THE MEDICAL
SECRETARY
Dr. Nasser Ali Al JarALLAH
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
What a medical secretary is.
 Medical communications.
 Records in a medical office.
 Insurance claims processing
and accounting procedures.
 Medical office technology.
 Medical mini-glossary.

THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
What a medical secretary is.

The medical secretary is a
trained member of the
medical health-care team,
who can performs the
administrative and
secretarial functions required
at particular medical facility.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Tasks of medical secretary:
There can be no routine in handling
patients because each patient is
different, with specific needs.
A. Administrative/Secretarial Duties;

1.
2.
3.
Handling the telephone.
Obtaining and recording messages
from the answering service.
Scheduling, canceling,
rescheduling patients’
appointments.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
A.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Administrative/Secretarial
Duties (cont.);
Greeting patients.
Recording patients’ visits.
Quoting and collecting fees.
Sending out bills.
Preparing and processing
insurance claim forms.
Maintaining financial records.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
A.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Administrative/Secretarial
Duties (cont.);
Ordering and maintaining
office supplies and equipment.
Typing and transcribing
dictated and handwritten
correspondence and case
histories.
Composing correspondence.
Maintaining patients’ records.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
A.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Administrative/Secretarial Duties (cont.);
Opening, sorting, and distributing mail.
Handling petty cash.
Making bank deposits.
Taking patients’ medical histories.
Assisting patients in understanding the
doctor’s instructions regarding their
prescribed health-care treatment.
Filing and pulling patients’ charts, reports,
and records for their visits.
Arranging for patients’ hospital
reservations.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
B.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Clinical duties;
Taking patients’ medical histories.
Measuring patients’ vital signs :
temperature, pulse, respiration,
blood pressure.
Sterilizing instruments and
equipment.
Positioning and draping patients for
examination.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
B.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Clinical duties (cont.);
Collecting specimens form patients
and either sending them to a
laboratory or performing certain
diagnostic tests for which one has
been trained.
Taking electrocardiograms.
Assisting doctors with the patients’
examinations or treatment, if
needed.
Keeping medical supply cabinets
well stocked.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Qualifications for medical secretary
depend:
1.
On whether the specific position
requires mainly
secretarial/administrative tasks,
clinical tasks, or both.
2.
On the specialty of the physician.
3.
On the nature and size of the
medical facility.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Qualifications ( cont.):
Medical secretary should have:
 A desire to help people.
 Strong interpersonal skills.
 Personal characteristics such as
patience, poise, tact, consideration,
dependability, punctuality, and
flexibility.
 Carefulness, accuracy, and attention
to detail, as well as respect for
confidentiality.
 A well-groomed appearance .
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Qualifications ( cont.):
Medical secretary should have:


Proficient in English
pronunciation, spelling,
grammar, and punctuation.
A basic understanding of
anatomy, medical terminology,
and the legal implications of the
practice of medicine.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
If medical secretary is required to perform
clinical duties, he/she should:
Know about the instruments used in the
medical practice and their proper care
and use.
 Be familiar with the methods of
sterilization.
 Other related medical knowledge.
Educational requirements:
 The minimum is a high school diploma,
however, many positions require
additional education.

THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Educational requirements (cont.):
 Vocational/technical institutes offer
three-to-six month training programs.
 Many of them tow-years colleges offer
an associate’s degree program.
 Courses cover medical transcription,
medical assisting procedures,
keyboarding , business English,
accounting , word processing, basic
biological sciences, basic laboratory
techniques, cardio-pulmonary
resuscitation (CPR), and human
relations.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Places of employment:
 May be employed in;
 A doctor’s office.
 A medical clinic.
 A hospital.
 A public health facility.
 A health maintenance
organization (HMO).
 A nursing home.
 A research center.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Places of employment:
 Places of employment (cont.):
 A laboratory.
 An insurance company.
 A pharmaceutical company.
 A government or private health
services agency.
 A medical transcription services.
 A business of manufactures medical
supplies and equipment.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical ethics and the Law:
 Medicine is the oldest profession to
have developed a code to govern its
practitioners.
 The principles of right and wrong are
referred to as medical ethics.
 Medical ethics concerns itself with a
standard of conduct, medical
etiquette deals with courtesy,
manners, and customs.
 These tow areas complement each
other.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical ethics and the Law (cont.):
 Oath of Hippocrates (400 B.C) has been
taken by physicians for centuries and
remains an inspiration to the physicians
of today.
 The American Medical Association
(AMA) formulated its own principles of
medical ethics.
 In general, principles prescribe who
must be licensed to perform various
procedures, the requirement for
licensure, the duties imposed by
licensure, and government regulations.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical ethics and the Law (cont.):



Professional liability
encompasses all civil liability
that a physician can incur as a
result of professional acts.
Negligence as applied to the
medical is called “malpractice”.
Most of patients never consider
taking legal actions against their
physicians.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical ethics and the Law (cont.):
Preventing litigation can be by :
 Establishing good patient rapport.
 Keeping all information confidential.
 Avoiding the transmittal of criticisms of
physicians to a patient.
 Avoiding discussion of a patient’s
condition, diagnosis, or treatment with
him or her.
 Keeping complete and accurate records.
 Obtaining proper authorization, releases
and consents.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical ethics and the Law (cont.):
Preventing litigation can be by ;
Using discretion in telephone
and office conversations.
 Notifying the physician if
learning that the patient is
under treatment by another
physician for the same
condition.
 Being available to assist the
doctor.

THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical ethics and the Law
(cont.):
The relationship between
doctor and patient is legally
considered as a contract.
 All information furnished to a
doctor by patient is
considered confidential and
may not be divulged to any
unauthorized person.

THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Professional organization and
certifications;
 Join professional associations
and apply for certification.
 Associations such as;
American association of medical
assistants (AAMA).
 American association of medical
transcription (AAMT).

THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
1. Telephone;
 Dealing Patient Health
problems.
 The telephone should be
answered by the second
ring at the latest.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
1. Telephone (cont,);
 Save the doctor’s time.
 Complete information for
each call in message
book with carbons
copies.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
1. Telephone;
 The information noted should
include;

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
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Date and time of call.
Person called.
Caller’s name.
Caller’s phone number.
Action to be taken.
Complete message.
Name of the person who took
the call.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
2. Answering service ;
 Used for after-office hours.
 Automatically or
programmed .
 Checks for messages.
 Recorded message can be
used.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
3. Appointment ;
 Should Not be too
closely or far.
 Vary in length according
the purpose and doctor
specialty.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
3. Appointment ;
 Details should be
recorded.
 Check mark should be
placed.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
3. Appointment ;
 Ditto marks for
appointments .
 Diagonal lines for not
available.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
3. Appointment ;
 A medical emergency is
immediate.
 Patient should be called
for rescheduled other
than canceling.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
4. Greeting patients ;
 Make the patient feel at
ease.
 Patients should be
identified and asked to
be seated in the waiting
room.
THE MEDICAL SECRETARY
Medical communications:
5. Correspondence ;
 The letters must be
courteous, concise,
complete, accurately,
typewritten, properly
formatted, and proofread.
 Correspondence leaving is
like the proper telephone
use.