Is Tech Making the Medical Assisting Field Better or Worse?

Is Technology Making the Medical Assisting Field Better or Worse?

Medical Assistants come from all backgrounds – working single mom or dad, high school grad or GED, and just about anyone unhappy with their income or insecure about their future. Among the attractions is the promise of solid money and increasing job opportunities. But with this growth also comes a flood of technological advances that promise to make the field better, more efficient and more accurate.  But is that what’s really happening?  Is technology really making the medical assisting field a better place to work?

What Medical Assistants do:

The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts an additional 162,900 positions by 2022. That’s almost a 30% increase in the next ten years. The median pay is $29,370/year or $14.12/hour – depending on your location or the job environment. CareerBuilder calls Medical Assistant “one of the fastest-growing occupations.”

Medical Assistants make things happen in doctors’ offices, emergency clinics, hospitals, and just about anywhere health care is practiced or served. They may have specialized duties or float between administrative and clerical work.

• Clinical Duties: They may run tests, take vitals, enter data, and take x-rays.
• Administrative Duties: They may meet patients, answer phones, enter billing, or file patients’ med records.

What training do they need?

A small medical, podiatrist, or chiropractor office may be willing to hire a high school graduate with an interest in science. Such candidates would train on the job. But, most employers cannot spare the time and focus, so they prefer candidates with post-secondary education in their field of medical interest.

Should they fear technology?

Medical Assistant positions all have duties that place technology tools at their fingertips. That should present little concern for students or job candidates in this tech savvy world.

• Telemedicine: With smartphones and tablets, medical practitioners can immediately access their whole database of patient records. Medical Assistants may be tasked with entering or accessing patient information to assist the doctor in diagnosis, treatment, and research.
• Social Media: Medical Assistants may help patients and practitioners communicate through social media. Social media increasingly enables easier, faster, and friendlier contact to provide counseling, medical advice, and treatment updates. Medical Assistants can coach, monitor, and report patient progress.
• Health Information Technology: With growing government pressure, there is a move towards digital health records for all. Medical Assistant interface would allow doctors to share data and patients to move their data with them. Timely continuous tracking of an individuals health records over a lifetime and a universe of practitioners, practices, and providers builds a an accessible database to provide the best care future.
• Medical Applications (Apps) for Mobile Devices: With technology innovations and development moving towards mobile devices faster than ever before, it’s no wonder that mobile device applications have started to pop-up for the medical professionals that are comfortable with this technology.  You can see an entire list of 5 Apps That Will Make You a Better Medical Assistant in one our previous blog articles.

Medical Assistants, of course, may be called on to operate an array of machines from x-rays to sterilizing devices, from hand held tools to large apparatus. And, as their specializations diversify and strengthen, their skill set will mature with them. But, with technology easing their workload and helping them multi-task, it will help them become masters of their Medical Assistant position.

So in the end, answering the questions; “Is Tech Making Medical Assisting Better or Worse?”, the answer it seems is a resounding YES, tech is making the medical assisting field a much better, safer and more efficient career path.

For more information about Centura College or our Medical Assisting Career Training Programs, or to speak with an admissions representative and apply for admission, contact Centura College today by visiting our Website.  You can also learn more about Centura College at our Consumer Information Disclosure page, Your right to know.

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