A medical secretary uses knowledge of medical terminology to prepare documents and reports. Supports physician staff by representing physicians; screening and sorting mail, documents, and telephone calls; scheduling patient appointments and arranging referrals; billing patients and third-party payers; controlling accounts receivables; transcribing dictation; preparing medical reports, patient histories, operative notes, manuscripts, and correspondence; maintaining office files and patient records.

Medical secretaries perform clerical duties in a doctor's or other health professional's office. Like others who work in health care support careers, their work is crucial to the functioning of any facility that provides patient care. They type correspondence and reports, maintain files, pay vendors, handle insurance forms, and bill patients. Medical secretaries interact with the public throughout the day, taking phone calls, scheduling appointments, and greeting patients.

ANZSCO ID: 521211

  
Knowledge, skills and attributes   

Medical secretaries are relied upon by physicians, medical staff, and patients to keep office operations running smoothly. In addition to performing administrative and supportive functions, they must know medical terminology and be familiar with various medical procedures and business practices.

A medical secretary should have good computer skills in order to accurately and efficiently process patient information, including payments and insurance claims, manage the office database and patient records, and manage the physician's schedule. They should also be able to write and prepare reports and transcribe and type medical reports. You need excellent computer skills. You should be able to use email, word processing software, and spreadsheets, in addition to software used for recordkeeping and billing.

(Source: Better Team)

  
Duties and Tasks

The duties secretaries perform vary a great deal according to the size and type of organisation in which they work. Experienced secretaries may advance to positions of higher responsibility. Perform secretarial duties utilizing specific knowledge of medical terminology and hospital, clinic, or laboratory procedures. Duties include scheduling appointments, billing patients, and compiling and recording medical charts, reports, and correspondence.

• Represents physicians by screening incoming telephone calls; recording and transmitting messages; scheduling, receiving, and announcing scheduled patients and visitors; screening unscheduled patients and visitors; arranging referrals to other health care providers; scheduling appointments for consultations, x-rays, lab tests, physical therapy, MRI’s, CT scans, etc.

• Ensures physician productivity by maintaining calendars; scheduling patient appointments; physician consultations; professional meetings, conferences; teleconferences, and travel.

• Produces information by transcribing dictation, preparing medical reports and summaries, patient histories, operative notes, manuscripts and correspondence; planning, organizing, coordinating and controlling projects.

• Provides historical reference by developing and utilizing filing and retrieval systems; maintaining patient records; recording meeting discussions.

• Generates revenues by completing direct patient and third-party billing; monitoring accounts receivables; initiating collection calls and reminders.

• Secures information by completing database back-ups.

• Maintains patient confidence and protects operations by keeping information confidential.

• Arrange hospital admissions for patients.

• Maintains office supplies inventory by checking stock; anticipating needs; placing and expediting orders; verifying receipt.

• Keeps office equipment operating by following operating instructions; troubleshooting breakdowns; maintaining supplies; performing preventive maintenance; calling for repairs.

• Maintains quality results by following and enforcing standards.

• Serves and protects the health care community by adhering to professional standards, hospital policies and procedures, federal, state, and local requirements

• Updates job knowledge by participating in educational opportunities; reading professional publications.

• Prepare correspondence and assist physicians or medical scientists with preparation of reports, speeches, articles and conference proceedings.

• Enhances physician office reputation by accepting ownership for accomplishing new and different requests; exploring opportunities to add value to job accomplishments.

Tools and technologies

They use a variety of office equipment, including computers, fax machines, scanners, and multi-line telephone systems, to do their jobs. Medical secretaries also apply their knowledge of medical terminology, health insurance rules, and medical billing procedures.

Office Experience – General, Scheduling, Telephone Skills, Typing, Business Knowledge, Organization, Time Management, Customer Service, Verbal Communication, PC Proficiency, Reporting Skills

Legal secretaries perform a range of administrative and clerical duties in law firms. In addition to general office duties, such as filing and answering phones, they also type up legal documents and contracts, prepare court forms and statements, perform research into legal matters and attend court hearings. In some cases they may have to take notes using short hand and transcribe dictation.


