Administrative inefficiency is one of healthcare’s most expensive challenges. According to a McKinsey & Company article, administrative tasks account for roughly 25% of the country’s total $4 trillion annual healthcare spending. While a chunk of these tasks is necessary to maintain the systems of medical practices, its burden falls directly on healthcare providers and their team members.
A study from Google Cloud and The Harris Poll revealed that doctors spend almost 28 hours every week on administrative tasks. Whether it’s documenting patient information or billing for the services they received, doing these tasks consumes time that could otherwise be spent on patient care.
“Healthcare workers have historically faced significant administrative burdens, and this has intensified in recent years due to increased regulatory requirements, complex billing processes, and associated EHR documentation requirements,” said Aashima Gupta, Global Director of Healthcare Strategy & Solutions at Google Cloud.
This is concerning because every hour spent on unoptimized administrative work is an hour that cannot be spent seeing patients. As many providers work toward meeting the industry’s demands, patient wait times remain a significant concern. Press Ganey’s 2025 Consumer Experience in Healthcare report found that 49% of patients wait between one and three weeks to schedule a primary care appointment, while specialist appointments can take as long as three months.
While patients are more tolerant to waiting periods than consumers in other industries, being able to see and treat your patients sooner will let you create a positive experience and strengthen your practice’s reputation. However, accomplishing this requires finding ways to make practice workflows more efficient and the patient experience better.
This is where medical virtual assistants (VAs) come in.
What Is a Virtual Assistant?
A virtual assistant is a remote professional who can handle administrative or technical tasks on your behalf, such as:
- Scheduling and calendar management
- Medical billing and coding
- Patient follow-ups and reminders
- Data entry and records management
They come with the necessary healthcare knowledge and experience, making them a capable alternative to hiring in-person staff.
What Determines the Average Salary of a Virtual Assistant?
The virtual assistant salary range varies based on multiple factors, specifically:
1. Location
Where a virtual assistant lives often influences how much they cost. VAs based in your local hiring market generally charge rates that are marginally lower than those of in-person staff because they share the same level of living expenses. In contrast, VAs from countries with lower costs of living can offer a more economical staffing solution.
2. Experience Level
The more experience a VA has, the higher their salaries would be. For example, a virtual assistant with five years of experience in the healthcare industry will likely ask for a higher salary than someone who only has 1 year’s worth of experience on their resume.
3. Skill Set
Most VAs focus on general admin. However, others come with additional knowledge and technical proficiency that will help you fill more specialized roles, such as managing practice workflows, reporting, or high-level coordination. Because these skills aren’t saturated in the market, specialized VAs will often ask for a higher salary.
4. Employment Type
Virtual assistants can be hired on a full-time, part-time, or freelance basis. Full-time hires may receive additional benefits such as health insurance and paid leave. Freelancers, on the other hand, often charge higher hourly rates to offset the lack of such benefits.
5. Demand for Services
Roles that are hard to fill but have a high demand will likely have higher pay rates. For example, the increasing use of telehealth has intensified the need for VAs who are not only excellent communicators but also skilled in virtual healthcare and patient support.
These factors will determine how much you’ll end up spending on a VA. But if you need a number to estimate whether or not VAs are worth integrating into your practice, there are still general benchmarks you can use. On average, virtual assistants in the U.S. earn between $15 and $30 per hour, while full-time salaries typically range from $30,000 to $60,000 per year.
If you need a more cost-effective alternative, hiring internationally can reduce these costs. Filipino virtual assistants from My Mountain Mover, for example, can cost only $11 per hour, which is why many healthcare providers choose to outsource administrative support rather than hire locally.
