There are so many more jobs available in healthcare beyond becoming a doctor or nurse. One job that is overlooked is a medical secretary.

It is possible that this job is one of the most demanding because it requires high attention to detail and it’s a customer-facing position.

This position ranks highly as one of the top healthcare support jobs and jobs without a college degree. Read on to find out about the medical secretary salary, job description, and how to become a medical secretary.

What Does a Medical Secretary Do?

What a typical day looks like depends on the working environment. A doctor’s office will look a lot different than a hospital.

Typically, a medical secretary is the one who greets patients and assists them with various medical forms. You’ll order supplies and make sure that the office operations run smoothly.

In the meantime, a medical secretary will answer phones, schedule appointments, and put together medical charts and correspondence.

A medical secretary is often charged with an important responsibility. That’s filling out insurance claims properly and making sure that payments are received. You’re also responsible for patient and vendor collections.

Cash flow is vital for the operations of the healthcare facility and these tasks are incredibly important.

What Is the Average Medical Secretary Salary?

How much does a medical secretary earn for all of this work? On average, a medical secretary will earn about $34,000 a year. That’s about the average income for people who file taxes as a single person.

On the high end, they’ll earn around $41,000 and $28,00 on the low end. How much a medical secretary earns will depend on experience, location, and the type of working environment. Some places have a budget in place to pay better than others.

Skills to Become a Medical Secretary

What are the most valued skills by employers in the healthcare industry? You need to be able to understand medical terminology. You also have to know about medical coding and insurance billing procedures.

Making mistakes on claims could delay payments or cause claims to get denied. That will translate into a delay in payment to the facility, which means that there could be a cash flow problem.

People skills are an absolute must. You have to approach your job like you want to help people. There are other soft skills that are incredibly valuable like leadership skills and communication skills.

You’ll need to have good technical skill set to be a medical secretary, too. You have to manage computers, spreadsheets, documents, and phone systems. There software programs that are used in the healthcare industry that you should know as well.

In small offices, you’re more likely to wear a lot of hats and have a broad range of responsibilities. The more skills you can bring to the table, the better.

On the other hand, if you’re at a large hospital, you may have one main job as a medical secretary. For example, your main responsibility may be scheduling patient appointments and greeting them when they arrive.

You can learn more about medical secretary jobs here.

How to Become a Medical Secretary

What does it take to become a medical secretary? Fortunately, you don’t need an expensive four-year degree to become a secretary.

Most job postings ask for an associate degree or a certificate from an accredited institution. There are a lot of programs that have some kind of certification component.

Choosing a Program

One of the biggest influences in your medical secretary career is your choice of school. That can determine how much you make and where you get a job.

You want to choose a program that will give you a broad range of experience and prepare you well for your job. Your program should cover medical terminology, pharmacology, office finance and insurance, and customer service.

A certification from the American Association of Medical Assistants (AAMA) will also prepare you well for the job market. This requires that you pass an exam and take a course through an accredited school.

Once you pass the exam, you have to maintain the certification. You need to retake the exam every 2-5 years.

You can check with your local community college to see if they offer a certification program that will prepare you for this exam.

Before you commit to a program, make sure that there’s a good job placement program available at the school. Ask if you can talk to alumni and ask them about the program and how they got their job.

Getting a Job After Graduation

Your job search should actually begin while you’re still in school. You need to shift your mindset from you’ll look for a job after you graduate to looking for opportunities now.

The reason why is simple. Every person you meet while you’re in school could lead to a great new job. You need to think like a smooth networker.

That will help you establish relationships with people so when you are ready to graduate, they can keep you in mind for new job openings.

Becoming a Medical Secretary Is a Smart Move

A medical secretary salary pays about average when compared to most other positions. It’s a job that has a lot of responsibility.

You are ultimately responsible for the patient experience and for the cash flow of the healthcare facility. These are two major components of any healthcare office. Any place with poor customer experience and poor cash flow just won’t last long.

To become a medical secretary, you have to have the right skillset. You also have to have some education. Most of all, you have to have a desire to have a positive impact on where you work.

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