5 Interview Techniques and Tips for Future Medical Administrative Assistants

Medical Administrative Assistants are the backbone of healthcare facilities in terms of administration. With their skills, they keep things organized in a medical office. They manage patient appointments, files, and records while assisting various clinical healthcare professionals. 

A critical stage of becoming a medical administrative assistant is acing the interview. This article provides five ways and tips to do that.

Understand the Role Well

Before entering that interview room, make sure you understand what is expected of a medical administrative assistant. The day-to-day work involves a variety of tasks within the medical field. Practice the job’s core functions, such as scheduling appointments, maintaining patient records, handling billing and coding, and using typical applications for a medical office. This preparation will help you demonstrate your competence and readiness for the role.

Be Proactive and Ask Questions

When preparing for a job interview, it’s essential to think about the questions you want to ask the interviewer. Inquiring about the type of EHR (Electronic Health Record) system the organization uses can demonstrate your interest in the technological aspects of the job and show that you are prepared to work with their specific systems.

You may also ask about the training programs the facility requires for new hires. It can help you understand the onboarding process and the company’s commitment to employee development. It also shows that you are proactive and interested in integrating smoothly into the organization.

Technical and Soft Skills

Experience with medical terminology, healthcare software, and billing/coding is essential for this position. If you are certified as a Medical Administrative Assistant or have specific training in healthcare software, highlight that in your application. This experience and certification will significantly enhance your candidacy for the position.

Emphasize communication, organization, and multitasking. Thoroughly prepare detailed examples, using past experiences, that will show an interviewer how you effectively kept the office running on time or how you remained professional yet empathetic during an interaction with a difficult patient.

Prepare for Behavioral Questions

Behavioral interview questions reflect your attitude and approach to various situations and problems. They tend to appear in primer phrases such as “Tell me about a time when you used leadership skills” or “Give an example of when you successfully managed a challenging patient interaction,” followed up by an action word. 

Use the STAR format to structure answer content with the following baseline headings: Situation, Task, Action, and Result Outline. This will give you a logical device to set up clear answers.

Example:

Situation: “I had a patient who was unhappy at my previous place of work. She was unhappy because of a mistake on her invoice.”

Task: “My task was to find a solution to the problem and, simultaneously, ensure that the patient was heard and treated with respect.”

Action: “I listened diligently to the patient’s concern, checked the billing statement, found an error, corrected it, and explained how we would resolve that for them.”

Outcome: “The patient walked away happy and felt good that the concern was addressed appropriately and timely.”

Prove Your Understanding of Healthcare Regulations

A medical administrative assistant should be well-versed in relevant legal requirements, given that the health sector is highly regulated.

Be prepared to discuss what you have done to maintain patient confidentiality according to the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act guidelines. Give examples where you had to ensure privacy was kept and security provided when dealing with patient information. Be prepared to answer questions on OSHA standards, billing regulations, and other applicable healthcare laws.

Additional tips, job attitude, and composure mean a lot in the interview room. For such a good position, the employer is looking for a candidate who is capable and equal to the position.

Conclusion

To ace an interview for the medical administrative assistant position, it’s crucial to understand the role, highlight the required skills, prepare for behavioral questions, demonstrate experience with healthcare regulations, and show professionalism and enthusiasm. These tips will help you confidently approach any interview and improve your chances of securing the position. If you want to pursue a career in the healthcare industry, consider enrolling at Northwest Career College, one of the best trade schools offering top-tier education and training for aspiring medical administrative assistants