Comparing Domestic vs. International Virtual Assistant Salaries
Hiring virtual assistants domestically or internationally comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Below is a comparison between these two types of VAs:
| Aspect | Domestic VA | International VA |
| Hourly Rate | $15 – $45 | $5 – $20 |
| Communication | High fluency in English and the U.S. culture | May require cultural adaptation |
| Time Zone | May still involve time zone gaps depending on state of residence | May involve time zone differences with staff working at night |
| Healthcare Experience | May have direct experience with U.S. healthcare workflows | Typically trained to support U.S. healthcare practices remotely, but hands-on experience varies |
| Access to Specialized Talent | Limited to candidates within the domestic hiring market | Access to thousands more in a broader global talent pool |
| Scalability | Growing your team domestically may require a larger budget investment | More flexible when you need to expand or downsize due to lower labor costs |
To make a more informed hiring decision, understanding these differences is critical. While international VAs offer more cost savings than their domestic counterparts, local hires may be a better fit for your team’s dynamics. Ultimately, your ideal VA will depend on your practice’s priorities.
How to Determine the Right VA Salary?
When identifying your ideal medical virtual assistant salary, remember that compensation is only one part of the hiring decision. Several factors can help you identify a salary that will attract the VAs you need without going over your budget.
Expected Outcomes
To establish your ideal salary range, you must first define what success for the role looks like. Are you hiring a VA to reduce administrative workload? To improve patient communication? Strengthen your billing process? The value you expect from the position will guide how much you’ll be willing to spend.
How Quickly You Need Results
In most cases, integrating a VA will take a certain amount of time. Most new VAs will need additional training and more onboarding effort, while seasoned VAs can leverage their years’ worth of knowledge and experience to immediately start being productive. However, the latter will likely cost more than the former.
Staff Retention Priority
Choosing a VA with a lower asking salary will result in lower upfront costs. However, they can increase your turnover as they look for better offers in the long run, creating additional expenses through hiring and lost productivity. Competitive compensation will cost more, but it can help you retain VAs, providing greater long-term value.
Long-Term Plans
The salary range you’re willing to offer should support not only your practice’s current needs but also its future goals. If you want your practice to grow, it may make sense to hire a more capable long-term VA today so you don’t end up revisiting your hiring strategy a few years down the line.
VA Salary Trends in
the Healthcare Industry
The Growing Demand for Specialized Skills
As the healthcare industry moves towards accessibility and digitalization, the demand for virtual assistants with specialized skills is increasing. Roles that fulfill tasks such as telehealth coordination, patient communication, and EHR management are becoming more common, driving up salaries for candidates with the appropriate credentials.
Emphasis on Data Security
With the increasing emphasis on healthcare accessibility, a lot of doctors are prioritizing data security measures. Agency-backed VAs are often trained in cybersecurity, making them more capable of protecting sensitive patient information. For this added peace of mind, HIPAA-compliant VAs tend to demand a higher salary.
Global Talent Competition
The fact that even small healthcare practices can now hire a team member outside their local hiring market has made the average virtual assistant salary more competitive. Offshore hiring has always been and will remain cost-effective, but as global talent continues to upskill, expectations for fair compensation have risen.
What Is the Right Virtual Assistant Salary for Your Practice?
For many healthcare providers, the goal is not simply to find the lowest-cost option, but to find qualified support that will help ease administrative burden and create more time for patient care. These will ultimately make investing in a VA, regardless of salary, worthwhile.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I hire one highly skilled VA or multiple lower-cost VAs?
This will depend on what your practice needs. A single experienced VA may be able to handle a wider range of responsibilities, but multiple VAs can also be useful when supporting different functions or when you have a high patient volume.
Is it better to hire a VA with healthcare experience or train someone from scratch?
Your ideal hire will depend on how urgent your administrative demands are. A VA with years of experience can be productive as soon as they are hired because they are more likely to be more familiar with your tools and processes. But candidates with a humbler resume but who exhibit a willingness to learn can be valuable long-term team members.
Should virtual assistant salaries increase over time?
It’s not required, but it’s worth considering. Many doctors choose to provide pay raises based on their VA’s performance and tenure because salary increases can help retain high-performing VAs and support long-term working relationships.
