As healthcare payment models change and reimbursements continue to decline, it’s important that every practice has a well-trained and well-equipped operations team. These teams are crucial to ensure patient satisfaction, smooth practice operations, and ultimately, a healthy bottom line.

To help you build a superstar operations team, Clinicient Client Insight Analyst Sarah Baumann and Strategic Consultant Brad Butler hosted a 30-minute webinar discussing the growing importance of front desk operations.

During their presentation, Brad and Sarah took attendees through a comprehensive overview of the importance of hiring the right front desk personnel, while providing hiring tips, and step-by-step ways to ensure success for new hires.

Missed the webinar? Get an on-demand recording of it here so you can build and equip your ideal operations team.

Watch On Demand

Below is a quick recap of what was discussed:

Why front desk operations is more critical than ever

When it comes to hiring, a practice needs to determine who would be the right person, and what would their role look like. Not only is the front desk employee the “face” of the organization, but they are also a pivotal part of the company’s financial health. As patient expectations and payments are changing, the role of the front desk has become even more important.

Front desk operations may be as crucial as any other role in the practice and their roles can include the following:

  • Communicate with referring physicians
  • Welcome and register patients
  • Manage schedules
  • Send patient appointment reminders
  • Coordinate with clinical and billing staff

Hiring Tips

Before hiring someone to manage front desk operations, it is important to ask yourself who you are as a practice, what is your culture, and what can be done to promote that culture. When hiring someone new, you need to be sure that the people joining the practice will fit into the role and culture that you want to exhibit. There is benefit in finding a balance between skills and personality, so it is very important to involve your team in the interview process.

Here are the four tips that are crucial when it comes to hiring:

  • Identify the skills and qualities that are crucial for your front desk
  • Write a job description that draws top talent
  • Take interviews seriously
  • Evaluate candidates

Set Up New Hires for Success

Once you hire the right person to control the front desk, it’s important to prepare your team with the right training. One of the biggest keys to having a successful training is to create a mix of “technical/process” and sales and customer service training. The sales and customer service training should include coaching on individual therapists’ background, specialties, and services. New hires should be trained on how to sell the value of your services, sell following the plan of care, handling objections and difficult financial conversations, and provide service with a smile to difficult patients, referrals and other stakeholders.

To help, below are some metrics that should be monitored to coach success:

    • Conversion Rate
    • Weekly Frequency
    • Vacancy Rate
    • Co-pay Collection Percentage
    • First Pass Payment

Clinicient understands how important it is to have one single system and be able to improve efficiency, speed and accuracy. By having one patient record, it allows for complete visibility into the practice and patient, both clinically and financially. And as always: Don’t Hate. Automate!

Here are some of the ways that Clinicient is able to assist your team:

    • Schedule Management Tools
    • Patient Registration Tools
    • Patient Account Management and Co-Pay Collections Tools
    • Automated Appointment Reminders
    • Task Management and Collaboration Tools
    • Follow Up with Communication Tool and Templates
    • Tracking Metrics and Reporting Tools
    • Ongoing Coaching and Support

Interested in learning more? Download our comprehensive Ten Strategies for Hiring the Right Front Desk Person Tip Sheet or read our blog focusing on our four favorite blogs to guarantee front desk success.

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