Health care settings have a variety of non-surgical and clerical tasks that need to be addressed on a daily basis. Students that are interested in medical services from a managerial standpoint have several online learning options at their disposal. Accredited colleges provide programs in medical office administration that can be completed in four years or less.
Education is widely available at the associate’s and bachelor’s degree level. Students that can only dedicate a few months to online education also have the option of entering a certificate program. Students learn the necessary skills to keep medical offices running efficiently by completing administrative and some clinical duties. Professionals typically work under a health care practitioner. Education focuses heavily on managerial duties such as:
Scheduling Appointments
Handling bookkeeping and billing tasks
Overseeing hospital admission and laboratory services
Depending on the level of education chosen students may learn more advanced tasks. Available schooling at the undergraduate degree levels will prepare students for entry-level positions. Students that want to continue their education and enter supervisory roles need to complete a graduate degree program in an administrative field related to health care.
Basic tasks are learned inside a certificate program. Office procedures are understood at a fundamental level in order to correctly act as a medical office administrator. Programs express the use of basic office procedures inside a medical setting. For this reason education is learned through subjects relating to the field. Along with keyboarding, computer technology, and filing skills, students work through medical specific courses. Medical office transcription procedures, medical documents, and medical terminology are some topics included in a certificate program.
An associate’s degree program is a great way to gain a strong set of skills that will allow students to further their careers. Topics discussed include patient rights, medical ethics, and hospital responsibilities that train students to manage a medical office. Two-year associates degree programs are available through numerous online schools that are dedicated to transitioning students directly into entry-level positions as office managers. Medical machine transcription, physiology, health insurance, and patient billing are just some of the course topics that make up a program. Further education allows students to step in administrative positions with the ability to work their way up to upper-level positions.
A bachelor’s degree program lasts four years and combines health administration duties with business administration skills and prepares students to step confidently into the workplace. Education seeks to establish the planning and supervising knowledge needed to coordinate a medical office. Programs cover advanced topics such as medical information technology, accounting for health care, trends in public health, and more that teaches students to understand the field. Many programs may require students to work through an internship. This gives students the chance to work directly with patients and medical professionals to hone their administrative skills. Continuing education is the best way to step into upper-level administration careers.
Accredited online education allows students to complete education from their home and keep their current jobs. Agencies like the Distance Education and Training Council ( http://www.detc.org/ ) are approved to accredited quality educational programs that offer the best education possible. Students interested in furthering their careers in health care should consider working through a degree program in medical office administration.
DISCLAIMER: Above is a GENERIC OUTLINE and may or may not depict precise methods, courses and/or focuses related to ANY ONE specific school(s) that may or may not be advertised at PETAP.org.