Practice Management Alert

Question: I’m trying to advocate for my front desk team to get paid a higher wage. I think I have a pretty good snapshot of their responsibilities, but just to make sure I’m covering my bases, what labor does the front desk staff cover or manage that may not be part of their job description?

New Mexico Subscriber

Answer: The job description for a front desk staffer may list responsibilities like answering phones, greeting and registering patients, and scheduling patient appointments; but, as you say, their actual work exceeds the job description.

With front desk staff serving as the main point of engagement between patients and providers (and other clinical staff), they do a lot of the heavy lifting, in terms of patient satisfaction.

They’re part of the first impression a patient may have of an office, and they’re also a main conduit for patients expressing satisfaction or frustration. Their attention to detail and carefulness (or lack thereof) are crucial for making sure patient information is accurate and correct, from insurance cards to addresses to birthdays to phone numbers; they also collect copays, all of which directly impacts your practice’s revenue cycle.

Front desk staff is also asked a lot of questions by patients, some of which they may know the answers to, like what to expect at a first appointment with a specialist; and some, like clinical questions, where they need to know which provider to ask and in which medium to ask the provider, as well as gauge the urgency of the situation. They may need to defuse situations, bear the brunt of patient ire, or clarify misunderstandings.

They also need to navigate scheduling, knowing which concerns may be fine to be addressed by a nonphysician practitioner (NPP) or which patients/providers may need a bit of a buffer between other appointments. This kind of knowledge and skill may seem intangible or hard to quantify, but it can have major implications for both patient satisfaction and revenue.

Front desk staff may need to be investigators, too. If a patient calls asking a question about a prescription but can’t remember the name of the specific drug they’re on, then the front desk staff may be hunting down the particulars to make sure the provider has the information necessary to answer the patient’s question.

The work performed by the front desk staff supports and impacts the entire practice. If your staff is doing a good job, paying them accordingly — and lessening the risk of turnover and a need to hire, onboard, and train new employees — can be a great investment for your organization.

Rachel Dorrell, MA, MS, CPC-A, CPPM, Production Editor, AAPC