Medical Receptionist Salary

Being a medical receptionist can be a busy job for some and easy for others. It largely depends on the workplace setting one is engaged with; it could be a private clinic, a hospital, a maternity home, health care office, or nursing home. Apart from the workplace, the tasks and responsibilities handled by medical receptionists also depend on the workload. If there are many patients visiting the doctor throughout the day then a medical receptionist has to perform many duties and work for long hours. On the other hand if the workload is less, the professional may work for few hours. Basically, the profile of medical receptionist differs with each work setting and also depends on the experience and educational qualification of the candidate. And, all these factors together, affect his salary. Before I elaborate more on income and salary of a medical receptionist, it would be resourceful for you to know about the job description of the same.

Job Description

Given below are some of the primary duties and responsibilities of a professional medical receptionist. Take a look:

• He has to answer and handle non medical queries and inquiries by the patient and work as a front desk assistant.
• Have to liaison between the doctors and patients and accordingly have to schedule meetings and appointments.
• Managing patient records and document their reports well in the form of, both, software and hardware copies.
• Being a receptionist, a professional has to answer to phone calls, e-mails, and fax.
• Helping patients with understanding prescriptions is also included in the job description of a medical receptionist.
• He/She may also be required to maintain and prepare medical reports and analyze them to convey statistical information to the health care professionals.

To perform the aforementioned duties, a medical receptionist has to have good communication skills, both, verbal and written. He or she is also expected to have knowledge about basic front desk software, or proficiency in MS office is a must. A trained and professional medical receptionist must also now how to prioritize duties for which he or she must possess good organizational skills. Well, though there is no relevant qualification required, many employers prefer to hire candidates who have at least completed their graduation or minimum high school diploma.

Salary

As mentioned, medical receptionist salary vary as per the individual, due to the nature of this desk job. But, the average salary of a medical receptionist falls somewhere around $ 20,000 to 30,000 per year at the start of their career. But with experience, the yearly income is also expected to increase. Some employers pay their employees on a per hour basis and in such case, a medical receptionist can earn anything between $9 to $16 per hour, depending on the experience and tasks handled. Factors that affect the salary range:

Location: Yes, living in a big city may be advantageous for you as the need for experienced and trained professionals is more in cities where they are paid in better amounts as compared to smaller cities. So you may earn more in New York working as a medical receptionist than in other smaller cities.

Experience: Of course, if you have more experience, you can negotiate for more salary or other benefits. On the other hand, a professional has to start with industry standards, irrespective of the qualification and key skills.

Work Setting: A good and big hospital, generally, pays well than the smaller one; but it is not the rule. Basically, it all depends on the needs and requirements of the employers. So if you are a suitable candidate who meets their expectations then you may get the stipulated salary.

Apart from this, factors like the candidate's educational qualification, his knowledge about the industry, and skills and qualities may also have an impact on his salary.