Medical assisting is among the jobs that professionals can perform remotely. Whether or not you can start working remotely today depends on where you are in your assisting career path.
Veteran assistants with the necessary education and credentials can start speaking with recruiters about their options. Veterans can also begin to browse job openings on online job boards and at their current medical facility.
A new opportunity that has appeared in the last decade is for assistants who speak more than one language. Some doctors need help translating. Therefore, they use a system that dials for an assistant who speaks the necessary language.
Remotely, the assistant helps the doctor deliver high-quality care in the patient’s language – that’s the advancement of technology paying off in dividends.
You can start a career path toward and become a freelance remote medical assistant in 2022. We briefly outline how to become a remote medical assistant.
Understand the Medical Assistant Role
To succeed in this medical role, start by understanding it. An assistant in medical environments assists doctors. Job duties include:
- Explaining procedures and treatments to patients
- Jotting down patient medical histories
- Assisting during exams
- Performing laboratory tests
The position involves a lot of communicating with patients. It’s not always necessary to physically be in the same room with them to deliver critical information about their health, test results, and doctor’s findings.
You act as a patient liaison. Therefore, you must possess the proper knowledge and credentials.
Obtain the Proper Credentials
Professionals in the medical field must obtain the proper credentials, including medical assistants. The credentialing process begins with education.
Assistants must complete an associate’s program at an accredited college like My PA Resource. It’s also possible to complete a program approved by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs. If you simply want to assist doctors, you don’t need to attend medical school.
However, if you plan to advance your career and move into nursing, you’ll need to take additional courses as you make progress.
Once you complete your associate’s program, start applying for certifications. Each one you obtain proves that you understand medical terminology, procedures, and policies.
The proper credentials will help you land competitive jobs and salaries.
Gain On-Site Experience
Once you find a medical assistant job that makes you happy, stay there for at least one year. Initially, you don’t need a lot of experience to land your initial job. It’s different for remote positions.
Doctors need to ensure that you understand the position; they also want to ensure that you can work independently without making any mistakes.
Therefore, you must gain on-site experience before moving into a remote opportunity.
The remote position will focus more on paperwork, communication, and procedures. For example, some communities need Spanish-speaking doctors, nurses, and assistants.
Now, doctors who need a translator can tap into a remote medical assistant network and find one that speaks Spanish.
Continue Your Education
Once you complete six months of on-site work, you can start making a move into remote working. During the transition, continue your education.
Assistants must possess basic medical knowledge. They also need computer skills and to adapt to changes in regulations. Therefore, continue your education.
Your goal is to make yourself as valuable as possible to doctors, hospitals, and clinics so that they’ll hire your services.
Establish Yourself
Many remote medical assistants are entrepreneurs. Therefore, you need to explore how to run your business. Essentially, you’ll enter the world of telemedicine.
Will you establish your services and allow doctors and clinics to hire you on a per-project basis or full-time?
You might decide that you want to freelance. Doctors and clinics will know that you can translate from English to another language and call you as needed to assist. Thus, you’ll need to keep track of your income the same way solopreneurs do.
Then, you’ll need to keep track of your expenses, such as computer hardware, software, and insurance.
Conclusion
It’s one of the best times to become a remote medical assistant. The year 2020 tested the technology and proved it could handle the traffic. Plus, professionals saw that remote workers provide employers and companies with several benefits. To become a remote assistant in the medical field, understand the role. Then, obtain the proper education and credentials. After you work on-site, you’ll have the credibility to move into the remote position.
