In my paper I will be discussing what medical terminology is, where it came from, and how it is applied to medical assistant careers as well as how it is applied to medical administration careers. I will give examples of the importance of medical terminology and specific examples of where medical careers use medical terminology on a day to day basis. I will also give a brief summary and definition of what medical terminology stands for.
After reading my paper you should have a good concept of medical terminology’s importance, use, and why medical terminology is not just applied to medical assisting jobs but also why it is important for medical administration employees to also be familiar and have a good grasp on medical terminology. Medical terminology is key to being able to provide clients, patients, and your boss with the best work you can provide because medical terminology is the language of medicine.
Medical Terminology is a vocabulary for accurately describing the human body, medical components, conditions, and processes in a science-based manner around word building and comprehension. It is consisted of four main parts. These parts include the word root, prefix, combining form, and suffix. The word root usually describes a body part and is the main part of the word that contains the basic meaning. A prefix is used in front of a word to give location detail, number of parts or time involved. A combining form is a word root plus a combining vowel that enables two parts to be connected which is usually the letter o.
The last word part is the suffix. The suffix is added to at the end of a word root to ad meaning such as condition, disease process and procedure. These word parts are very important in the use of medical terminology because without it you would not understand the language of medicine. It is very important for Medical Assistants as well as Medical Administrators to understand and follow the rules of language because medical terminology has its own language called linguistics, so that when a new term is made, some logical process is applied.
They will intern need to decode them to figure out what exactly is wrong with the patient. Decoding is very important because then it becomes easier to understand medical terminology. You should first break down the word by evaluating the meaning of the suffix, then prefix, and then the word root. This will in able a worker to identify what it is that is going on and be able to describe it to their patient and to the doctor or physician when asked. But first the worker needs to have a good sense of the origin of words which is called etymology. (Theirer & Breitbard, 2007, p. -4)Once you have the basic rules down you should be able to put words together and take them apart by decoding them. You also need to make sure that the spelling and pronunciation are correct because if a medical term is used incorrectly, it can become very dangerous and sometimes life threatening because you diagnose wrong procedures and medication. It creates a communication for health care professionals to make sure that a patient is treated with the highest amount of service and to ensure that they are being treated with the right medication.
Decoding is essential but the father of medicine also wrote the Hippocratic Oath. In this Oath physicians are meant to promise to practice medicine the right way. To make sure their pronunciation and spelling was always accurate and correct. The Oath has been in use for over two thousand years and physicians and doctors are to follow the Oath to the best of their ability. Since most medical terms derive from Greek and Latin history, doctors need to swear to practice medicine ethically which is why you must spell and have proper grammar.
After the Hippocratic Oath HIPAA standards became in forced as well where standards are meant to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the nation’s health care system There are many different kinds of medical careers. Two careers in the health care field that use medical terminology include, Medical Assistants and Medical Administration Assistants. Several of the jobs you must have a basic understanding of medical terminology and if you do not you will not be help to the team of doctors. You can easily get lost and confused and could start diagnosing patients wrong or even start messing with charts and records.
It also saves a lot of time because once you know what medical terms stand for, you can accurately do your job. Medical Administration Assistants and Medical Assistants share many of the same duties in the healthcare field. They both need to have medical terminology in order to complete their daily tasks. ( Thierer ; Breitbard, 2007, p. 4-8) Medical Assistants work with physicians and doctors with clinical tasks or administrative tasks. They can work in hospitals, medical clinics, and private offices. They gather a patients information, they talk with the patient and get charts ready.
They also complete patient history and take blood work. ( “Job Descriptions,”(n. d). They can even schedule the patient for a certain doctor. So they not only do clinical work but they also do administrative work as far as typing up bills and letters. Medical assistants need to have earned a high school diploma as well as an associate degree. They are meant to learn laboratory techniques, clinical procedures, cpr, first aid, and computer software skills needed to do the administration part of their daily tasks.
Medical Assistant work is continuing to advance and it is a very good choice for a future career since you have plenty of room of advancement opportunities. Healthcare is a business as any other and Medical Assistants are not going anywhere. Medical Administrative Assistants have many duties as well and they are very similar to the tasks of a Medical Assistant. They do more of the administrative duties such as medical records and billing. They complete paperwork and work for health insurance companies in making sure patients get billed for the correct work.
They can communicate with patients, insurance companies and with certain types of procedures done to verify their coding on patients bills. They sometimes even answer calls and make appointments. In some offices they can be included to take height, weight and vitals for patients if they are needed to on a given day. They can work in hospital, health insurance buildings, and private offices. They need to have a high school diploma as well an associate degree where they have taken certain medical assistant classes and most importantly the medical terminology class.
Without medical terminology you would not be able to treat people for their symptoms because you would have no clue or idea what the patient would be complaining about. You would not be able to treat the certain areas at risk. Both medical assistants and medical administrative assistants need to be able to give accurate reports, records, medical histories and be able to be familiar with insurance rules, billing practices and hospital or laboratory procedures. Medical Terminology os very important and once learned it is an excellent source to use in the medical field to fulfill your tasks and duties.