Four best practice tips for every clinical receptionist
A great clinical receptionist has patience, skill and dedication. But it takes a deeper knowledge to support clinicians in providing the highest-quality patient services.
Medical professionals dedicate their lives to providing a highly-qualified service. They try to give each patient the time and attention he or she requires, while treating as many people as possible. It’s a true juggling act and, in most instances, time is the biggest issue.
Patients have the right to access medical facilities simply and easily. A clinical receptionist makes this possible. She provides the extra administrative service that a clinician, who’s focusing on patients, can’t always offer effectively. She represents the clinic as a helpful, friendly voice who understands the sensitivity and confidentiality of clinical services and acts accordingly. Yes, she answers the phone, but in reality, her job is far more complex.
Receptionists employed by MyRuby, offer many years of experience acting as clinical receptionists to a wide variety of clinics across the UK. They understand what it takes to maintain the best standard of receptionist duties in healthcare clinics. Here are their best practice tips for providing great clinical receptionist services:
1. Be flexible
The medical profession is a diverse industry. Every practice operates differently according to many factors including its specialism, size, location, and whether it’s a private or public service. Individual clinicians work in different ways. Some, for example, treat patients in the clinic, some visit patients in their homes. Their priorities for patient bookings vary, as do their preferences for handling cancellations. They use different diary systems and implement different policies for taking on new patients.
A great clinical receptionist gets to know individual clinicians and their habits, working practices and schedules. Her knowledge and relationship with each medical professional helps her handle more complex situations with patients. She knows the discrepancies between private and public practices and can work with one professional or multiple professionals with different diaries or schedules, confidently adjusting her booking processes accordingly. She understands what the clinician expects of her and deals with most administrative tasks or problems so that he or she doesn’t have to.
2. Follow processes
A great clinical receptionist is experienced in working for many different practices in different fields. Her knowledge gives her the edge on less-experienced employees and enables her to make more informed judgements. And she can draw on a wide repertoire of best practices and apply them in work with new clinics.
Individual clinics implement their own structures and processes to deal with day-to-day tasks such as patient registration or communication with external organisations. These processes also help clinics comply with a multitude of regulations and promote a consistently high standard of service. A clinical receptionist can adapt to and follow these processes when dealing with every call or situation. And, with experience behind her, she can also suggest or introduce improvements in processes to improve the working lives of professionals, boost efficiencies in the business or enhance patient services.
3. Be an expert in diary systems
There’s far more to managing a diary than answering calls and filling appointment gaps. A receptionist can explain practice requirements for new and temporary patients. She books the right length of appointment according to the type of treatment or the patient’s stage in the treatment cycle. She adjusts her handling of cancellation requests according to the needs of each clinician. And she handles private or public clinical bookings according to different billing processes. For private practices, the receptionist can advise patients on medical insurance information, as well as make calls to health insurance companies to apply for funds or reimbursements.
A great clinical receptionist is trained in and can switch between many different online diary systems used by today’s clinicians. These systems, which include PracticePal, PPS, ClinicOffice, Quinec, and BookingBug, offer practical tools and functionality that help clinicians manage their diaries more efficiently.
4. Handle unusual situations with care
A great receptionist understands the urgency of medical situations, and can handle multiple re-bookings tactfully and efficiently if a clinician is called away suddenly or off sick. She gets to know patients and knows how to best deal with specific ‘patient cases’. Her priority is to ensure clinicians’ diaries are fully occupied. She maintains a smooth flow of patients by sending out appointment reminders to maximise attendance but she also knows what to do in the event of a DNA (did not attend) case.
Many medical professionals keep an audit trail of their administrative processes, from calls taken to bookings and cancellations. These can be kept as daily, weekly or monthly records and it’s the receptionist’s duty to provide them in a format that suits the clinician.
MyRuby offers more than just a great clinical receptionist
With pressure on clinics to provide the highest standard of care, clinicians are turning to receptionists to carry greater responsibilities. But they’re looking for cost-effective alternatives to hiring full-time members of staff. Outsourced telephone receptionist services such as MyRuby offer a smarter, more practical way to provide a complete receptionist service or support existing administrative teams.
MyRuby provides telephone answering and diary management services to primary and secondary healthcare clinics. A MyRuby receptionist offers a quality service as seamlessly and professionally as a full-time receptionist working under the same roof as the clinician. She supports professionals regardless of their specialist field, the breadth of their administrative needs or their location. She understands the clinical profession and applies her knowledge from the start, unlike a permanent employee in training. She forges strong relationships with patients and with clinicians to become a vital part of their working day. But unlike a permanent member of staff, a MyRuby receptionist is always available and is a fraction of the cost of a permanent employee.
Set up is so simple, your MyRuby receptionist can start today. For more information about how a MyRuby receptionist can enhance your healthcare service call MyRuby on 0800 988 0977.
MyRuby Provides a smarter way to run your telephone reception.
Find out more at www.myruby.co.uk
