fbpx
A Complete Guide to Healthcare Virtual Assistant Skills

A Complete Guide to Healthcare Virtual Assistant Skills

If there’s one thing that makes a difference between a good medical practice and an amazing medical practice, it’s a healthcare virtual assistant. The global healthcare virtual assistant market is huge – with an estimated value of $439.1 million in 2022 – and it poses a lucrative career if you have the relevant healthcare virtual assistant skills.

 

global healthcare virtual assistant market 2022

Virtual assistants had been experiencing a rise in popularity for several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this growth. Additionally, it’s a market which is only going to grow bigger. So there’s never been a better time to move into this industry. And, don’t forget, it’s possible to earn upwards of $50,000 in this emerging market.

While the benefits delivered by a virtual assistant are enticing to businesses – enhanced productivity, reduced overheads, flexibility and time saving. The benefits on offer to the virtual assistant are equally attractive. Becoming a virtual healthcare assistant allows you to manage your own schedule. Work the hours you want and work remotely without leaving the house.

Clearly, the opportunities offered by a virtual assistant role are exciting. But what are the healthcare virtual assistant skills you need to succeed?

 

The Multi-talents of a Healthcare Virtual Assistant

Medical practices need to understand what they’re getting when they make a business decision. This is most felt when taking on a new employee. Therefore, it’s vital you can make a significant difference to their organization. And the best way to do this is by demonstrating you can offer the following healthcare virtual assistant skills:

Excellent communication:

in healthcare settings, communication is crucial as every second counts. Accordingly, strong communication skills are paramount. This communication, be it over the phone, video call or email, needs to be clear and concise. Details, of course, are the backbone of high-quality communication, so highly tuned listening skills are important when it comes to communication. These skills will ensure mistakes are minimized and a world-class service is provided.

IT Knowledge:

we live in the digital age, and this means mastering IT is a critical skill. After all, electronic health records (EHR) are now used by the majority of physicians in the US. There’s more to healthcare, however, than just EHR. Changes in technology mean social media is now a central part of many practice’s operations. And, as a virtual assistant, you need the IT skills to work remotely and understand how to adapt to new software quickly.

Email Management:

with up to 333.2 billion emails sent and received every day, it’s clear that emails represent a major element of modern communication. In a healthcare setting, most emails received will be from clinicians, patients and medical insurance firms. And each one will be completely different to the next. Therefore, understanding how to prioritize emails – via flags and category allocations – is essential when managing healthcare emails.

Scheduling:

on average, physicians see up to 20 patients a day and, in between appointments, they have other administrative tasks to attend to. Consequently, physicians are incredibly busy, and this is where a virtual healthcare assistant comes in. Taking control of a physician’s schedule, a virtual assistant can ensure that physician’s appointments are booked into the ledger correctly and that everything is in place e.g. booking interpreters, inviting other healthcare professionals and arranging meetings.

 

Medical transcribing:

the intense schedule of a physician’s day makes taking notes a time consuming affair. That’s why many physicians record their consultations. Unfortunately, transcribing these recordings and entering them into the electronic health record (EHR) takes a long time. But a healthcare virtual assistant should have the necessary skills to complete this task with ease and accuracy.

Writing and Editing:

one of the most important virtual healthcare assistant skills to possess is to be highly proficient at writing and editing. Healthcare is all about accuracy and detail, so you need to have the skills to transform physician’s notes into highly polished documents and ensure that insurance claims are processed correctly. Remember: don’t just double check any written tasks, always triple check!

Medical billing:

patients at a medical practice need peace of mind that their medical billing is going to be taken care of professionally. Insurance is an area of healthcare which is often complex and can cause patients significant anxiety. Accordingly, understanding how to document and process insurance claims is one of the strongest healthcare virtual assistant skills to enter the industry with.

Virtual scribe:

virtual assistants are often tasked with taking on scribe duties to make physician’s lives that little bit easier and allow higher engagement with patients. Note taking during consultations is a challenging skill to master, but it’s one which can easily make the difference between winning a virtual assistant role and losing out to someone with this experience.

Flexibility:

the healthcare industry runs 24/7, so you need to be flexible in order to meet the demands of the job. Workloads can quickly escalate in a medical practice and, as a result, new shifts may suddenly open up. And, for the organization to maintain its high standards, this is when they are likely to call on virtual healthcare assistants. So, if you can show a willingness to be flexible, this is likely to pay dividends when it comes to securing a position.

healthcare virtual assistant

 

Final Thoughts

The healthcare industry represents an exciting career opportunity. One which has the potential to provide you with a solid financial reward. Nonetheless, entering this industry as a virtual assistant isn’t something that just anyone with a PC and internet connection can do. You need to be able to demonstrate all the relevant healthcare virtual assistant skills required for the job.

For employers, finding someone with all the necessary skills is difficult. Likewise, as competition in the virtual assistant market intensifies, connecting with employers is equally challenging for emerging virtual healthcare assistants. Thankfully, Pineapple make it easy to connect virtual workers with employers. All you have to do is visit our site or our sister company's site and, within seconds, you can be applying for your first position.

Scroll to Top