During a crisis, communities depend on essential workers to serve those in need. Today, doctors, nurses and first responders, all heroes, are doing what they can to keep people safe, and it’s working. But for every frontline medical provider, there is a highly trained support worker behind the scenes, a logistical superstar who helps patients and professionals navigate tough times. Who are these specialists? They’re medical assistants, and they are unquestionably essential.
What is an Essential Worker?
An essential worker is someone whose job pertains to the safety of human life or the protection of property. Examples include law enforcement personnel, transit employees, food processors and health care providers. Recognizing that it takes a network of human resources to manage these essential responsibilities, this definition also includes critical support staff in the medical field.
Why is a Medical Assistant an Essential Worker?
A medical assistant handles the many details that are an integral part of every healthcare encounter. They tackle a wide range of clinical and administrative tasks so doctors and nurses can concentrate on what they do best, treating the ill. It’s a key role.
How Does a Medical Assistant Help Frontline Providers?
Medical assistants provide support for physicians and nurses in private practices and hospitals. More than 80% are employed in doctor’s offices, putting them on the frontline of public health emergencies.
Their regular duties may include:
- Greeting patients
- Managing the reception area
- Triaging phone calls
- Overseeing the schedule
- Handling medical records
- Measuring vital signs
- Updating patients’ clinical data
- Drawing blood
- Performing diagnostic tests
- Administering medications including vaccinations
- Assisting with minor surgical procedures
- Arranging referrals
- Medical coding
- Submitting insurance claims
- Billing
- Ordering supplies
- Patient education
But in a crisis, some parts of the job take on greater importance, such as scheduling, infection control, recordkeeping, medical coding, patient education, and patient support.
Scheduling
To avoid spreading infection and to save precious resources, health officials nationwide are asking patients to contact their doctor before going to the emergency room, if they’re showing symptoms of a contagious illness. Now more than ever, patients depend on their primary providers for care.
While many non-urgent appointments and elective procedures have been delayed, there are more sick patients to see. During a public health crisis, medical assistants use their clinical expertise to manage the schedule and ensure patients who need urgent care receive it promptly.
Resources from providers to equipment must be optimized to serve as many patients as possible, including last-minute emergencies. Also, patients suspected of having a readily transmissible disease must be scheduled carefully to minimize contact with others. Managing a busy schedule is much more than making appointments, it’s a challenging process.
Infection Control
Medical settings can harbor treatment-resistant pathogens, making strict infection control a must for patient safety. Hand washing and social distancing are not only necessary in the community; they’re critical precautions in healthcare settings and fundamental to controlling the spread of illness.
How do medical assistants safeguard their patients? In a busy office, they can:
- Sanitize common touchpoints, such as counters, doorknobs and pens
- Screen patients for symptoms of illness, such as fever
- Remind visitors to wash their hands and stay a safe distance from others
- Use waiting time to educate patients about disease prevention
As patients move from room to room, medical assistants help guide them in ways that minimize the spread of germs. They also clean multi-use equipment, such as exam tables and stethoscopes, between visits as well as sterilize the instruments used to perform procedures.
Recordkeeping
Precautions to curb the spread of infectious disease are paramount, and while some tasks can wait to make that easier, accurate recordkeeping, like a good medical assistant, remains essential.
Maintaining accurate records in a public health emergency is crucial because it:
- Ensures safety
- Helps diagnose vulnerable patients
- Keeps track of medical interventions
- Supports insurance reimbursement
At every visit, medical assistants verify personal data and update important medical information such as allergy and medication lists, ensuring that doctors providing care in an emergency can access the latest patient data. It’s essential for safe continuity of care.
Medical Coding
Healthcare records contain volumes of information. To make it easier to use, much of it is translated into standardized alphanumeric codes. In addition to being required for insurance claims, medical codes have a unique function in public health, they make the incidence of reportable disease simpler to track.
Instead of pouring through volumes of private records to track infection, the CDC relies on coded reports showing how many patients were seen for an illness to identify outbreaks. Data is collected more efficiently and with less risk to patient privacy.
Ensuring coding accuracy is one of a medical assistant’s principal roles in a crisis. Errors can lead to medical mistakes that directly impact patient care as well as denied claims. Insurance companies deny up to 10-percent of reimbursement requests because of coding errors on claim forms. Returned claims are time-intensive to research and fix, and in the meantime, practice revenue suffers, and patients get unexpected bills at a time when they can least afford them.
Patient Education and Support
Public health departments struggle to disseminate information in a crisis, and they rely on frontline healthcare providers to help people separate fact from fear. Patients depend on their primary care physicians to help them understand how to avoid or treat contagious illness. As liaisons for the healthcare team, medical assistants are often their primary source of information.
Medical assistants help patients understand:
- The symptoms of contagious illness
- How to avoid exposure
- When and where to seek treatment
- What treatment entails
- Where to find additional health resources
When new treatments become available, a medical assistant also has a practical role, administering medications and vaccinations and teaching patients about available care options. By helping private practices reach out to the community with the latest information, medical assistants act as frontline partners to the CDC on their mission to keep people healthy.
Medical assistants also serve as goodwill ambassadors for their care team. With a combination of clinical knowledge and soft skills, they offer the emotional support worried patients need during a public health emergency, reassuring them that care is accessible and qualified staff is ready to help. When patients are caught in a crisis, they can feel like they’re just numbers in a statistic vs. a living, breathing individual. A medical assistant is the warm, approachable worker that makes them feel like they matter. It’s a meaningful part of providing quality holistic care.
Final Thoughts
Outbreaks of contagious disease are tough on communities their impact is profound. This isn’t the first or the last time America has faced a pandemic, but one thing is clear, the courage of essential workers, such as medical assistants, is the key to a swift and safe recovery.
Did learning about medical assistants as essential workers interest you? Meridian College offers hands–on Medical Assistant training from experienced school faculty who know how to prepare you for the daily challenges you’ll face on the job. From assisting doctors with patients to important administrative tasks, our experienced Medical Assistant program teachers will train you for a rewarding new career.
In addition to receiving training from school instructors with real-world experience, you will also complete a school externship in a physician’s office, clinic or related healthcare facility under the supervision of a physician, nurse or health services professional to further develop your skills.
Contact Meridian College today to learn more about becoming a medical assistant.