Medical assistants usually work in doctors offices, clinics, and hospitals. They help take care of patients by performing basic clinical tasks like measuring vital signs and taking care of administrative duties like managing scheduling and billing.
Most of what a medical assistant does is in an office, but some are able to have great medical assisting careers working from home. Most work-from-home medical assisting jobs are mainly administrative, but require basic knowledge about healthcare and how a medical office runs.
This guide goes over what work-from-home medical assistants do, where they work, how to find a job, average salaries, and more.
What is a Work-from-Home Medical Assistant?
A work-from-home medical assistant helps a doctors office or clinic run smoothly and helps patients get some of their medical needs taken care of, all from the comfort of their own homes.
Work-from-home medical assistants often work regular business hours but can work from anywhere with a good internet and phone connection.
What Does a Work-from-Home Medical Assistant Do?
Working from home as a medical assistant means you will primarily handle administrative tasks. Even though you won’t be seeing patients in person, there is still a lot you can do to help them get the healthcare they need.
Work-from-home medical assistants often do the following:
- Schedule Appointments. A big part of an at-home medical assisting job is handling patient scheduling. Medical assistants who work from home may handle the schedules of several different offices within the same healthcare system.
- Handle Complaints. Medical assistants are responsible for giving patients a follow-up call after their appointment. This is done to check on the patient, find out if they have had any problems or questions come up, and ask about how they felt about their visit. If the patient has a complaint, the medical assistant can help them solve the problem and follow up again later.
- Organize Phone Questions. Patients often call doctors offices to ask questions about their at-home care or prescription medications. While medical assistants cannot prescribe medications or always answer these questions, they can organize the phone calls by urgency and physician. Medical assistants can help patients make sure they have all of the information they need to be safe and well cared for at home.
- Handle Billing. Work-from-home medical assistants will spend a lot of their time handling billing and insurance coding. They will make sure that procedures and visits are coded correctly, billed to insurance, and paid on time. They can also help patients set up payment plans for any outstanding balances on their accounts.
- Send Appointment Reminders. Missed appointments are frustrating for both the patient and the physician. Medical assistants can make phone calls or send text messages to remind patients of their upcoming appointments to help keep things running smoothly.
- Help Patients Navigate Healthcare Systems. Often, patients get overwhelmed by filling their prescriptions, making appointments with specialists, viewing lab and imaging results, and dealing with billing problems. A work-from-home medical assistant can help struggling patients navigate what can be a confusing and frustrating healthcare system.
- Perform Medication Reconciliation. Patients who take multiple prescriptions and see multiple providers often forget the names of their medications or the doses they are supposed to take. Medical assistants can look through medical records and consolidate the information to make sure prescriptions are kept up to date.
- Coordinate with Laboratories and Imaging Services. Many doctors offices have to send blood samples to specialty laboratories for testing. They may also have to send patients to different hospitals or clinics for imaging services. The work-from-home medical assistant can keep track of all of this information, making sure that the doctor and patient have the information they need.
- Transcribe Phone Calls into the Electronic Health Record. Each time a patient calls to ask a question or get a prescription refill, the information needs to be recorded in the electronic health record.
Who Hires Medical Assistants Working from Home?
All kinds of facilities around the United States hire medical assistants to work from home. As more jobs transition to working remotely, companies are allowing more of their staff to work from home to save on facility costs, eliminate commuting, and provide some convenience for their employees.
Work-from-home medical assistants can work for doctors offices and clinics, insurance companies, medical groups, and healthcare startups.
How to Find a Work-from-Home Medical Assistant Job
The best way to find a work-from-home medical assistant job is to search online. Look for both “remote medical assistant” and “work-from-home medical assistant” to help you in your search. Some of the best sites to find jobs include:
If you are looking for a work-from-home medical assisting job, you should consider getting your medical assisting certification and completing courses in medical terminology, medical billing and coding, and a basic computer course.
What Skills Are Required to Be a Work-from-Home Medical Assistant?
Working from home requires many of the same medical assistant skills as working in a clinic, with the addition of a few extras, such as:
- Self-directed. Working from home means you need to be able to stay on task without much supervision and avoid getting distracted. You need to be able to manage your time well and prioritize the right things on your daily to-do list.
- Organized. Administrative medical assisting requires a high level of organization. Medical assistants have to keep track of important billing and medical information and be able to find any information with a moment of notice.
- Written & Verbal Communication Skills. Since most of your work will be completed over the phone or through written communication online, remote medical assistants must have excellent communication skills.
- Computer Skills. As a work-from-home medical assistant, you will need to be familiar with many different computer systems and be able to troubleshoot tech problems at home. Knowledge of managing schedule applications and spreadsheets is a huge advantage.
- Patience. Work-from-home medical assistants spend a lot of time helping patients navigate confusing medical systems and handling customer complaints. They might also deal with difficult billing situations and sensitive medical information. Dealing with potentially high-conflict situations requires a lot of patience.
- Persistence. If you have ever dealt with insurance and billing, you know that it might take more than one phone call to get things done. Work-from-home medical assistants need to be able to try something multiple times without getting discouraged.
- Medical Terminology. A good understanding of medical terminology is essential for being a successful work-from-home medical assistant.
- Medical Coding. Like medical terminology, knowledge of medical coding is a big part of being able to efficiently and accurately perform the job duties of a work-from-home medical assistant.
- Education. While not strictly required, most employers want to hire a medical assistant who has been trained and certified as a medical assistant. For a work-from-home medical assistant, becoming a certified medical administrative assistant is a good choice.
- Experience. Lastly, most employers want their work-from-home staff to have some real-life experience. In order to help clients with their problems and keep things running smoothly, it is helpful to have basic knowledge about how a medical office or clinic operates.
Work-from-Home Medical Assistant Salaries
Medical assistants earn about $37,190 per year. This can change based on location, years of experience, and whether or not you are certified.
Most medical assistants start out making about $15 per hour and can eventually earn up to $65,000 per year in some specialties.
Job outlook for medical assistants is impressive, with an expected 16% growth in job opportunities in the next ten years. If you are looking for stability, medical assisting is a great choice.
Work-from-home medical assistant salaries range from $16 to $25 per hour. Higher paying jobs usually accept only experienced and certified medical assistant applicants.
