Glossary
Medical Administrative Assistant Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential medical administrative assistant terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key medical administrative assistant vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in medical administrative assistant training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Copay
- A fixed amount the patient pays for a visit or service.
- CPT code
- A code that describes the procedure or service performed.
- Deductible
- The amount a patient pays each year before insurance starts paying.
- Demographics
- A patient’s identifying details, such as name, birth date, address and insurance.
- EHR
- Electronic health record: the digital chart for each patient.
- Eligibility verification
- Confirming that a patient’s insurance is active and covers the service.
- HIPAA
- Federal law that protects the privacy and security of patient health information.
- ICD-10-CM
- The code set used to describe diagnoses.
- No-show
- A patient who misses an appointment without canceling.
- Patient portal
- A secure website where patients see results, messages and appointments.
- PHI
- Protected health information: any health data that can identify a patient.
- Insurer approval required before certain tests, procedures or medications.
- Referral
- A request from one provider for a patient to see another provider.
- Release of information (ROI)
- The process of sharing medical records with proper authorization.
- Superbill
- A form listing the services and diagnoses for a visit, used for billing.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Medical Administrative Assistant practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Medical Administrative Assistant training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.