Reception
Working as a medical receptionist, you will be required to run the counter, while taking down messages on a pad that sits next to the telephone. Most of the messages you will be receiving will be coming from medical staff, such as doctors, medical assistants and nurses. The phone that you'd be using is a multi-line telephone, so you'll be answering multiple calls at any given moment. Some of the calls you'll receive could be from pharmacists verifying medications, labs reporting results, hospitals reporting scheduled surgeries and inpatients, or other medical clinics calling to make a referral.
File Clerk/Transcription
Many patients never see their medical file, unless they've personally requested it. Medical receptionists and transcription clerks run the file rooms and are busy maintaining, updating and pulling files, while preparing and sending out office notes, reports of physical exams and history reports. They are also responsible for requesting X-rays and mammograms for patients and doctors. Conducting research is another job duty at the medical clinic front office staff. It is their responsibility to ensure that patient records are accurate and that the clinic is complying with local, federal and state regulations.
Secretarial/Administrative
One of the most important positions in hospitals and clinics lies with medical secretaries and the administrative staff. They are required to verify and relay orders, keep track of and maintain professional licensing, staff credentials, updating budgets, training staff and ensuring statistical reports and quality assurance. Coordinating the office operations is another task of a medical secretary. They also have to prepare manuals regarding safety regulations, materials for staff training and job descriptions. All of the staff scheduling, employee benefits and physician correspondence is handled in this department.
Insurance/Coding Specialist
Another profession associated with the medical front office is the insurance and coding departments. In some facilities, they are situated right next to the record clerks, since they collaborate with them when working files and encoding diagnostics and procedural info into standard codes. It is required that they are familiar with billing and coding, as well as medical terminology. They have to provide insurance companies with the data required to submit insurance claims.
Billing/Accounts Clerk
The duties associated with insurance and coding specialists include providing advanced services in processing diagnosis, facilitating communications in regard to patient insurance coverage and the rights between patients and insurers, auditing charts, treatment and procedural codes for insurance companies and processing claims to insurance companies.
