Pediatric Coding Alert

Presented by Victoria Jackson

The following supplement to Pediatric Coding Alert is the transcript of a teleconference presented by The Coding Institute. To obtain the slides for the conference, please log on to our Online Subscription System at http://codinginstitute.com/login and download the current issue, and the slides will be contained therein. If you're not sure how to use the Online Subscription System or need help downloading the issue, please contact our customer service department at 1-800-508-2582 or service@medville.com, and one of our representatives will be able to assist you.

The speaker for the teleconference, Victoria Jackson has 25 years of experience in medical administration and is currently the administrator/CEO of Southern Orange County Pediatric Assoc. She is also owner and executive director of OMNI Management Inc., a medical practice management and billing company, and a board member of the Primary Care Assembly of the Medical Group Management Association. Ms. Jackson also serves on The Coding Institute's Editorial Advisory Board and is a nationally respected coding and billing consultant. Good Morning, Mandy and good morning to all of you.  I hope all of you are bright eyed and bushy-tailed, it is 8 o'clock here in sunny California, except this morning, it is raining.  We have had our share of rain this year and quite honestly, I am tired of it and am ready for the sunshine. I would like to give you just a bit about my background.  I am a Pediatric Administrator and CEO of a five-site general pediatric practice. I also own and am an Executive Director of a practice management company.  We do management and billing for other types of specialties and other practices and I have been working with The Coding Institute for a number of years and find these conferences invaluable for our staff.

So, let us begin today with telephone management, telephone etiquette and telephone contact is the common form of the first time communication between you and your office patients and it is invaluable for not only making that first impression, but retaining patients.  The importance of good telephone manners cannot ever be overemphasized.  It is something that we all have to remember.  Most customers are turned away because of bothersome telephone habits that can be easily corrected.  Are you or your company guilty of some of these annoyances?  I did some research and found some statistics on the internet that show that the following are things that bother people the most, when dealing with people on the phone:  Long automated phone menus, which we will talk about a little bit.  If you have an automated attendant, I think it is wonderful.  Personally, we do and especially in the mornings I want to make sure that [...]