Medical Assistant: A High-Demand Career in Healthcare

Medical Assistant: A High-Demand Career in Healthcare

Medical Assistants in the USA are enjoying a plethora of options in the fast-growing national healthcare industry.  Needed for managing an ever-increasing health care centersthe medical assistant finds his job prospects continuously expanding in an otherwise slow economy.
 
Healthcare Industry in US: An Unprecedented Surge

In the US as well as worldwide, healthcare is amongst the biggest and fastest growing industries.  The per capita spend on health has increased from $ 356 in 1970 to almost $ 8500 in today’s time.  This puts American healthcare system worth almost $3 trillion in total yearly expenditure.  Notably, healthcare constituted about 7% of American Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1970, while it now contributes almost 20% to the American GDP.  The CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) projects that the annual average rate of growth in healthcare spending will be 5.8% at least until 2020, which is higher than the expectation of growth in GDP during the same period.  Using this projection, the healthcare industry is slated to rise beyond $4.6 trillion in spending by 2020.

With this growth in healthcare, there is a rising demand of professionals who help in dissemination of health-related services.  Doctors form only one spectrum of healthcare.  The others are formed of allied supporting duties which make the doctor’s role convenient and efficient.  An important supporting healthcare role is that of a medical assistant.

Medical Assistants in US Healthcare:

Massive growth in healthcare has spruced up both the demands and the challenges in the industry.  Medical assistants are an important part of the large-scale solution to efficient access, delivery and reimbursement of health care services.

Medical assistants typically carry out administrative or clinical support duties; or a combination of the two; based on the requirements of the employer.  The routine tasks would involve measuring and noting the patients’ vital signs, dispense medications, managing patient records, maintenance of medical instruments and equipments, readying the instruments or equipments for doctors’ use, phlebotomy-related duties, billing and cash management, front desk management and customer care etc.  In specialist offices, they may be taking up additional duties based on the specific nature of the diagnosis and treatment.

Medical assistants in the US are not only receiving a quantitative growth in their job opportunities; they are also undergoing a qualitative change in the nature of their duties which have expanded beyond their traditional job roles.  

Earlier, medical assistants were primarily involved in health care centers which were ambulatory or stand-alone in nature, or administered critical care services.  Whereas today, medical assistants find an important place in larger facilities such as public or private hospitals, old age homes, and assisted living facilities.  Some states even allow the medical assistant to assist the surgeon in surgical procedures (additional certification may be required for such roles). 

Massive Job Opportunity:

The BLS (Bureau of Labor Services, US Government), projects 29% growth in medical assistant jobs during the decade.  This means a creation of 162,900 new jobs in that time period.  

As per the 2012 survey by BLS, the median salary of a medical assistant is $ 29,370 per annum.  Persons in the highest bracket of medical assistants earn over $ 40,000 per annum.  This remuneration combined with lots of job opportunities makes ‘medical assistant’ a lucrative career opportunity in the current decade.

Becoming a Medical Assistant: Training & Certification

A high school diploma usually forms the entry point into the medical assistance career.  The training can happen on-the-job or in a formal structured learning environment.  Due to the high demand, health care centers prefer trained medical assistants who can hit the road running.  Also, trained medical assistants are less prone to making mistakes which can cost dearly in a health care set up, considering the huge risk of legal liability that a health care institution bears in recent times.  Certification is optional, and a candidate can apply to one of the many certification agencies for obtaining the same.  The candidate should check local laws and requirements of employers within his area, before applying for certification.

Healthcare institutions in CT offer among the best salaries to medical assistants in the entire country.  This is one reason why CT is a very good place to receive training and gain employment as a medical assistant.  AIHT Education - American Institute of Healthcare Technology, situated in Stratford, CT, is a well-known medical assistant school in CT which hand-holds students from ‘novice to medical assistant’ through structured training programs with classroom learning, labs and externships.  This school can be an excellent starting point for gaining an entry into the high-demand medical assisting career.  

Visit school's official website www.aihtedu.com today for further details and free information about career as a medical assistant.