Medical Receptionist Jobs in Detroit, MI
Medical receptionists in metro Detroit, often posted as clinic service or patient access representatives, typically earn $18 to $21 an hour, and the front desk is a way into Henry Ford Health or the VA that needs no clinical credential. Here are the current openings, followed by who is hiring and how to start.
Current medical receptionist Openings in Detroit, MI
Listings marked External are sponsored openings provided by the Jobs2Careers network.
Medical Receptionist Work in Detroit
Front desk work in metro Detroit follows the clinics, and the clinics follow the health systems. Henry Ford Health runs the largest network, with clinic service representatives at practices from its occupational health clinic in Detroit to family medicine and gynecology offices in Clinton Township and Chesterfield. McLaren fills reception and patient access desks at McLaren Macomb in Mt. Clemens and at its primary care offices out in Clarkston, and the Detroit Medical Center staffs pediatric offices as far north as Troy.
Inside the city, the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center on John R Street in Midtown is a major employer, hiring medical support assistants to schedule appointments, check veterans in and manage clinic flow across multiple clinics. Many of these jobs are weekday daytime hours, which is a big part of their appeal compared with hospital shift work.
Top Detroit Employers Hiring Medical Receptionists
These metro Detroit employers hire front desk, registration and scheduling staff:
- Henry Ford Health - posts clinic service representative roles in Detroit, Clinton Township and Chesterfield, including family medicine, gynecology and occupational health desks.
- McLaren Health Care - hires full-time receptionists for Clarkston Medical Group and patient access representatives at McLaren Macomb in Mt. Clemens.
- Detroit Medical Center - hires medical office assistants for Children's Hospital of Michigan pediatric offices in Troy, handling greeting, registration, insurance verification and scheduling.
- VA Detroit Healthcare System - hires medical support assistants at the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center for scheduling, check-in and clinic coordination through USAJOBS.
Medical Receptionist Salaries in Detroit
- Entry level: about $15 to $17.50 an hour for new front desk staff.
- Experienced: roughly $18 to $21 an hour for registration and scheduling staff with a year or more in a clinic.
- Senior and federal: $22 to $25 an hour for leads and specialty desks, and VA medical support assistants at GS-6 were posted at $54,773 to $71,204 a year in 2026.
These are estimates based on federal wage data for receptionists and medical secretaries in the Detroit metro area and recent local postings. Health systems and the VA generally pay more than small private practices, and insurance verification, billing knowledge and specialty clinic experience push pay toward the top of the range.
How to Become a Medical Receptionist in Detroit
Michigan has no license for medical receptionists, and most employers ask only for a high school diploma or GED. McLaren's Clarkston receptionist posting requires nothing more, while the VA's advanced medical support assistant role wants six months of administrative or clerical experience or a year of college, plus its online USA Hire assessments. Customer service or medical office experience helps you stand out. Locally, Henry Ford College in Dearborn offers a Medical Receptionist Certificate of Achievement that takes one or two semesters and can lead into its Medical Insurance Specialist certificate.
What the Job Involves
Medical receptionists greet patients, check them in and out, register new patients, and verify demographics and insurance. They schedule, cancel and reschedule appointments, answer and route phone calls, collect co-payments and keep the provider's schedule running on time. In larger systems the job also includes processing referrals and consults in the electronic health record and joining daily clinic huddles.
Skills Employers Look For
- Patient registration and insurance verification
- Scheduling across multiple providers
- Comfort with electronic health records
- Microsoft Office, especially Word and Excel
- Calm, courteous phone and customer service skills
- Strict attention to patient privacy
Career Path and Advancement
In metro Detroit the front desk is a common first job inside a health system. Receptionists move up to lead or senior patient services representative, practice coordinator and office manager, or across into medical billing and coding, insurance follow-up and patient financial services. Many also use the job to get in the door and then train as medical assistants, since the same clinics hire for both roles.
Related Careers in Detroit
If medical office work interests you, these related Detroit guides are close matches:
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need a certification to be a medical receptionist in Detroit?
No. Michigan does not license or certify medical receptionists, and many metro Detroit postings require only a high school diploma or GED. A short program such as Henry Ford College's Medical Receptionist certificate or prior customer service experience makes you more competitive.
How much do medical receptionists make in Detroit?
Federal wage data for the Detroit metro put receptionists at a median of about $18.37 an hour and medical secretaries at about $20.35. Leads, specialty desks and federal roles pay more than those medians.
What are the hours for medical receptionist jobs?
Many are weekday daytime jobs. McLaren's Clarkston receptionist role runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with no weekends, and the VA's advanced medical support assistant role is Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
How do I apply for a medical support assistant job at the Detroit VA?
VA jobs are posted on USAJOBS. Medical support assistant announcements for the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center are often open for only about a week, and applicants complete USA Hire assessments that take around three hours, so set up a search alert and apply quickly.
What is the difference between a medical receptionist and a patient access representative?
They overlap. Patient access titles at hospitals such as McLaren Macomb lean toward registration and insurance verification, while clinic receptionist titles lean toward greeting, scheduling and phones. Both are front desk jobs, and experience in one transfers to the other.
Ready to apply? Browse all Medical Receptionist jobs in Detroit, MI on LocalJobPage and apply today.