Medical Office Assistant

Medical Office Assistant

240 Hours

Description

The job of a medical office assistant can be multifaceted depending on the size and location of the practice. In a small practice, the assistant may handle all administrative duties whereas in a larger practice, there may be more specialized administrative positions. Some of the duties of a medical office assistant include answering telephones; greeting patients; scheduling appointments, surgeries, and laboratory services; preparing new patient files, ordering office supplies; preparing purchase orders; handling billing and bookkeeping; preparing and filing medical insurance claims; and arranging for hospital admissions. The result of a trained, efficient, knowledgeable medical office assistant is a smooth, well-run medical practice.

Medical office assistants will most likely secure employment in physicians' offices. Some will work in public and private hospitals and in offices of other health professionals, such as chiropractors and podiatrists. Other establishments needing medical assistants include outpatient care centers, public and private educational services, ambulatory healthcare services, state and local government agencies, medical and diagnostic laboratories, and nursing care facilities.

The Medical Office Program provides the medical office assistant-related knowledge you will need to gain an entry-level position in the medical field. Throughout the program, you will learn medical terminology and how to perform the duties and job responsibilities of a medical office assistant. The end of the program will prepare you for a successful job search in your new career.

Your tuition fee includes:

* All instruction, exam evaluation, and grading of homework assignments
* Access to our state-of-the-art Online Student Center
* Full student services and support during your program, including
unlimited e-mail, fax, and telephone support
* All new, latest edition, textbooks
* Comprehensive and up-to-date study guides prepared by
faculty and reviewed by subject matter experts
* Exam grade reports with references for questions answered incorrectly
* One official school transcript
* An embossed Medical Office Assistant diploma upon completion of program requirements

*18 months access

Curriculum

Unit I: Skills for Success
Discover How You Learn	Find a Place to Study	Learn How to Study
Determine Your Learning Style Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation Learning Defined Self-Efficacy & Self-Determination Learning Styles Visual, Auditory, & Kinesthetic Learners Field Dependence & Independence Know How You Learn Best	Choose a Perfect Place Work When You're at Your Best Schedule Time to Study Set Realistic Goals Avoid Distractions Monitor Your Study Sessions Take Care of Yourself Avoid Procrastination	Learning Strategies The SQ3R Learning Strategy Note-Taking Memory Tricks References Multiple Choice Tests

Unit II: Medical Terminology 1: An Introduction
Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3
Explains how medical terms are constructed and analyzed to determine meaning; discusses types of medical terms including terms with no prefix and no root; explains the function of combining vowels and how terms are pluralized.	Covers the roots of each body system; explains the difference between anatomy and physiology; covers organ systems and common anatomical roots.	Covers general and adjectival suffixes and suffixes used to indicate pathologic conditions and diagnostic and surgical procedures.
		Chapter 4
		Covers prefixes referring to direction and position; discusses negative prefixes, prefixes referring to numbers, and those with the same or opposite meaning.

Unit III: Medical Terminology 2
Chapter 5			Chapter 7
Discusses how the body is organized into cavities; covers directional terminology.			Covers the anatomy and physiology of the skeletal system; describes the skeleton and joints; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.
Chapter 6			Chapter 8
Covers the anatomy and physiology of the integumentary system; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.			Covers the muscular system; discusses the skeletal attachments and major skeletal muscles; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.
Unit IV: English and Written Communication
Chapter 1	Chapter 3			Chapter 5
Covers the parts of speech including nouns, verbs, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections.	Covers pronoun/antecedent agreement and pronoun usage; explains how pronouns are used in sentences; covers subject/verb agreement.			Covers fundamentals of written communication including using active versus passive voice, writing unified and coherent paragraphs, and writing topic sentences for paragraphs. Discusses common types of business communication including business letters and memorandums.
Chapter 2	Chapter 4
Covers the parts of a sentence including the subject, predicate, direct and indirect objects, subject complements, phrases, and clauses.	Covers sentence types and sentence punctuation.
Unit V: Medical Terminology 3
Chapter 9		Chapter 10			Chapter 12
Covers the divisions and functions of the nervous system; discusses nerve cells and synapses; discusses the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS); lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.		Covers the eyes and the ears (sensory system); lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.			Covers the cardiovascular system; discusses the structure of the heart, the conduction system, blood pressure, heart sounds, blood vessels, and circulation; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.
		Chapter 11
		Covers the endocrine system; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.

