Medical Assistants, Nutrition & Patient Support salary guide

Healthcare Headhunters recruits healthcare professionals for employers. No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.

This is what we do all day: recruit healthcare professionals.

Published BLS wages for this family. BLS OEWS May 2025.

Medical Assistant (CMA, RMA, CCMA, Clinical MA) SOC 31-9092, Medical Assistants. direct match.
Ophthalmic Technician (Ophthalmic Assistant, COA, COT, COMT) SOC 29-2057, Ophthalmic Medical Technicians. direct match.
Medical Scribe SOC 43-6013, Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. proxy match.
Health Unit Coordinator (Unit Secretary, Unit Clerk) SOC 43-6013, Medical Secretaries and Administrative Assistants. proxy match.
Community Health Worker (CHW) SOC 21-1094, Community Health Workers. direct match.
Patient Navigator SOC 21-1094, Community Health Workers. proxy match.
Medical Interpreter (Healthcare Interpreter) SOC 43-9199, Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other. proxy match.
Registered Dietitian (RD, RDN) SOC 29-1031, Dietitians and Nutritionists. direct match.
Clinical Dietitian (Inpatient, Renal, Pediatric) SOC 29-1031, Dietitians and Nutritionists. broader match.
Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialist (CDCES, Diabetes Educator) SOC 21-1091, Health Education Specialists. proxy match.
Lead Medical Assistant SOC 31-9092, Medical Assistants. broader match.
Senior Ophthalmic Technician SOC 29-2057, Ophthalmic Medical Technicians. broader match.
Bilingual Medical Assistant SOC 31-9092, Medical Assistants. broader match.

What jobs sit in this medical support family?

This family covers patient-facing support, documentation, and care coordination. We include Medical Assistants, Ophthalmic Technicians, Medical Scribes, Health Unit Coordinators, Community Health Workers, Medical Interpreters, Registered Dietitians, and related lead or specialty titles. Some map directly to a BLS occupation. Others sit in a proxy group when the daily work is close, but not exact.

That matters when you compare wages. A clinic Medical Assistant does different work from a Registered Dietitian, even when both support the same care team. The title alone does not tell us enough about the workday or the pay band.

What does a normal workday look like?

These jobs stay close to the patient flow. A Medical Assistant rooms patients, updates basic information, and supports room turnover. A Medical Scribe documents the visit in real time. A Unit Clerk tracks calls, orders, and messages. An Ophthalmic Technician moves patients through eye testing and chart prep.

A Dietitian may split time between bedside visits, counseling, chart review, and team rounds. A Community Health Worker or Patient Navigator may spend part of the day reaching patients, arranging follow-up, and closing care gaps. The day changes by setting, but each role has a clear lane.

What should the hiring manager decide, and what belongs to the worker?

We ask who owns the clinical and administrative decisions. The manager sets scope, workflow, and escalation lines. The employee follows those lines during the shift. For example, a scribe records what is said, but the provider owns the note content and medical judgment.

That same split matters for Medical Assistants and Ophthalmic Technicians. They may gather information, flag changes, and pass messages, but they do not decide treatment. For Dietitians, the employer should say whether the role works from standing orders, referrals, or team consults.

What training and credentials should we ask about?

Ask for the credential that matches the actual work. For Medical Assistants, that may be CMA, RMA, CCMA, or another clinical MA path. For eye care, look for COA, COT, or COMT when the job needs formal technician skill. For dietitians, ask for RD or RDN.

Also ask about language skill, charting systems, and patient volume experience. For bilingual MA, interpreter, and navigator roles, we should check which languages the person uses at work and how often they speak for patients versus with patients.

How should we compare wage ranges across this family?

Start with the occupation, not just the title. A Lead Medical Assistant, a Bilingual Medical Assistant, and a clinical MA may all sit in the same broad family, but their pay can differ because the day is different. Proxy roles need the same care, since a Scribe and a Health Unit Coordinator support different parts of the visit.

Use local wage context and the work you actually ask the person to do. A role with direct patient contact, repeated phone work, or specialized testing usually sits apart from a message and records role. That is why the wage guide groups titles, then asks you to read the work closely.

What should we screen for before an interview?

Screen for the setting, the pace of room turnover, and the amount of direct patient contact. Ask who this person serves during the day, which tasks repeat every hour, and which tasks come up only during busy clinics or admissions. That shows fit better than a title alone.

We also ask who the role reports to, which messages they may pass on, and when they must hand off to clinical leadership. For Navigator and CHW roles, ask how they document outreach and follow-up.

What else should you ask about this edition?

How do we compare a Medical Assistant to a Lead Medical Assistant?

A Lead Medical Assistant usually carries the same core work plus day-to-day coordination. That may include assigning rooms, watching flow, and answering staff questions during the shift. We should ask whether the lead also handles coaching or if that stays with the supervisor.

What is the difference between a Medical Scribe and a Health Unit Coordinator?

A Medical Scribe stays in the visit and documents what the provider says and does. A Health Unit Coordinator works the desk, moves messages, tracks charts, and supports the unit schedule. They sit near each other in the workflow, but the work is not the same.

How do we treat bilingual Medical Assistant roles in the wage guide?

Bilingual skills can change the value of the role when the clinic uses them every day. We should ask which language pairs the clinic needs and whether the person interprets, translates paperwork, or speaks with patients during intake. That tells us whether the language skill is central or occasional.

Can a Registered Dietitian and a Certified Diabetes Care & Education Specialist be grouped together?

They overlap in patient teaching, but the titles are not the same. A Registered Dietitian is the base clinical nutrition role. A CDCES adds diabetes education focus, so we should ask whether the job is general nutrition, diabetes teaching, or both.