So I need clarification. I work in the clerical part of the medical field (front desk). I schedule appts, update basic information and verify insurance. The current office im in I feel has me doing things well past my actual job. Refilling meds, telling patients results of labs or other tests. They expect me to know when a patient asks for a refill when they were last seen and if they need scheduled. I feel this is way out of my job expertise and expressed im uncomfortable. Am I wrong?

If you are in no way clinically licensed to read and understand a test result, no, legally you should not be discussing any test results ever. That’s a huge liability to the practice and they’re actually brain dead if they’re letting you despite you saying you aren’t comfortable. Bring in legality to the issue and they won’t make you continue doing that, if they care at all about their practice and keeping it compliant with all regulations and laws involving medicine and healthcare.

Giving out medical information as a receptionist is out of your realm. Check your job description, and explain you are not comfortable answering medical questions. You know if they ask one there will be more. We have strict guidelines as a CMS provider and what duties belong to MA, Nursing and Physician and receptionist.

Depends on the state but a physician may use his or her judgement to delegate most anything to anyone and it is entirely legal. You have the choice to decline however you are possibly replaceable and many others will do the job.

You are right to feel uncomfortable with performing duties that are not in your scope of practice! You have not been properly trained and lack the knowledge to answer questions a parent may ask! What if you miss a critical piece of information and the patient is harmed or worse dies! Skip to the court day and imagine having to explain to the judge,jury, lawyers and family members that you were performing duties that are outside of your scope of practice! You will also be held accountable because you are responsible for knowing your scope of practice! Knowing your scope of practice is not the end, you must have clear understanding of what is required for you to feel safe in your practice! Have you ever been to a pharmacy to pick up a refilled medication and the tech tells you the pharmacist will talk to you about your medications! I get so tired of that but I cooperate because it’s their protocol and it’s documented by the pharmacist that he educated you about the medicine and you voiced understanding! Both the pharmacist and the tech performed within their scope of practice! Some have commented that they would do your job and would be ok doing it! The problem with that is it’s wrong to delegate duties to anyone who has not been trained/certified to do it! Everything is fine now but when a mistake is made then comes the blame, and shame, hurt feelings and tears. Nurses have knowledge about labs and what they mean as well as if treatment is required! We have to educate the patient and caregivers about medication side-effects and when to seek medical treatment! Stay within your scope of practice. Keep yourself and your patients safe!

Hey so that’s illegal and you need to report them to DORA. You are NOT a health care worker.

As a former Certified Medical Assistant and Coordinator I would say you should not have these duties assigned to you. These are all clinical responsibilities and the duties of an MA, RMA or CMA. When you mentioned that they rely you to know if the person needs to be seen prior to a refill that was an indication. You also can not calling refills of meds. As an MA you are legally working under the doctor's license like a Rn or CRNP. As a receptionist you are not and can be sued as this is out of scope of practice, meaning outside of your clinically training. You should use this term when explaining why this duty should be performed by an MA.

I work a front desk as well and we are not allowed to give test results over the phone because we are considered clerical and not medical. I also agree that that crosses legal boundaries. They should have a medical assistant do those types of things. You are not wrong by any means. Even a nurse should be the ones giving results - what if they have further questions?

Well, respectfully, you may be wrong. I was a receptionist at a vet hospital for 20 years and thats exactly what we all did. 😉

Employers do this all the time. I'm sure they know you are not supposed to be doing a lot of the things you do at work. Talk to your manager and explain how and why you fill this way, though you will probably still be expected to do more especially at a medical front office. You may want to start looking for another job.. been there..done that. Good luck to you

I used to teach Medical Administrative Assisting. My students had to know good portion of what my Medical Assistant students did, including medical terminology. They just also focused on coding and billing, insurance filing and such. When they were done with their schooling, they were able to take the CMAS test to certify as an MAA.

yes, you are wrong. Your employer pays you to do a job, if you feel " uncomfortable " , then quit, find another job...work at a car wash or a dog walking service. As long as you are working in the medical field, put your big girl panties on and do the job your employer instructs you to do. work is work. it's not meant to be comfortable. that's why they call it work.

