Medical Office Systems Degree Program

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Medical Office Administration and Management

If you have ever been to a doctor's office, you know what a busy and hectic environment it can be. It is the job of medical office administration and management professionals to keep everything running in an efficient and effective manner. The job typically involves assisting patients and health care practitioners with their needs as well as managing and supervising additional support staff. Duties can also include patient and staff scheduling, billing, budgeting and patient flow issues as well as all of the other issues and concerns on the business side of medicine and patient care.

Why Earn Your Medical Office Administration Diploma?

A medical office administration degree prepares you for work as an administrative assistant (or medical secretary). Typical course titles include Microcomputer Applications, Medical Emergency Management, Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Machine Transcription, and Computerized Patient Billing to name a few. Please read on to find out more.

As the field of healthcare keeps growing, and the demand for all types of healthcare workers increases. Not only are doctors and nurses needed, but the workers who make the healthcare business run-such as administrative assistants-are in demand too. If you are friendly, organized, enjoy helping people, and you are comfortable using a computer, you might consider obtaining your Associate of Applied Science degree in Medical Office Administration (sometimes called secretarial science).

Career Possibilities

Occupational Outlook

A degree in medical office administration prepares you for work as a medical office administrative assistant (also known as medical secretary). Employment isn't just limited to hospitals though. Other medical entities employing medical office administrative assistants include doctor's offices, nursing homes, clinics, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies among others. Employment growth for office administration in general is projected to grow more slowly than average according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), www.bls.gov; with that said, the specialization of medical office administration is projected to have average growth.

Salary Information

According to Salary.com, the average medical office administrative assistant earns $31,523 annually as of July 2007 reportings.

Degree Specifics

Coursework Requirements

Some programs allow you to have a focus or specialization such as transcription, coding, or management. The following list of courses represents typical core and specialization classes for a medical office administration program (listed in no particular order):

* Microcomputer Applications
* Medical Emergency Management
* Introduction to Microsoft Office
* Introduction to MediSoft
* Anatomy and Physiology
* Body Structure and Function for Medical Office Administration
* Medical Machine Transcription
* Computerized Patient Billing
* Records and Database Management
* Essentials of Pharmacology
* Medical Terminology
* Job Shadowing in the Medical Office
* Introduction of Coding and Health Insurance
* Medical Office Procedures

Skills You Will Learn

Medical office administration degree programs offer up-to-date teaching methods with cutting edge classes. You will learn the following skills from the program:

* Hands-on knowledge from the many lecture and lab series
* Ability to communicate effectively in a professional medical environment using proper terminology
* Proficient with current administrative technology such as computer programs

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