Ten Essential Qualities of a Virtual Medical Assistant
You have a lot to do, whether you are a family doctor, dentist, or veterinarian. There are many tasks to do, from managing staff to examining patients to balancing your personal and professional lives. Strategically delegating is a must. Virtual medical assistant are often the best tool to help you save time, cut down on non-clinical tasks, lower operating costs, and better manage your daily operations.
We’re trying to put it all into perspective by sharing the ten essential characteristics of a virtual medical assistant.
1 – Experience and Training
If you are a professional in medicine, it is important to find someone with the right training and experience to join your team. Virtual medical assistants who are reputable have been trained in both the most commonly used medical terminology and best practices.
Virtual medical assistants often have previous experience as registered nurses, or have other backgrounds in the medical field.
Virtual medical assistants can be hired to help you with everything from patient information gathering to auditing your electronic health records systems to updating your patient records.
#2 – Trustworthy Background
Virtual medical assistants are also needed by doctors, who need to be trustworthy and have previous work experience.
Reputable virtual medical assistants have been trained in HIPAA-training, and are subject to background checks by the NBI. This ensures confidentiality and safety for your patients as well as their medical records.
Your virtual medical assistant should always be available to answer your questions regarding their HIPAA-training certificate or NBI background check.
#3 – Scheduling flexibility
It doesn’t matter if it’s five o’clock somewhere, that doesn’t mean patient exams and treatments are over. Because patient care is a twenty four hour per day job and three-hundred sixty-five days per annum, you will need a virtual medical assistant who can be flexible in their schedule.
Flexibility in scheduling ensures your patients get the care they need at any time.
Virtual medical assistants allow your practice to operate at maximum efficiency during regular office hours. If needed, you can also operate after-hours and weekends, providing the 24/7 care your patients require.
4 – Empathy and Bedside Manner
A virtual medical assistant should be able to empathize with patients and have a bedside manner.
Medical professionals must not only address sensitive medical issues quickly and effectively but also have a genuine human touch that makes patients feel at ease and is listened to.
A study done by MGMA Healthgrades found that 52% of medical patients want their doctors to be kind, compassionate, and patient.
Empathy is therefore a key quality of a virtual medical assistant.
5 – Organizational Skills
Your practice is likely to have a lot of electronic medical records and medical charts to deal with every day.
A Physicians Foundation study from 2018 found that doctors spend an average of 51 hours per week seeing 20 patients per day. About 25% of doctors’ time is spent on administrative tasks or redundant paperwork.
Virtual assistants need to be organized and attentive so that providers can focus on the most important thing: providing the best possible care for their patients.
Healthcare providers require someone who can manage repetitive administrative tasks, such as updating medical history, inventories and medical equipment, understanding patient conditions, and managing other repetitive tasks.
Virtual medical assistants have healthcare backgrounds and are able to coordinate with you and your patients.
6 – Professionalism
Outstanding competence and professionalism in any field are a solid foundation for how patients view your practice.
This means that if your virtual assistant doesn’t act professional, your patients are likely to have a negative experience with your practice.
Virtual assistants are medical professionals who have been trained in accordance with established standards and are familiar with all aspects of medical terminology and best practice.
This will ensure that every patient interaction is as smooth and efficient as possible. It will also leave your patients with the best possible experience.
7 – Problem Solving Skills
It doesn’t matter if you offer general or specialized medical services to patients, it is crucial that you have support and help workers available whenever possible.
Medical virtual assistants are experts in the field and can help you in any way possible.
Our virtual assistants are available to assist you with charting, diagnosis, consulting, and even updating patient records monthly.
8 – Being Proactive
Duke University’s study found that doctors need to work 17 hours per day, 7 days a week, and not take a break to meet all their patients’ needs.
You don’t need another pair of hands if you want to improve the efficiency of your medical practice.
You need a team member who isn’t passive and doesn’t do it just for the sake.
9 – Adaptability
It is a fact that not all medical practices are alike.
Your practice may specialize in one area of health but other medical practices might offer a wider range of services to their patients.
It is therefore important to find virtual medical assistants that are flexible and adaptable to the specific practice they are working for.
Virtual medical assistants can work alongside family doctors, therapists veterinarians, behavioral healthcare providers, and any other medical healthcare provider.
10 – Friendly and approachable
Did you know that virtual healthcare assistants are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 39.5% between 2021-2026?
If the industry continues to perform well, is the global market expected to reach $6 billion by 2026?
This growth has brought an increase in the demand for virtual medical assistants that can be approachable and friendly while working with patients and doctors.
Also, a virtual medical assistant is needed to communicate with patients and consult them on a patient’s chart.
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