Medical records clerk to medical administrative assistant
A medical records clerk already meets 48% of what the medical administrative assistant role asks for. The move turns on 5 required skills not yet in the profile.
52.5/ 100
1 How much of what a medical administrative assistant is expected to do is already part of a medical records clerk’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the medical administrative assistant role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A medical administrative assistant role treats 9 of its required skills as things a medical records clerk already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- administrative tasks in a medical environment
- answer patients' questions
- apply organisational techniques
- collect healthcare user's general data
- maintain healthcare user data confidentiality
- medical informatics
What stands in the way is 5 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 16 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A medical administrative assistant role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a medical records clerk background worth leading with.
- already held type on electronic devices information skills
- already held administrative tasks in a medical environment business, administration and law
- already held send samples to laboratory handling and moving
- already held answer patients' questions assisting and caring
- already held handle paperwork management skills
- already held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers communication, collaboration and creativity
All 16 carried skills, including the 9 the medical administrative assistant role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 26 missing skills fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn manage budgets required
- still to learn manage personnel agenda required
- optional, not held allocate bills optional
- optional, not held coordinate events optional
- optional, not held fix meetings optional
- optional, not held manage accounts optional
- optional, not held plan schedule optional
- still to learn communicate by telephone required
- optional, not held analyse insurance needs optional
- optional, not held listen actively optional
- optional, not held order supplies optional
- optional, not held organise travel arrangements for staff optional
- still to learn clinical reports required
- optional, not held pathology optional
- still to learn use spreadsheets software required
- optional, not held transcribe dialogues optional
- optional, not held fill out forms optional
- optional, not held monitor billing procedures optional
- optional, not held process medical insurance claims optional
- optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
- optional, not held record treated patient's information optional
- optional, not held healthcare administration optional
- optional, not held insurance law optional
- optional, not held types of insurance optional
2 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a medical administrative assistant role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 clinical reports study this
- 02 communicate by telephone practise this
- 03 manage budgets practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 16 skills that carry over
- already held administrative tasks in a medical environment knowledge
- already held answer patients' questions skill
- already held apply organisational techniques skill
- already held collect healthcare user's general data skill
- already held maintain healthcare user data confidentiality skill
- already held medical informatics knowledge
- already held send samples to laboratory skill
- already held type on electronic devices skill
- already held use communication techniques skill
- already held communicate in foreign languages with health service providers skill
- already held handle paperwork skill
- already held manage healthcare users' data skill
- already held medical terminology knowledge
- already held professional documentation in health care knowledge
- already held work in a multicultural environment in health care skill
- already held work in multidisciplinary health teams skill
The 2 learning areas not shown above
- optional, not held transcription methods optional
- optional, not held comply with legislation related to health care optional
21 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held healthcare administration optional
- optional, not held transcribe dialogues optional
- optional, not held allocate bills optional
- optional, not held analyse insurance needs optional
- optional, not held comply with legislation related to health care optional
- optional, not held coordinate events optional
- optional, not held fill out forms optional
- optional, not held fix meetings optional
- optional, not held insurance law optional
- optional, not held listen actively optional
- optional, not held manage accounts optional
- optional, not held monitor billing procedures optional
- optional, not held order supplies optional
- optional, not held organise travel arrangements for staff optional
- optional, not held pathology optional
- optional, not held plan schedule optional
- optional, not held process medical insurance claims optional
- optional, not held record healthcare users' billing information optional
- optional, not held record treated patient's information optional
- optional, not held transcription methods optional
- optional, not held types of insurance optional
30 held skills the medical administrative assistant role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role archive healthcare users' records skill
- not needed by the target role clinical coding knowledge
- not needed by the target role collect statistics on medical records skill
- not needed by the target role communicate in healthcare skill
- not needed by the target role communicate with customers skill
- not needed by the target role comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- not needed by the target role customer service knowledge
- not needed by the target role data storage knowledge
- not needed by the target role database knowledge
- not needed by the target role deliver case notes skill
- not needed by the target role display medical problems skill
- not needed by the target role document management knowledge
- not needed by the target role follow clinical guidelines skill
- not needed by the target role health care legislation knowledge
- not needed by the target role health care system knowledge
- not needed by the target role health records management knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify patients' medical records skill
- not needed by the target role manage digital archives skill
- not needed by the target role manage digital documents skill
- not needed by the target role medical studies knowledge
- not needed by the target role participate in medical records' auditing activities skill
- not needed by the target role perform backups skill
- not needed by the target role perform clinical coding procedures skill
- not needed by the target role pharmacology knowledge
- not needed by the target role process data skill
- not needed by the target role review patient's medical data skill
- not needed by the target role transfer medical information skill
- not needed by the target role use databases skill
- not needed by the target role use electronic health records management system skill
6 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn clinical reports required
- optional, not held healthcare administration optional
- optional, not held insurance law optional
- optional, not held pathology optional
- optional, not held transcription methods optional
- optional, not held types of insurance optional
Common questions about this move
Can a medical records clerk become a medical administrative assistant?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A medical records clerk already covers 48% of what a medical administrative assistant is expected to do: 16 skills carry over, 9 of which the medical administrative assistant role treats as required.
What skills does a medical records clerk need to become a medical administrative assistant?
5 required skills are missing, plus 21 optional ones. They fall into 8 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by management skills. The single most important is clinical reports.
How hard is the move from medical records clerk to medical administrative assistant?
Its learning distance is 52.5 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.