Learning Outcomes:
3.1 Recognize the importance of professionalism in the medical assisting practice.
3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Profession – occupation or career that is based upon specialized educational training
Professionalism – behavior that exhibits the traits or features that correspond to standards of that profession
Professional standards
Vary from occupation to occupation, and sometimes within the same occupation, depending on the environment.
Standards for medical assisting education and the profession are developed by professional organizations.
It is important know standards of the profession as well as exhibit appropriate personal attributes and behaviors.
Following the standards and exhibiting the personal behaviors established by your school and workplace will help you achieve SUCCESS!
Learning Outcome: 3.1 Recognize the importance of professionalism in the medical assisting practice.
To understand the profession of medical assisting, you need to understand what a profession is.
Professions have two areas of competence or abilities:
Hard skills – specific technical and operational proficiencies
Soft skills – personal qualifications or behaviors that enhance an individual's interactions, job performance and career opportunities – people skills
It’s important to maintain a good balance between technical and people skills.
Learning Outcome: 3.1 Recognize the importance of professionalism in the medical assisting practice.
These are the minimum proficiencies necessary to do a particular job.
Examples for medical assisting include:
Appointment scheduling
Insurance coding
Medical records management
Interviewing patients
Taking vital signs
Assisting the physician
Hard skills are learned throughout the medical assisting program.
They are readily observable and are used by employers to determine if you are qualified for the job.
Learning Outcome: 3.1 Recognize the importance of professionalism in the medical assisting practice.
Soft skills develop throughout your life, examples include respect, dependability, and integrity. These attributes are important for specific jobs and are also professional behaviors.
Soft skills are those that help define your personality.
Professional behaviors produce a good work ethic which employers look for.
Technical skills are reasons most are hired
Poor professional behavior is the reason for most terminations
Knowing what to do is important but preforming professionally is essential.
Learning Outcome: 3.1 Recognize the importance of professionalism in the medical assisting practice.
Much of a medical assistant’s role will involve dealing with other people.
You will experience ongoing assessment of your professional behaviors
Classroom
Externship
Hiring process
Workplace performance evaluation
Promotion consideration
Professionalism contributes to success. Keep it on the top of your self-improvement list!
Learning Outcome: 3.1 Recognize the importance of professionalism in the medical assisting practice.
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Consider whether you exhibit each of the behaviors or qualities to be discussed.
Comprehension – the ability to learn, retain and, process information
As a medical assistant, you must learn what you need to know, analyze that information, know how to use it, and also retain the information.
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Persistence
Continuing in spite of difficulty; being determined and overcoming obstacles
Perseverance and tenacity
“stick-to-itiveness”
Enables you to finish a job or follow through regardless of difficulty.
Self-confidence – believing in oneself
Puts people at ease
Self-assured but not over-confident
Display this trait by smiling, making eye contact, and remaining calm in any situation
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Knowledge
Understanding gained through study and experience
Not just memorization
Must understand rationale for actions
Judgment
Evaluating a situation, reaching a conclusion, and taking appropriate action
Also referred to as critical thinking which is purposeful decisions resulting from analysis and evaluation
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Organization – planning and coordinating information and tasks in an orderly manner to efficiently complete a job in a given time frame
Time management
Prioritizing – deciding which are the most important and least important tasks for the day using:
Professional judgment
Office policies
Experience
Integrity
Adhering to the appropriate code of law and ethics
Being honest and trustworthy
Ethics – system of values that determines right or wrong behavior
Knowing that someone else did something dishonest and not reporting it, is as bad as doing something dishonest yourself
Once a person is viewed as lacking integrity, it is difficult to regain the trust of others.
More information this is found in the chapter Legal and Ethical Issues
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Growth
Ongoing effort to learn and improve
Professionalism includes keeping up with new standards, procedures and technologies in the field.
Obtaining continuing education helps the medical assistant grow professionally and keeping up-to-date with changes in healthcare.
Teamwork – working with others in the best interest of completing the job.
Cooperation among team members to achieve the goal of providing good patient care
Increases the likelihood of achieving a goal
Increases patient and job satisfaction
Coordination – integration of activities; working together for the benefit of the patient
Team dynamics
Assisting each other
Avoiding interpersonal conflict
Performing extra responsibilities without complaint
Being considerate of other team members’ duties and responsibilities
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Acceptance of criticism
Willingness to consider feedback and suggestions to improve
Taking responsibility for one’s actions
Constructive criticism
Counseling or advice intended to be useful with the goal to improve something
Must be accepted for you to grow and understand the areas in which you can improve
Be open to accepting constructive criticism and suggestions
Do not be defensive or blame others
Relations with others
The ability to get along with those around you
Treating others with respect and caring
Empathy - feeling and understanding another’s experience without having the experience yourself
Show concern and appropriate attention
DO NOT enable or promote codependency which is doing for others things they should be doing for themselves.
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Professional boundaries
Treat the patient as a client
Do not become involved with a patient’s private life unless an issue relates directly to his/her health
Guidelines for maintaining professional boundaries are listed on this slide
Address patients by last name and appropriate title; use first names only with permission or unless the patient is a child
Do not offer patients advice on personal matters
Humor should be used only if tasteful and appropriate
Avoid becoming overly friendly
Do not loan patients money
Do not meet patients outside the workplace unless you knew them prior to taking your position
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Patient advocacy
Speak or act on behalf of the patient or the patient’s family
To help you be effective
Understand your scope of practice
Be professional in relationships
Communicate well
Refer to Table 3-1 for examples
Learning Outcome: 3.1 Recognize the importance of professionalism in the medical assisting practice.