ANZSCO ID & description: 521212: Performs secretarial, clerical and other administrative tasks in support of Legal Professionals applying knowledge of legal terminology, procedures and documents.

Alternative names: Secretary (Legal)

Specialisations: Legal Personal Assistant

Knowledge, skills and attributes

Legal secretaries need:

• excellent communication skills

• to be able to work well under pressure

• good organisational skills

• to be able to keep information confidential

• good word processing skills.

Duties and Tasks

• Liaises with other staff to arrange meetings, and to gain and provide information.

• Prepares reports, briefing notes and correspondence, and proofreads work for typographical and grammatical errors.

• Maintains diaries and makes travel arrangements.

• Processes incoming and outgoing mail, filing correspondence and maintains records.

• Answers telephone calls, responds to inquiries and redirects callers.

• Takes and transcribes dictation of letters and other documents.

• Greets visitors, ascertains nature of business and directs visitors to appropriate personal.

• May implement management decisions and maintain records of meetings.

Working conditions

Legal secretaries work in law firms in towns and cities all over Australia. They may also work in Government departments or for judges in courts. They generally work regular office hours, though overtime may be required, particularly when working to tight deadlines. Legal secretaries have a high level of contact with other people, such as legal professionals in the firm, court officers and members of the public, including clients.

Tools and technologies

Legal secretaries use a variety of office equipment including computers, fax machines, photocopiers, scanners and telephone systems. They may also conduct research using law libraries.

Education and training/entrance requirements

To become a legal secretary you usually need to complete a formal qualification in business administration (legal), legal services or business (legal studies). The Certificate III in Business Administration (Legal), the Certificate IV in Legal Services, and Diploma of Business (Legal Studies) are offered at TAFE Colleges and other registered training organisations throughout Australia.

You can also complete a traineeship. The legal assistant or assistant paralegal traineeships usually take 24 months to complete.

Machine shorthand reporters (transcript typists) document court and parliamentary proceedings, television broadcasts, and meetings or conferences, and translate them into written records. They make verbatim (word for word) recordings of these proceedings using keyboards or stenotype machines, and they may also operate audio recording equipment. They may be required to read portions of transcripts aloud during trials on request from the judge. Transcript typists also prepare reports and letters, as well as other documentation for publication or electronic transmission. Transcript typists work mostly in Australia's cities and large towns, where the State's courts, Parliament House, television broadcasters and larger companies are located.

Records and reproduces the spoken word in court and parliamentary proceedings, television programming and for the deaf and hearing impaired using handwritten shorthand, stenotype shorthand machines, computer-assisted transcription software and sound recording equipment.

ANZSCO ID & description: 532112: Records and reproduces the spoken word in court and parliamentary proceedings, television programming and for the deaf and hearing impaired using handwritten shorthand, stenotype shorthand machines, computer-assisted transcription software and sound recording equipment.

Alternative names: Shorthand Typist, Stenographer, Transcript Typist, Transcriptionist

Specialisations: Braille Transcriber, Court Reporter, Hansard Reporter, Realtime Reporter, Stenocaptioner

• Keyboard Operators input and process text and data, and prepare, edit and generate documents for storage, processing, publication and transmission.
    

• Data Entry Operators (also called Data Processing Operators) operate a keyboard to input and transfer data into a computer for storage, processing and transmission.
    

• Word Processing Operator or Typist operates a computer to type, edit and generate a variety of documents and reports.

(Source: School of Special Needs)

Knowledge, skills and attributes

A transcript typist needs:

• fast and accurate typing skills

• excellent computer and word processing skills

• the ability to remain seated for extended periods of time

• great listening skills

• an extensive vocabulary, excellent spelling and grammar

• the ability to stay focussed for long periods of time.

