[cjmess53]

I've been talking with several people in the supervisory role and office manager role. I'm getting conflicting "job descriptions".

What exactly are the responsibilities of an office manager of a medical office? Does it differ from another type of office manager; let's say billing manager in a doctor's office? What are the similarities of office manager duties?

[LisaOlsen]

There's really no specific answer to your question. Every company can write their job descriptions using different language and defining the essential job functions specific to the position. As you know, the same applies for defining the job descriptions for administrative assistants as well. Although there are tasks specific to the role, I doubt you would find any two job descriptions the same!

With that said, I would generally say the difference between supervisory and office manager would be a few duties such as:

1. Supervisors generally have at least two people report to them and are responsible for overseeing their workload, schedules and general day to day tasks and duties of a specific area or department.
2. Office managers on the other hand, might have two or three supervisors report to them and an office manager would then report directly to the head physician (in a medical setting) or the director.
3. An office manager would have more duties in line with overseeing the functions of the entire facility and is responsible for more complex projects and tasks that relate to the overall strategy of the company. Also, an office manager might have additional functions like HR duties, or may even be part of the management team.

Again, this is going to be different depending on the size of the organization and how the office is structure. Some office managers might fill both roles. I filled the role of "office manager" in the executive office overseeing three admins and was responsible for budgets, payroll and was accountable for everything we did as a team. So it can vary company to company.

That's why company job descriptions are so important. If your company doesn't have them, you might consider taking the initiative to start a focus committee to get the ball rolling. There are many resources available on the Internet and at SHRM if you need help getting started.