Medical administrative assistants (CMAAs) work directly with their patients every day and make a real difference in the quality of care their patients receive. These allied health professionals perform administrative tasks that help healthcare offices run smoothly, and play an important role in the patient experience as they are usually the patient’s first point of contact.

Here are some of the top skills employers seek to succeed as a medical administrative assistant.

 Ready to master the technical and job-ready knowledge that’s demanded in this important healthcare role? MA SkillsBuilder™: Admin can help develop key skills to handle front and back-office responsibilities.

Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) and Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA) are credentials that show employers that you’re qualified to fill the role of a medical assistant or medical administrative assistant. However, there are distinct differences between these two NHA certifications — and strong reasons to achieve both.

"Nobody teaches us to be a patient."
— Kathy Torpie, Psychologist, Author, International Health Care Speaker

A tragic head-on collision with a drunk driver changed Kathy Torpie's life forever.

At the beginning of her story, Kathy asks you to imagine waking up in intensive care, your eyes so swollen you can’t see, your jaw is wired shut and you can feel a machine forcing air through a tube in your throat.

Editor's Note: This is the last in a series of three articles focused on medical assistant recruitment and retention. 

The previous two blogs in this series focused on How to Overcome MA Staffing Shortages and How NHA is Addressing the MA Skills Gap. However, if Medical Assistants (MAs) are overworked due to staffing issues and are experiencing burnout, employers are at risk of high turnover rates and cannot retain qualified help.

It’s NHA’s business to speak to allied health workers, employers, and physicians to better understand how we can help. We consistently hear that physicians cannot do their jobs well without highly qualified MAs. They’re described as vital care team members who promote efficiency, joy, and successful clinical outcomes.

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) that took effect on Jan. 1, 2022, and will be important to billing and coding professionals. The United States does not have a set transition date for officially adopting ICD-11 and its Clinical Modification (ICD-11).

Editor's Note: This is the second in a three-part series focusing on MA SkillsBuilder™: Clinical.

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of three articles focused on medical assistant recruitment and retention.

Editor's Note: Pharmacy Technician Day is Oct. 19! The following editorial was written by Jessica Langley-Loep, executive director of education and advocacy at NHA, on her recent attendance of the NCPA Annual Convention and in celebration of Pharmacy Technician Day.

CTE Educator? Let's build your pathway to success. 

CTE Teacher Builds Region’s First Certified Medical Assistant Path for High School Students 

Oluwafemi Awomoyi, Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA)

As an immigrant from Nigeria, Africa, seeing my people die from diseases that are preventable or even insignificant to the Western world was always a difficult pill for me to swallow. In one fateful weekend during my teenage years, I lost my three-year-old cousin. She died of pneumonia. I can still picture her twin brother crying inconsolably, witnessing his best friend weak and gasping for air before she died. She could have survived with just a simple shot of the pneumococcal vaccine. That day, as I was feeling angry at the world, I decided that I would go the distance to prevent other unnecessary losses of life. I would become a renowned physician.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many essential healthcare workers—primarily women—to leave the workforce. This has brought up gender equality issues in the workplace, and many employers are taking action.