Stenographer

Duties and Tasks

Medical transcriptionists may perform the following tasks:

•  transcribe medical reports recorded by physicians and other healthcare practitioners using various electronic devices

•  check and revise medical documents created using speech recognition technology

•  review and edit transcribed reports and translate abbreviations into full understandable form

•  return reports in either printed or electronic form for review and signature, or correction

•  include reports in patients' medical records.

Working conditions

In a full-time role, you would normally work standard office hours, Monday to Friday. Part-time work should be readily available. If you are self-employed, you would be able to set your own hours.

Most medical transcriptionists work for hospitals, private medical practices, and third-party transcription service companies that provide transcription services to healthcare establishments. Some are self-employed and work from home using digital files.

 

Education and training/entrance requirements

Employers prefer to hire transcriptionists who have completed training in medical transcription, which is offered as a VET qualification, and by a number of private training colleges and community colleges, including through distance learning.

Some courses require you to already have a working knowledge of medical terminology, as well as well-developed word processing skills.

 

 

 

Executive Secretaries [EA] or Personal Assistants [PA] offer support to managers and senior professionals by undertaking clerical and administrative duties. They answer phone calls and take messages, book appointments, prepare travel itineraries, and make arrangements for appointments and meetings. They may also help to recruit, train and supervise administrative staff, organise the filing and management of data, and organise business functions on behalf of their manager.

Executive secretaries perform liaison, coordination and organisational tasks in support of Managers and Professionals. Executive secretaries perform routine clerical and administrative duties. They organise files, draft messages, schedule appointments, and support other staff.

An executive secretary helps top executives with tasks they are too busy to perform but need to be done. They may research information for an executive and give them that information in a quick to read report or review information given to the executive and highlight key points in the information for them to know.

Executive secretaries must have a high degree of integrity and must be reliable. Since an executive secretary handles phone calls, sets up meetings, attends some meetings to take notes, and may even sort through emails for their executive, they are also often privy to sensitive and confidential information. It is vital that the executive secretary be trustworthy and not to share confidential information with others.

These workers must be skilled at many tasks and they often float between various tasks on any given day. They must be able to book travel for their executive, create invoices if necessary, document important information, and coordinate any other office tasks that must be handled.

The roles of executive secretaries and administrative assistants have considerable overlap, and the differences in the roles can vary by organization. In most cases, the executive secretary focuses on more administrative duties in service to a specific, small group of managers or executives, such as meeting scheduling, travel planning, handling written communications and even bookkeeping.

An administrative assistant, meanwhile, may focus more on business operations tasks and take on more of an office leadership role in some capacities, creating agendas for meetings or conferences, managing budgets, and handling vendor billing. Administrative assistants may be required to have more specialized education in some cases where managing business operations is critical.

  
ANZSCO ID: 5211

Alternative names: Executive assistants (EA), Administrative assistants (AA),  personal assistants (PA) or Executive Administrative Assistant (EAA)

Knowledge, skills and attributes

To become an executive secretary, you would need:

• an organised approach and excellent time management skills

• good communication skills

• the ability to work well as part of a team

• computer literacy and good typing skills

• a good level of English spelling and grammar

• accuracy and attention to detail.

(Source: Your Free Career Test)

Duties and Tasks
As an executive secretary, the tasks you might have include

• liaising with other staff on matters relating to the organisation's operations

• researching and preparing reports, briefing notes, memoranda, correspondence and other routine documents

• maintaining confidential files and documents

• attending meetings and acting as secretary as required

• maintaining appointment diaries and making travel arrangements

• processing incoming and outgoing mail, filing correspondence and maintaining records

• screening telephone calls and answering inquiries

• taking and transcribing dictation of letters and other documents

• may supervise other secretarial and clerical staff

• dealing with email and post

• answering the telephone and passing on calls

• reception duties such as greeting and looking after visitors

• typing and setting up documents such as letters and reports

• keeping computer records up to date

• filing

• managing staff appointments

• setting up meetings and taking minutes

• making travel arrangements for staff.

