Have you thought about the impact of the front office operations in the success, health, and growth of your wound care and hyperbaric medicine clinic?

#1: Staffing

The first consideration in smooth front office operations is staffing. 

The following is a list of some key attributes to consider regarding front office staff.

Attributes to consider:

• Professional appearance
• Professional communication skills
• Knowledgeable with computer skills
• Telephone etiquette
• Energetic with positive demure
• Team player: eager to learn

Front office staff is the hub of communications. While their role in the success of the clinic is often overlooked, the front office staff may be the first point of contact that a patient or referring physician has with your clinic. It is critical that the front office staff is well-trained on how to handle incoming patient referrals smoothly and efficiently - after all, each individual patient referral eventually leads to the achievement of your clinic's long-term financial goals. 

Have you considered training your front office staff in exactly what to say when: 

- a patient self-referrs for hyperbaric treatment

- a patient doesn't have insurance

- a physician wants to make a patient referral

- a patient has missed treatments due to lack of reliable transportation

- a patient is worried about losing their job due to the ongoing treatments

Providing your front office staff with some loose scripts might help eliminate their stress as well as improve patient retention and ensure that you're capturing each patient referral. 

#2: Front Office Operations

It is important to determine how the following will be handled by your front office staff: 

• Patient registration
• Walk-ins or self-referrals (by phone or in-person)
• Insurance verification
• Check in & check out processes
• Reconciling daily statistics and reports
• Billing reports
• Payroll
• Timesheets/ time clock location

Considering providing the front office staff with some targeted training on front desk operations as related to a healthcare office - don't assume that they know everything already. Even if they have vast experience in front office operations, they might not know or understand exactly how you need the front office to run at your particular clinic. 

Now we'd like to hear from you. What has been the #1 most helpful strategy you've implemented to create smooth front office operations? Tell us in the comments below. 

Want more clinic business tips? 

Free Mini-Course: The Business of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine

In this Free Mini-Course you will learn from Dr. Michael White, MD, MMM, CWS, UHM and course director for "The Business of Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine" how to tackle:

• Meeting your budget goals
• Increasing patient load
• Becoming a profit center for the hospital (and keeping your clinic doors open!)
• And ultimately lower your own stress levels!

If you don't know where to start, how to start, or what you need to know to accomplish the tasks on the above-mentioned list, this free mini-course is for you.

(The short 10-minute course is available as a video or as audio-only.)

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