Unit VI: Introduction to Computers, Keyboarding and Office Technology
Chapter 1	Chapter 3	Chapter 4
Covers how computers are used in the office today, the different types of computers, and the parts of a computer system.	Covers the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW), URLs, the different types of Internet connections, search engines, email, and other uses for the internet.	Covers other types of office technology including office telephones, the different types of telephone calls, fax machines, photocopiers, multipurpose machines, transcribers, digital cameras, and wireless communication.
Chapter 2
Covers basic keyboarding skills using the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing CD.

Unit VII: Medical Terminology 4
Chapter 13	Chapter 15	Chapter 16
Covers the blood, immune and lymphatic systems; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.	Covers the digestive system; discusses the oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine, accessory organs, and peritoneum; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.	Covers the urinary and male reproductive system; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.
Chapter 14		Chapter 17
Covers the respiratory system; discusses the nose, nasal cavities, paranasal sinuses, pharynx, larynx, trachea, bronchi, and lungs; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.		Covers the female reproductive system and obstetrics; discusses the structures of the female reproductive system, the menstrual cycle, and menopause; lists relevant word elements, terms, and abbreviations.

Unit VIII: Administrative Medical Assisting I
Chapter 1	Chapter 4
Covers the duties of a medical office assistant; discusses the evolution of the profession and employment opportunities; lists a medical office assistant's job responsibilities; discusses personal qualifications and professionalism.	Covers the office receptionist's duties, including assisting patients with special needs and communicating with the medical staff and patients; discusses patient registration, the patient/practice information brochure, and the patient instruction form; explains how to direct patients and how to deal with emotional/psychological problems at the worksite.
Chapter 2	Chapter 5
Covers the history of health care and today's health care delivery system; discusses the medical practice setting and the physician specialist.	Covers how to communicate effectively on the telephone; offers guidelines for using the telephone; discusses telephone equipment, telephone services, and telephone policies and procedures; explains how to coordinate telephone calls and messages, keep telephone message records, handle special telephone calls, and use telephone reference aids.
Chapter 3	Chapter 6
Covers medical ethics and medical etiquette; stresses the importance of confidentiality; explains how medical records should be retained; discusses medical practice acts, medical professional liability, and alternatives to the litigation process; covers the physician/patient contract and informed consent; discusses medical records, subpoena, and advance directives.	Covers coordinating, scheduling, and managing appointments; discusses the setup of preoperative tests and postoperative appointments, and out-of-office appointments.

Unit IX: Administrative Medical Assisting II
Chapter 7	Chapter 10
Covers medical records and medical record systems; offers instruction inf record-keeping and correcting a medical record; discusses the elements of a medical record; covers patient medical history, physician examination, the complexity of medical decision-making, progress or chart notes, abstracting from medical records, and the audit of medical records.	Covers written correspondence; discusses the equipment used for written correspondence and the standards for mailable communication; discusses letter styles and the parts of a letter; covers transcription and photocopying procedures.
Chapter 8	Chapter 11
Covers federal drug laws, drug names, and drug references; discusses prescriptions, prescription drugs and the role of the medical assistant; discusses the control and storage of drugs.	Covers processing mail and telecommunications; discusses the U.S. Postal Service; covers handling incoming and outgoing mail and addressing envelopes for computerized mail; discusses electronic mail and facsimile communication.
Chapter 9	Chapter 12
Covers commercial filing systems; explains alphabetic filing rules; discusses filing equipment and supplies; covers charge out and control systems; explains how to conduct a record search and file documents in patient records; discusses record retention and storage; discusses micrographics and when to destroy documents.	Covers professional reports; discusses research reference and retrieval systems, library services, and manuscript preparation; discusses speeches.

Unit X: Professional Development and Medicolegal Ethics
Chapter 1	Chapter 2
Discusses concepts of professional development including attitude, self-esteem, professional attire, business etiquette, verbal and nonverbal communication, introductions, time and stress management, and continuing education.	Discusses medicolegal ethics in healthcare; covers the code of ethics; discusses aspects pertaining to the healthcare record including the purpose of ownership, how to correct mistakes, the difference between privileged and nonprivileged information, and the importance of timeliness.