Work quality
Strive for excellence in doing your job
Take pride in your performance
If you need to improve in an area, ask for help or take a class
Report potential risks
Be flexible to staffing changes but stay within your scope of practice
Punctuality and attendance
Be on time
Come to work/class when scheduled
Poor attendance is cause for termination
Patient care may be impacted if you are late or absent
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Professional appearance
Neatness and personal cleanliness is important
Appearance is the first impression you make on others
Should reflect a conservative style
Guidelines
Uniform or clothing should be clean, pressed, fit properly, and in good repair
Shoes – comfortable, clean and in good condition; no open toes
Hairstyle should be flattering and conservative; hair should be clean and pulled back if long; natural colors
Fingernails should be kept short and a natural color; no acrylic nails
Body odors, including smoke, perfumes, hairsprays, and lotions should be avoided
Wear minimal jewelry – 1 ring; avoid dangling earrings
Visible tattoos, body and tongue piercings are unacceptable
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Communication
Giving and receiving accurate information
Involves
Careful listening to what is said
Observing the one speaking
Speaking so you can be understood
Writing
Good manners
Polite
Tactful
respectful
With poor communication skills, one cannot provide information that is accurate or understandable
Communication is a two-way process; you must request clarification if you do not understand
Communication is discussed further in the Communication chapter
Learning Outcome: 3.2 Explain the professional behaviors that should be exhibited by medical assistants.
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Critical thinking skills
Will develop over time and with knowledge and experience
Involve evaluating a situation, solving problems associated with the situation and taking appropriate actions
Example: reacting during and emergency
Rely on sound judgment.
You must be able to analyze, determine what is important, and reach conclusions beyond the obvious.
Includes factual problem identification and creative decision-making skills
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Step 1 – Identify and define the problem
What is wrong?
Step 2 – Identify the potential effects of the problem?
What might happen if the problem is not corrected
Step 3 – Identify the objectives to be achieved
What is your goal for the situation?
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Step 4 – Identify potential solutions and strategies
What can be done to solve the problem?
There may be more than one answer
Step 5 – Analyze the solutions and strategies
What might be the results of each of the solutions identified in Step 4?
Step 6 – Implement the best solution
Take action
Step 7 – Evaluate the results / repeat steps as necessary
Did the chosen solution work? If not, why not?
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Time management
Essential skill for medical assistants
Techniques help you achieve more in all aspects of life
Helps you avoid stress related to work overload
Set goals and concentrate on results rather than just being busy
Organization helps you to avoid wasting time
Strategies to improve your ability to manage you time and prioritize are:
Plan your day – know what needs to be done and set goal accordingly
Take advantage of your own productivity – do the most difficult tasks when you are most productive
Avoid distractions – no personal phone call, texts, tweets, etc. during working hours
Evaluate yourself daily – did you accomplish your goals? If not, develop a plan to do better tomorrow.
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Stress
Results from feeling under pressure
Reaction to anger, frustration, or a change in your routine
Physical changes – increased blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing; muscle tension
Results in poor communication
Good or bad stress
Some stress is normal and can motivate you to be more productive
Ongoing stress can be overwhelming and affect you physically
Decreased resistance to colds
Increases your risk for developing diseases including heart disease, diabetes, and ulcers
Increase your risk for some autoimmune diseases
Some stress is inevitable - the goal is to learn how to manage or reduce stress
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Burnout is the end result of prolonged periods of stress without relief.
More prone to burnout – highly driven , perfectionist; Type A personality
Less prone - More relaxed, calm, “laid back”; Type B personality
Stages
Honeymoon Phase –
The job, and everything about it, is wonderful
You have boundless energy and enthusiasm
Awakening Phase –
Realization your initial expectations were unrealistic
You become disillusioned, disappointed, tired, bored, and frustrated
Brownout Phase –
Chronic fatigue and irritability; increased frustration and anger
Productivity drops and work deteriorates
Full-Scale Burnout phase –
Despair is dominant; depression;
Physical and mental exhaustion
Phoenix Phenomenon
Need to relax
Have realistic expectations
Create a balance in your life
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Maintain a balance among work, family, and leisure activities.
Exercise regularly
Eat balanced and nutritious meals and healthful snacks
Make time for yourself, plan time for relaxing
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Rely on support of family, friends, and co-worker. Share your feelings.
Be realistic about what you can and cannot do. Do not be afraid to say “no”.
Set realistic goals. There are always choices.
Be organized. Planning helps manage workload.
Use your excess energy to clean a closet, volunteer, exercise, etc.
Change what you can.
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice.
Focus your energy on one thing at a time; finish one project before starting another.
Try to resolve sources of conflict.
Choose a relaxation technique that works for you: deep breathing, meditation, or imagery
Laughter can help relieve stress.
Decide if the situation is worth getting upset about.
Ask for help from social or professional support groups if you need to
Learning Outcome: 3.3 Model strategies for success in medical assisting education and practice