Get a Medical Receptionist Job
A medical receptionist is often the first person a patient will encounter when arriving for a doctor's appointment. Most receptionists are expected to be friendly, organized, detail-oriented and able to understand insurance billing and computer systems. With the entire health care field growing, positions for specialized medical receptionists are available in nearly every city and region. Get a medical receptionist job by gaining administrative and healthcare experience.
Steps
- Get an education. Most medical receptionists do not need a college degree, but finishing high school is important.
- Consider taking some classes at a junior college or business school in medical terminology, medical billing or other medical and business classes. You can also find courses online.
- Develop customer service skills. Demonstrate that you are able to work with a diverse group of people including patients, doctors, medical staff and other healthcare professionals.
- Become computer literate. Your job as a receptionist will require you to use a variety of computer programs. There is scheduling and insurance billing software that will be especially important to know.
- Learn how to use office machinery also, including copiers, fax machines and multi-line telephone systems.
- Put together a resume.
- List all of your experience in administrative or medical roles. Include your education and the computer programs that you know.
- Look for available medical receptionist jobs. Jobs can be found in hospitals, private doctor's offices, medical clinics and other facilities.
- Check job postings online. Sites such as CareerBuilder, Monster and Simply Hired will list jobs available for medical receptionists. Input your city and state as well as keywords such as "medical receptionist." The site will sort jobs that are available in your area.
- Look in the newspaper. Some employers will use the local help wanted ads to advertise positions.
- Visit your school career center. Your high school or college may keep a listing of businesses and offices looking for help. Tell them you are seeking a job as a medical receptionist, and see if they have any leads.
- Visit medical offices and drop off your resume. Sometimes offices and clinics could use extra help even if they are not advertising for it.
- Talk to people in the position. If you know someone who is a medical receptionist, ask how she or he found the job.
- Network with medical professionals. Talk to the office managers in doctors' offices to find out if they know of any openings.
- Prepare to work part time or temporarily at first. Your first medical receptionist position might be just for the summer, or to cover the full time receptionist when he or she is on vacation or other leave. Take any opportunity to get your foot in the door and develop your experience.
Tips
- Think about opportunities for growth. Many medical receptionists grow into positions such as medical office manager, insurance coders and billing specialists.
- Remember that your salary will depend on where you work. Medical receptionists in a hospital might make more than medical receptionists in a small specialty office, for example. Be prepared to start at $10 per hour or less. Your salary will grow as your experience does.
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