Unit XI: Administrative Medical Assisting III
Chapter 13	Chapter 14	Chapter 15
Covers fees, credit, and collection; discusses the history of credit, the patient information form, fees, billing, credit, and collections.	Covers health insurance systems; discusses third-party payers, managed care plans, Medicaid, Medicare, TRICARE, CHAMPVA, state disability insurance, and workers' compensation; gives guidelines for handling insurance claims; discusses coding for professional services, diagnostic coding, and the health insurance claim form CMS-1500; explains how to trace insurance claims.	Covers banking; discusses banking transactions, checking accounts, bank deposits, automated teller machines, checkbook management, and bank statements.
		Chapter 16
		Covers bookkeeping procedures, including patient accounts, the daysheet, accounts receivable control, and cash funds.

Unit XII: Administrative Medical Assisting IV
Chapter 17	Chapter 18	Chapter 19
Covers office managerial responsibilities; discusses the office manager, office guidebooks, office security, office supplies and office equipment; covers medical waste management and OSHA guidelines; discusses business travel and employer responsibilities.	Covers financial management of the medical practice; discusses computerized financial management, analyzing practice, productivity, accounts payable, and payroll.	Covers employment opportunities for the administrative medical office assistant; explains how to begin a job hunt; covers writing letters of introduction and resumes; gives pointers for succeeding on job interviews; discusses preparing for a performance evaluation.

Unit XIII: Medical Office Practice 1

Job 1: Records Management - Organizing Work Files
Job 2: Written Communication - Revising Patient Information Sheet
Job 3: Records Management - Preparing New Patient Files
Job 4: Computerized Scheduling - Blocking and Scheduling Patient Appointments
Job 5: Appointments - Scheduling Telephone Appointments
Job 6: Completion of Encounter Form
Job 7: Transcription - SOAP Notes
Job 8: Transcription - SOAP Notes and EEG
Job 9: Appointments - Creating Appointment Patient List
Job 10: Appointments - Preparing New Patient Appointments Schedule, Drafting Letter to Patients to Inform of New Doctors' Hours
Job 11: Transcription - History and Physical Examination Record, Continuation Sheet
Job 12: Research and Written Communication Skills - Researching Drug Information

Unit XIV: Medical Office Practice 2

Job 13: Computerized Medical Insurance Billing - Preparing CMS-1500 Insurance Reimbursement Form
Job 14: Insurance Claims - Preparing CMS-1500 Forms: Medical and Blue
Job 15: Research and Written Communication Skills - Creating a Travel Itinerary
Job 16: Transcription - Preparing Preoperative History and Physical Examination Report and Operative Report
Job 17: Written Communication - Completing Finished Copy from Rough Draft
Job 18: Communication Skills - Making a Referral to a Specialist
Job 19: Administrative Procedures - Faxing a Referral
Job 20: Transcription - Two History and Physical Examination Records
Job 21: Transcription -Two Operative Reports
Job 22: Scheduling - Appointment Requests

Unit XV: Medical Office Practice 3

Job 23: Computerized Medical Records Management - Input New Patient Records, Edit Patient Records, Prepare Reports
Job 24: Records Management - Transcribing Emergency Patient Office Visit, Creating New Patient File, Completing Encounter Form
Job 25: Employee Payroll - Completing Work Record, Preparing and Proving Totals on Payroll Register
Job 26: Transcription - History and Physical Examination Record, Progress Notes, Letter
Job 27: Transcription - Operative Reports
Job 28: Transcription - Telephone Messages
Job 29: Research - Researching Electronic Medical Records
Job 30: Computerized Procedure Entry
Job 31: Insurance Claims and Managed Care - Preparing CMS-1500 Forms: Medicare and Blue
Job 32: Standard Precautions: Preparing Occupational Exposure Incident Report
Job 33: Communications: Proofreading and Preparing Final Copies from Draft Copies: Discharge Summary and History and Physical Examination Record
Job 34: Office Administration - Ordering Office Supplies and Preparing a Purchase Order
Job 35: Coding - Diagnostic and Procedural Coding

Unit XVI: How to Find a Job as a Healthcare Professional
Chapter 1	Chapter 2	Chapter 3
Covers job-search correspondence including resumes and cover letters.	Discusses job-search techniques such as networking and using online employment search engines.	Discusses job interviews; explains how to dress for an interview, what to bring to an interview, what to expect during an interview; discusses common questions asked during an interview and how to follow up after an interview.

