Practice staffing · Budget medical VA
CareVMA
CareVMA provides HIPAA-oriented virtual medical assistants for scheduling, billing support, and front-desk work at published starting hourly rates. It is staffing, not software.
Strong fit
- Small practices that want HIPAA-trained virtual medical assistants at a low published starting rate
- Offices that can closely supervise a remote assistant and measure phone or billing work after the assistant starts
- Buyers comparing low-cost medical assistant firms, not large offshore staffing centers
Weak fit
- Organizations that require SOC 2 Type II and Epic access from a secured facility from day one
- Buyers who need a large, long-serving staff pool with many published case studies
- Teams looking for software, not staff
Bottom line
CareVMA is worth considering for budget-conscious clinics that want a low-cost virtual medical assistant for scheduling, billing support, or front-desk work. It suits practices that will supervise and check the assistant's work closely. Clinics that want a firm with more public evidence of compliance and scale may prefer MEDVA or My Mountain Mover.
Score breakdown
Weights: Outcomes 35% · Product 30% · Implementation 20% · Pricing clarity 15%.
CareVMA, also known as Care VMA Health, is a virtual medical assistant company in the Dallas area founded by CEO Obaid Imtiaz. It places HIPAA-trained remote assistants for scheduling, billing support, and front-desk work.
Its published rates start at about $9 per hour, and it says it can match a practice with an assistant within 48 hours. It provides staff, not software, so it is not an EHR.
Results depend on how well the practice supervises and checks the assistant's work. The company has published less evidence of compliance and scale than MEDVA or My Mountain Mover, and it has about 40 people.
Setup is quick when the clinic has system access and training time ready.
Among practice staffing firms we review, CareVMA scores lowest. Its prices are clear, but there is little public evidence about its work.
HelloRache and DocVA fit clinics that want published rates and a longer public track record. MEDVA fits when strict compliance at the staff's work site is required, and My Mountain Mover fits when scale and depth of support staff matter.
The Conditional rating reflects a fit for budget-conscious clinics that will supervise their assistants closely.
Competitor landscape
| Vendor | Overall | Ease of implementation |
|---|---|---|
| MEDVA | 7.8 | 7.4 |
| DocVA | 7.6 | 7.8 |
| HelloRache | 7.5 | 7.6 |
| Physicians Angels | 7.5 | 7.4 |
| ScribeEMR | 7.4 | 7.2 |
| My Mountain Mover | 7.3 | 7.2 |
| GMVA | 7.1 | 7.0 |
| Staffing For Doctors | 7.1 | 7.3 |
| Staffingly | 7.1 | 7.2 |
| Portiva | 6.9 | 7.0 |
| Cool Blue VA | 6.8 | 7.0 |
| CareVMA | 6.6 | 7.0 |
| MedGather | 6.6 | 7.1 |
Pricing
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Model | Published starting hourly rates for virtual medical assistants, with quotes adjusted by role. |
| What usually drives cost | Hours, role (admin, billing, scribe), and how much management the assistant needs. |
| What to ask before you buy | The full hourly rate for your role, the replacement policy, and whether HIPAA training and devices are included. |
| Published pricing | From about $9/hr. Confirm with a current quote. |
CareVMA lists starting rates near $9/hr. Confirm what the rate includes.
Prerequisites for purchase
| Need | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What you need to get CareVMA to function | |
| A named person at the practice to onboard the assistant and check work daily | Assistants with no one in charge drift off task. |
| Current numbers for answered calls, late charts, or billing backlog | You cannot show value without a starting number. |
| EMR access, VPN, and a signed business associate agreement in place before the start date | Without access, you pay for hours where nothing gets done. |
| A written list of duties: phones, scheduling, scribing, or billing support | Vague duties lead to problems no one notices. |
| Written agreement on replacements and who to call when problems come up | An assistant leaving without warning disrupts the work. |
| What will maximize your value | |
| Measure coverage every week for 90 days | Showing up is not the same as getting results. |
| Start with one role before adding more assistants | One assistant who works well beats several who do not. |
| Stop using overlapping freelancers after one month of both | Paying for both doubles the cost. |
| Hold a short weekly quality check with the vendor's account lead | Small slips in quality add up if no one notices. |
| Send practice leaders a monthly staffing summary | Gaps no one reports surprise everyone later. |
| Deal-breakers | |
| No one will supervise or train the assistant. | |
| You will not give the EMR access or sign the business associate agreement the role needs. | |
| You expect a staff member to work like automated software. | |
| Leaders will not measure phones, charts, or billing delays. | |
| Your lawyers will not approve offshore or remote access. | |
Value creation time frame
| # | Stage | Typical range |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plan and measure the starting point | 1-2 weeks. Define the role, the measures, and how the assistant gets access. |
| 2 | Match | 3-14 days. Narrow the list, interview, and check credentials. |
| 3 | Onboard | 1-3 weeks. Set up EMR access, write scripts, and have the assistant shadow staff. |
| 4 | Settle in | 30-60 days. Check quality on a schedule, and add hours if the numbers hold up. |
Methodology
| Weight | Factor | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| 35% | Customer outcomes | Whether buyers get measurable operational or clinical-workflow results after go-live |
| 30% | Product | Capability depth, reliability, and fit for the job the category buys |
| 20% | Implementation | How hard it is to stand up, integrate, train, and stabilize |
| 15% | Pricing clarity | Whether a buyer can model total cost without a mystery quote |
| Label | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Highly recommend | Strong outcomes and product with manageable caveats |
| Recommend | Solid fit for the right buyer; know the tradeoffs |
| Conditional | Only with a specific use case or heavy caveats |
| Not recommended | Avoid for most buyers in this category |
Read our full methodology for how we weight scores and assign recommend labels.