In some jobs you might only do a few of these tasks, and in others you might carry out all the administrative duties in your department.

(Source: Zip Recruiter)

Working conditions
  
In most full-time jobs you would work standard hours, Monday to Friday. Flexible hours, part-time work and temporary work are widely available. You would work in an office and spend a lot of your time using a computer. They may travel to attend meetings or to help co-ordinate the work activities of senior professionals. Their work attire is important and they need to be neat and professional in look.

Tools and technologies
  
Executive secretaries use office equipment such as computers, and need to be familiar with word processing, data management and presentation development software. They also use photocopiers and faxes, and may also spend a lot of the time on the phone.
  
Education and training/entrance requirements
 
You can work as an executive secretary without formal qualifications. Entry to this occupation may be improved if you have qualifications. You may like to consider a VET qualification in secretarial skills, business, business administration or a related field. You may be able to study through distance education. The Certificates III, IV, and Diploma in Business or Business Administration are offered at TAFE Colleges.

Employment Opportunities

Employment of executive secretaries and administrative assistants is projected to show little or no change.

This is largely because of the increasing use of technology, resulting in companies replacing executive secretaries with lower-cost administrative assistants. Many administrative assistants are now also required to support more than one manager in an organisation.

In addition, many managers now perform work that was previously done by their executive secretaries. For example, they often type their own correspondence or schedule their own travel and meetings.

 

 

Did You Know? The role of "Secretary" is different in Australian Public Service Departments. In Australia, a departmental secretary is the most senior public servant of an Australian Government or state government department. They are typically responsible for the day-to-day actions of a department. A departmental secretary is a non-political, non-elected public servant head (and "responsible officer") of government departments, who generally holds their position for a number of years. A departmental secretary works closely with the elected government minister that oversees the Commonwealth department or state government department in order to bring about policy and program initiatives that the government of day was elected to achieve. A departmental secretary works with other departments and agencies to ensure the delivery of services and programs within the nominated area of responsibility. The secretary is also known as the chief executive of the department; the position is equivalent to the Permanent Secretary of a government department in the United Kingdom and is similar to Director General in some non-Commonwealth countries, or Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in a private company. In the Australian government, Secretaries are the responsible officers for departments. They are answerable to the Australian Parliament for ensuring that the department performs all the functions assigned to it and spends money appropriately, as granted by the Parliament. (Source: Wikipedia) Major General Elizabeth Cosson, AM, CSC (born 1958) was Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs [2018 - 2023], and has been a career senior public servant since 2010. In 2017, Cosson became the first female major general in the Australian Army. In July 2023, Elizabeth Cosson was appointed to the RSL LifeCare Board. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Management Studies, a Bachelor of Social Sciences and a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies. (Source: Wikipedia)

 

 

 

Critical Thinking Spot

 

The Conversation 29 April 2019

Primary

 

With a partner, explain the QWERTY keyboard

 

 

 

 

 

Related Jobs or Working with these Jobs

 

Interpreter	Judge	Lawyer	Medical Practitioner
Office Administrator	Parliamentarian	Receptionist Medical Receptionist

 

 

Materials sourced from  
Jobs & Skills WA [Personal Assistant; Legal Secretary; Machine Shorthand Reporter ];
Web Archive Only - CareersHQ [Medical Transcriptionist; Executive Secretary or Administrative Assistant; ];
Monster [Medical Secretary; ]
Balance Careers [Medical Secretary; ]
Your Free Career Test [Executive Secretary;]
The Balances MB [Administrative Assistant or Executive Secretary;]
Your Career [Secretary; Keyboard Operator; Data Entry Operator; Personal Assistant; Legal Secretary; Machine Shorthand Reporter; Secretary (General); ]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © On the Job Online