Testing Medical Assistant Skills and Traits

Overview of the position

Medical assistants help doctors and nurses run their practices and care for patients. Their role is a mix of administrative work and basic medical care.

On the administrative side, they manage patient contact information, keep medical histories up to date and schedule appointments.

On the care-giving side, they measure and record vital signs, perform basic lab tests like drawing blood, collecting samples, and running EKGs. They also typically prepare patients for examinations and procedures.

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Key skills and abilities

  • Communication skills
  • Multi-tasking skills
  • Basic administrative skills
  • Accurate data entry
  • Time management skills
  • Ability to perform basic medical tests
  • Empathy for patients

What qualities make a great medical assistant?

A high-performing medical assistant has a foot in the business side of medical care and a foot in the role of patient care.

Medical assistant skills include care-giving tasks. They need to be competent in using medical equipment and in performing medical tests. They need to make patients feel comfortable and ask the right questions for a complete and accurate medical history.

When it comes to the business of medical care, medical assistants play a key role in how a practice operates. They must be detail-oriented when it comes to patient records or ordering supplies. They need to be able to interface with insurance companies, process payments and coordinate prescriptions. Medical assistants should also be able to juggle multiple issues and effectively schedule patients over the phone. The growing role of technology puts a premium on people who can master software.

Qualities of a medical assistant.

Which tests can you use to assess medical assistant skills and traits?

The nature of the medical assistant role makes it worthwhile to assess your candidates' skills and characteristics in several ways:

Personality test

This test evaluates character traits like empathy with patients, emotional intelligence, adaptability, work ethic, reliability, and how people handle stress. Because they coordinate with doctors, nurses, insurance companies, patients, families, and others, it's important to know how they work with others.

Aptitude and skills tests

Assess candidates for a variety of basic skills and aptitudes that are applicable and relevant to the medical assistant role.

Custom job assessment

You may need a test for medical assistants that center around unique skills. An online job assessment maker should be versatile, easy to use, and secure so that you can customize assessments. Learn about the Hire Success® Custom Test Builder.

Integrity and honesty test

Because they handle sensitive information, this test assesses candidates for their honesty, values, and risky behaviors such as a propensity towards violence, drug use, negative attitudes toward others, or the potential to commit theft.

When to assess candidates' medical assistant skills

It's best to assess your candidates' medical assistant skills and traits at the beginning of the hiring process. Doing so benefits you in two ways.

First, quickly screening candidates can help identify who's the most qualified without wasting too much time or effort. Speeding up the process means you'll be less likely to lose great candidates because of drawn out interviewing or onboarding procedures.

Second, you'll have insights for the areas you want to explore in a deeper way throughout the hiring process. You'll be able to pick better questions and probe candidates for more insightful answers.

Why should you assess skills and traits before hiring a medical assistant?

When hiring for healthcare positions such as a medical assistant, it's important to choose candidates with skills and qualities that promote patient satisfaction and well-being. Testing for medical assistant personality traits can help prevent problems that result from the wrong person being in this key role. Some examples of these issues include:

  • Inability to adapt to emergencies
  • Difficulty handling different types of patients
  • Unable to control emotions under stress
  • Inability to perform basic medical tests
  • Inaccurate or incomplete records
  • Making mistakes with billing, scheduling, or prescriptions
  • Contributing to a messy or chaotic environment
Why to assess medical assistant skills before hiring.
Assessing medical assistant skills.

Hire competent medical assistants for your team

Hire Success® can help you test for medical assistant roles in a comprehensive and efficient way. You can improve your hiring process and up your success rate with the right program. Contact us to request a customized quote from Hire Success®.

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