Nonclinical tasks are often underrated in the medical industry, but they are critical for the successful functioning of a healthcare facility. It is almost necessary for a physician to have a medical virtual assistant by their side if they want to deliver the pinnacle of patient care.
A physician cannot do all the tasks on their own. There are plenty of nonclinical tasks involved in the day-to-day practice of a physician, such as medical documentation, medical billing, managing appointments, medical charting, talking to insurance companies, responding to patients’ queries, and other administrative tasks. These tasks can consume 3-4 hours every day of a physician. That’s why every physician needs a medical assistant by their side to perform their job.
In this post, we will look at what a medical virtual assistant (VA) is, what a medical VA can do for you, and why you should choose a medical VA over a regular VA.
What is a medical virtual assistant?
A medical virtual assistant or medical VA is a remote employee who works with a physician to assist with nonclinical tasks. A medical VA can help a physician with administrative tasks, marketing, medical billing, medical documentation and transcription, and other office operations. A Medical VA is highly skilled in organizational and communication skills.
A medical VA works from a remote location. It is a cost-effective alternative to a personal assistant. A medical VA needs an IT setup to work from a remote location. The IT setup includes a computer, a headset, a working internet connection, and collaboration tools & office software.
What can a medical virtual assistant do for you?
A medical VA can help you with a range of nonclinical tasks. Have a brief look at them.
1. Administrative tasks
A medical VA can help a physician with scheduling appointments, responding to incoming calls and emails, replying to patients’ queries, calendar event management, following up with patients, making travel arrangements, handling calls with insurance companies for prior authorizations, scheduling meetings with medical representatives, etc. You can assign all the administrative tasks and personal executive tasks to your VA to save time.
2. Medical documentation
Medical documentation is an essential part of America’s healthcare system. A virtual medical assistant or known as a virtual medical scribe can help you with accurate medical documentation to the EHR. A virtual medical scribe connects to a doctor via an audio-video connecting software. The scribe listens to all the communication happening between a patient and a doctor in real time from a remote location and makes notes of it for documentation. This helps physicians save time on medical documentation to the EHR.
3. Medical billing and coding
Medical coding is the process of extracting billable information from the medical record and clinical documentation of the patient from the EHR, and medical billing is the process of using those codes to create insurance claims and bills for patients. A medical virtual assistant or a medical biller can help you with accurate medical billing and coding. This helps doctors save time on filing claims and making claims on time.
4. Marketing activities
Your medical VA can help you with online marketing activities. Most patients find a doctor online from a Google My Business listing. Your VA can update the information about your business on the GMB listing. Your VA can also manage the social media accounts of your healthcare facilities and respond to the queries of tech-savvy customers on social media. Medical VAs have basic knowledge of digital marketing and good computer skills. They can assist you in basic online marketing operations.
5. Office operations
Your virtual administrative assistant can help you with a wide range of office operations, such as supply chain management, keeping track of supplies at your practice, ordering new items when necessary, keeping records, preparing reports, and other office operations tasks. This will help you save time and bring peace to your mind because you know someone is taking care of your office needs.
So these are the five primary types of duties a medical VA can perform for you. However, there is no set of tasks that you can assign to your medical VA. They vary from assistant to assistant, the skills of a VA, and the requirements of a healthcare facility.
Why should you choose a medical VA over a regular VA?
There is a difference between a regular VA and a medical VA. Both are hired by business owners to manage administrative tasks, but a medical VA needs basic knowledge of the medical industry and an understanding of HIPAA compliance to perform the job right. Just, for example, medical billing, coding, and documentation come under the category of nonclinical tasks and do not require medical expertise, but one cannot do these tasks properly and efficiently if one does not have a basic understanding of the medical industry. So, it is always a good idea to choose a skilled medical VA for a healthcare facility.
VA.care: Find the Best Medical Virtual Assistants
If you are looking for skilled and expert virtual administrative assistant for your healthcare facility, you can get in touch with VA.care. It is a leading virtual assistant provider for the healthcare industry in the USA. The company can provide you with the best virtual assistants for healthcare to save time and money. Medical VAs can help you with medical documentation, front-office tasks, and administrative tasks.
VA.care has three plans: VA Lite, VA Essential, and VA Scribe.
VA Lite $280 Per Week 40 Hours a Week
VA Essential $330 40 Hours Per Week
VA Scribe $350 40 Hours Per Week
You can visit the website for detailed information about what is included in each plan.