How to Become a Medical Assistant in Colorado

Who can apply

• Colorado has no state license for medical assistants. Physicians delegate medical services to unlicensed people under C.R.S. 12-240-107(3)(l) and Medical Board Rule 1.17, which applies to people with national or private certification but no Colorado license.
• The delegating physician must personally check your diplomas or certificates and watch you perform each delegated service before you do it outside their presence.
• To take x-rays you must be registered with CDPHE as a Limited Scope Operator.

Step by step

1. Finish a medical assistant program or get on-the-job training. Colorado does not require a set program.
2. (Optional) Pass a national certification exam (CMA-AAMA, RMA-AMT, CCMA-NHA or NCMA-NCCT).
3. Your delegating physician reviews your training documents and does over-the-shoulder observation of each medical service before delegating it.
4. If you will take x-rays, complete 80 classroom hours and 480 clinical hours, apply to CDPHE, pass the ARRT limited scope exam, and register as a Limited Scope Operator.
5. Work under the physician's personal and responsible direction and supervision; the physician reassesses your competence at least once a year.

Training and exam

Training: No state-mandated medical assistant program. Under Rule 1.17, the delegating physician must decide you have the education, training or experience for each delegated service, review your diplomas, certificates or credentials, directly observe you before you work outside their presence, and reassess you at least yearly. Gathering data, such as phlebotomy, vital signs and patient history, is not a delegated medical service under the rule.

Exam: No state medical assistant exam. National certification exams are voluntary. For x-ray, you must pass the ARRT Limited Scope exam: at least 75% on the core section and a 75% average on the procedure sections, within three attempts.

What it costs in Colorado

Fixed amounts are set by the state. Items marked “your quote” are priced by private sellers, so enter what you’re quoted.

How long it takes

For x-ray, CDPHE says ARRT exam results can take 4-6 weeks to arrive.

Good to know in Colorado

What a medical assistant can do in Colorado: Routine, technical medical services a physician delegates that do not need medical judgment. Data gathering (phlebotomy, vital signs, patient history) and passing on a physician's message or order are not medical services and are not covered by the delegation rule. A physician may let you order prescription refills at the same dose under a written refill protocol.

What a medical assistant cannot do: You cannot prescribe drugs, recommend marijuana as a therapy, re-delegate a task to someone else, or use a title with "licensed" or "doctor" in it. Services that need the exercise of medical judgment should not be delegated.

Supervision: The delegating physician must generally be on the premises. With detailed written procedure and emergency protocols the physician may be off site but must be in Colorado and able to attend the patient promptly, must review the care within 14 days, and must check your work at your site at least every two weeks.

X-ray: CDPHE registers Limited Scope Operators. You need at least 80 classroom hours, 480 clinical hours under direct supervision (no more than 160 lab hours), at least four of each listed exam type, and a passing ARRT limited scope score. LSOs may image the skull, chest, hip/pelvis, spine, abdomen (flat plate) and extremities, and must renew every two years.

Written delegation agreement: Rule 1.17 requires a written agreement (Appendix A) between the delegating physician and you, available to the public where you work, and the physician must keep a list of the services delegated to you. If the physician is on site and able to direct you at least 60% of the time, job descriptions or personnel records can take the place of the agreement. Physician assistants may also delegate medical services to unlicensed staff under their direct supervision.

Sources

• 3 CCR 713-1.17 - Delegation and Supervision of Medical Services to Unlicensed Persons (Cornell LII)
• CDPHE - LSO requirements, application, FAQs