My favorite one is non credentialed office staff person calling in coumadin orders with the use of a paper sliding scale tacked to a bulletin board, after finding the blood work in the labs..." We've always done it that way"....It just feels wrong on so many levels....Remember that this is a business and the job gets done with the cheapest labor possible...Wait til AI invades and the equipment changes...There will be many newly retired healthcare providers

Paper trail! Who ever it was that told you to do this send them an email saying I just want to clarify what we spoke about. You informed me I should be doing these actions or services. And that you do not feel comfortable doing this, And maybe say you regret to inform them you are not trained for said situation, And maybe they should train you and you should get additional pay for doing a a medical assistant or nurse job. And cc HR and maybe another person above them. Like the lead doctor, office manager or if there is a nurse manager at said institution.

You should absolutely not do anything that is clinical if you are not trained
Get it escalated or involve HR.

Where is this at ?

You are correct. It is irresponsible to ask you to carry out such duties. Document the requests of this nature and contact HR, Leadership is putting the clinic at risk by asking you basic triage a patient if you have no medical training and credentials,

Are you expected to read the chart and make the determination regarding the refill, or are you expected to review the note in the chart that states whether a refill is allowed when patient calls? Two different things. Same with the lab results. I don't know what type of labs or diagnostics you are referring to but, are you being asked to read and interpret the results, or are you being asked to read the providers note to the patient and then set up an appointment as per the providers instructions? I've managed multiple medical practices and created triage systems that were designed to allow the receptionist to do much more based on clear provider instructions specifically for the receptionist for those patient calls. We had very clear notes for some medications so that any person could inform a patient if a refill was possible, or if an appointment was necessary based on a simple table that showed the medication, the refill timeline (i.e. if patient has been seen within the last 6 months) , and instructions on type of appt to schedule if patient falls out of guidelines. I do agree that the receptionist should not be the one calling in, or submitting that refill. That should go to the doctor, or doctor's assistant. Example of our Triage System Notes from Providers: If Ms. Jones calls the office asking for a refill in the next 90 days, please instruct that she must return for an XYZ appointment before Dr. White can refill. Or, on the flip side, Ms. Jones is traveling for the summer. If she calls during the next 3 months needing a refill of X, Y or Z, she is allowed only a 60-day refill and will have to schedule an appointment upon her return. or, re: Lab Results ... contact Mr. Smith and let him know his test results are in. As per Dr. Brown ... the results warrant a return visit. He said he discussed this possibility with you and would like to see you within the next two weeks. ..... Are you talking about something like this, or are you being asked to make the determination yourself? being asked to read a chart, decide if a patient can have a refill and then submitting that refill yourself?

Some offices allow front office staff review labs, give recommendations *based on provider input but where my problem lies is when the patient has questions about the information they are given. That is absolutely outside of the Medical Administrative Assistant's scope. They are not trained, even if they are you must pick your hat. If you are a nurse or MA working at the front and that is your training you need to communicate that to the patient, so they aren't under the impression they are receiving vital information from the receptionist. If they aren't trained, that is dangerous to place the non-clinical staff in that situation. Its a risk for the practice and dangerous for the patient. I would communicate that you are uncomfortable with your supervisor or manager.

Hi! The additional tasks being requested of you as a receptionist involve protected patient information, protected under HIPAA (assuming that is still intact) and medications, which present a patient safety liability if a mistake is made. Any negative consequences would be considered far more than an oopsey, and I am assuming your salary doesn’t include compensation for this possible risk you could incur. There could be legal ramifications as well as injury to a patient. As others have stated, licensed medical/healthcare providers/practitioners have a scope of practice and they also have a code of ethics, backed up with extensive education and clinical experience- number one is patient safety. You should have never been put in this position, and imo it shows either a lack of resources at your practice or a culture of management that prioritizes chunking/simplification of their own workflow over things that are truly more important.

To those who may be in the position of the medical office manager- I know things are stressful out there for most of us, but we’ve got to be kind to ourselves- slow down a moment, take a deep breath…and do the right thing in the moment. And when there is more time, you might have a meeting with your team to brainstorm ideas for workflow changes that could help everyone feel more effective, successful…and legally compliant, lol. It seriously could be fun. 😁

What do you mean by "refilling meds?" How can you refill meds? If you aren't a licensed practitioner, you can't refill meds anyway, even if your office told you to. Not sure what you actually mean here.

I would thing that would be something that the back office, Medical Assistant would do