Medical assistants are employed in a wide variety of settings. Most are employed by hospitals, doctors’ offices and specialty practices (such as chiropractic offices, podietrists’ clinics and pediatricians’ offices), where they perform a host of administrative and clinical duties. Click to see what medical assistants do.
Some medical assistants are employed by insurance offices, legal firms and other third-party organizations that frequently interact with medical practices. Medical assistants working in these settings usually do adminstrative work, drawing on their medical knowledge while dealing with medical records and paperwork.
Some facilities that employ medical assistants include:
- Hospitals
- Physicians’ clinics
- Specialty practices
- Home health care centers
- Outpatient facilities
- Diagnostic imaging centers
- Nursing care facilities
- Medical insurance offices
- Legal organizations
Here are the facilities with the highest level of employment for medical assistants in 2007, according to the the Bureau of Labor Statistics:
|
Facility |
Employment |
| Doctors’ offices |
269,650
|
| General medical hospitals |
51,570
|
| Offices of other health practitioners |
50,490
|
| Outpatient care centers |
20,360
|
| Employment services |
5,380
|
