At the front desk, they greet patients and check them in.  Medical office assistants verify personal data about the patient, explain fees for services, collect payments, and guide patients through their medical office encounters. Medical Office Administrative Assistants answer the telephone, schedule appointments, and forward telephone calls according to office procedure.

Critical to the efficient operation of the office, Medical Office Administrative Assistants create and maintain patient medical records, store and retrieve the records for use during encounters with physicians, and keep the records up to date through diligent attention to detail.  The performance of administrative tasks varies widely office to office, and may include opening and sorting mail, composing routine correspondence, ordering of supplies, assuring that billing information reached the billing service efficiently, scheduling surgeries, and coordinating the physician’s meetings and hospital visits.  Medical Office Administrative Assistants play an important part in the business routine of the medical office including gathering patient information and signatures, filing insurance claim forms, coding diagnoses and procedures, reviewing insurance payments and helping patients understand insurance procedures.