The Medical Secretary must have more than just a two year training course at a local Community College they must also have specific training in medical terminology, life sciences, and communication skills. The Medical Secretary can get this training at a Community College just that they need to extend their studies into a three year course.