Medical Office Specialist

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Medical Office Specialist

Career Overview

A medical office specialist is one of a group of employees that work in very particular fields within the hospital. Depending on their specialization they may be administrative secretaries, inventory clerks, unit or ward receptionists or secretaries, billing clerks, claims analysts or other supervisors that have business skills specifically designed to meet the needs of medical departments.

A medical office specialist may work in a hospital or healthcare facility, a private doctors office, a medical insurance office, laboratories, clinics or public health centers. The skills of a medical office specialist range from accounting to word processing, data entry, customer service and even medical transcription and claims processing.

A medical office specialist should have a good background in medical terminology, processes and hospital or healthcare facility policies. He or she should be able to relate well to customer or patients and be able to handle questions or problems that may arise from billing, clerical or administrative errors.

A medical office specialist should have excellent communication skills both in written and spoken interactions and should be familiar with all basic computer programs used for data entry, billing and word processing in the facility. Good problems solving skills and creative thinking are an asset in the medical office specialist career.

Career Requirements

Depending on the area of focus the medical office specialist can have a variety of requirements. Most medical office specialist jobs will require a Bachelors level in a related field although there are several programs that offer technical diplomas in medical office specialization. These programs are becoming very well recognized as training options for those wishing to enter the career track.

Job Outlook

With a slight increase in the automation of some of the areas of medical office specialization there is a slight decrease in demand for new medical office specialists. This trend is somewhat offset by the increasing number of treatment facilities and the need for frontline workers in the medical industry.

Currently the demand for medical office specialists exceeds the current number of trained individuals in the marketplace for a job and the expected trend is continued strong employement opportunities at least until the year 2014.

Career Track

With additional training and work experience medical office specialists may move into supervisory roles or even low level management roles within the various agencies and facilities. Continued education in a field of specialization can result in opportunities for mid to upper management positions.

Many employers will compensate or even provide training for those medical office specialists that wish to continue their education on a part-time basis and continue to work for the same hospital or healthcare facility.

Compensation

Most medical office specialists are paid a yearly salary that varies between $21,000 and $30,000 depending on years of experience, training, and level of supervisory responsibilities. Medical office specialists in supervisory roles often earn in excess of $35,000 per year. With increasing specialization and education it is possible for most medical office specialists to increase their earnings well beyond this level.