Medical Office Front Desk- More Than Meets The Eye

Far too often I have heard comments from physicians like "It's the front desk.  How hard can it be?" or "All the they do is check patients in/out and answer the phone.".  When I hear comments like this I just shake my head in wonder.  If this is the attitude taken during the hiring process for the front desk then a practice is setting itsself up for failure.

As we all know the front desk is an entry level position.  With that said not just anyone can handle this position.  When interviewing someone for a front desk position there are several questions that need to be need to be answered.  A few questions are:


*       Can they multi-task? 

            - Ask them to provide examples from previous work experience.

*       Do they have good phone communication skills? 

            - When you call them to set up an interview take note of how they communicate.

*       Dothey have good face-to-face communication skills?

             -Get a basic idea just by how they communicate during the interview.

*       Any experience handling money? (ie, experience balancing a drawer, collecting co-pays, giving change, etc)

             -provide a math test as part of the interview process.

The front desk staff are the people that often have the most interaction with a physician's patients.  This interaction is going to have a major impact on patient satisfaction.  They are the people that patients are basing their first impression of an office.  A front desk person's actions can have a direct affect on the A/R of a practice too.  If this person does not have the personality to collect money that is due from a patient or is not able to work well with the billing staff, then this is can cause issues with a practice's revenue flow.  This is why great communication skills are a must.

Just remember the front desk respresents a practice.  They have the most interaction with patients and other employees.  If there is a weakness with the front desk it affects everyone associated with the practice.  More importantly, the front desk has an impact, good or bad, on every practice's A/R.

Do Your Patient Statements Send the Wrong Message?

Take a good look at the patient statements you send. Do they have 30, 60, 90, 120 day columns on them? If so, you could be losing revenue. The problem is that you are showing patients how long you will allow them carry an outstanding balance.

When most patients receive a statement, they automatically ignore any balance that is less than 120 outstanding because they know the doctor's office will allow that balance to carry over each month. How do I know this? Over the course of my 12+ years in medical billing, I have been told this by many patients. 

We have found that if we had a patient statement with only one column - "balance due" - we began to see better results.  By making this one, small change, over a two year period, our clients' revenue increased by anywhere from 16%-23%. 

Take your utility bills for example. Do any of them give you a breakdown of how much is 30, 60, 90, or 120 days outstanding?  At best you may see a current due column and a past due column, but in the end they expect payment in full or there are consequences, which is often an interruption of services provided.

I encourage everyone to take a good look at the patient statements that you’re sending. Making this quick and easy adjustment could have a significant effect on your bottom line.