Computer Requirements

Students are required to have the following to complete this course:

Intel Pentium or equivalent processor
Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows
    Millennium Edition, Windows NT 4 with Service Pack 6 or later or
   Windows 2000 Professional or later operating system
24MB RAM (Windows 98/Windows 98 Second Edition); 32MB RAM (Windows
   Me/Windows NT; 4.0); 64MB RAM (Windows 2000 Home/Professional or Windows XP)
Plus an additional 8MB for each application running simultaneously
100MB available hard disk space minimum
2x CD-ROM drive or higher
VGA or higher monitor recommended
16-Bit Sound Card or higher
Standard USB Port
Speakers connected to your sound card
Microsoft mouse or other compatible pointing device
Printer
Audio Cassette Player

Course Materials

Medical Office Assistant Study Guides

Sixteen separate units will guide you through the Medical Office Assistant program. These study units are broken into smaller sections, which will allow you to better process and retain the material in the readings. Each study unit chapter includes objectives, an overview, teacher's notes, and a self-check.

Administrative Medical Assisting

- 5th Edition, by Marilyn T. Fordney, Delmar Publishers
Administrative Medical Assisting is the most comprehensive hands-on text available for medical office administration students. This revision features a new chapter on traditional and managed care settings, plus managed care topics integrated throughout where appropriate, such as managed care contracts, implications of managed care contracts on financial aspects of practices, referrals, and collection techniques in a managed care setting. Accompanying the text is a free Windows-based study guide program which includes more than 1,000 activities and application exercises specific to the administration of today's dynamic medical office environment.

Essentials of Medical Terminology
- 2nd Edition, by Juanita J. Davies, Delmar Publishers

This essentials-level learning resource is organized by body systems and is designed for short medical terminology courses. Part One of the text begins with basic analysis of medical terms, common anatomical roots, suffixes and prefixes. Part Two features chapters on each of the body systems, leading with anatomy and physiology, then moving on to terminology, pronunciation, abbreviations and exercises.

Medical Office Practice
- 7th Edition, by Phillip Atkinson, Delmar Publishers
This simulation is an introductory hands-on practice set that introduces students to administrative concepts and routines in a medical office, including scheduling appointments, transcription, and insurance-forms preparation. It contains supplies, forms, procedures and cases for over 30 activities drawn from practicing physicians' records. Includes an audiotape which provides select voices in medical office dictation. A computer disk contains templates, documents and simulated activities for scheduling appointments, records management, and completing an insurance claim.

Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary, 27th Edition -- Book and CD-ROM

Since 1898, Dorland's Pocket Medical Dictionary has set the world standard as the most convenient, user-friendly portable reference on medical terminology. It provides the accurate, clear, up-to-date definitions people expect from Dorland's...in a highly compact, easy-to-use format. Now it's better than ever! Delivers 2,500 new entries - 37,000 in all-encompassing all of the most important new medical terms and definitions, including new drug names. Presents the most complementary and alternative medicine coverage available in any small medical dictionary. Offers an expanded full-color insert illustrating the structure and function of the human body. Includes a CD-ROM with Dorland's Electronic Medical Speller, Version 4.0 at no added cost, allowing you to quickly and easily add 400,000 medical terms to your computer's spell checker. Uses a new two-color design to make reference easier.

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing ®

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing ® delivers the customized training you need in a motivating, engaging format. Work at your own pace with lesson content that keeps you interested. This flexible program is an ideal choice for any would-be fluent typist, including students, e-mail enthusiasts, and office professionals. If you use the keyboard, you'll benefit from Mavis Beacon.

Career Development for Health Professionals
- by Lee Haroun, W. B. Saunders Company

Written specifically for healthcare students and professionals, this resource gives you practical, hands-on help in writing more effectively,becoming better organized, and interacting successfully with others. Offers help with resumes, getting hired, and being successful in the workplace. Contains skill-building exercises and advice on navigating through your career.

Access to Online Student Center

Along with your traditional course items, you will gain unlimited access to the Online Student Center, where you can take exams and receive instantaneous Grade Reports, chat real-time with other students, participate in online discussions.