Your Medical Front Desk Can Be The
Most Influential Contributor To Your Clinic’s Success
The
Front desk in a medical sector is a term used for the reception of a medical
institution and its receptionists. They offer a versatile range of services and
are responsible for providing the best possible customer service to the
patients and their visiting families. This is the first and last area patients
visit, so it's on the front line to keep customers happy and the facility
running smoothly. From scheduling appointments to collecting payments, the medical front desk seems to do
it all. As the US healthcare industry struggles with a huge number of unpaid
medical bills, the front desk receptionists are very well trained to address
the problem and offer substantial help. They collect payments from patients and
check their insurance coverage at the time of the appointment.
Challenges that the medical
sector is facing during the recent crisis period
U.S.
hospitals and health systems have ramped up in heroic and unprecedented ways to
meet the challenges of COVID-19 but the sector is bearing the burden of an unprecedented
number of unclear medical bills and a huge number of uninsured patients. It's
not that healthcare facilities were very well funded even before the pandemic,
but the situation has gone drastically downhill lately. Hospital and healthcare
revenues have fallen sharply due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease
outbreaks have led to an increase in the number of hospital admissions and ICU
patients. But on the other hand, the number of people without insurance
increased dramatically. The pandemic has led to unprecedented job losses in the
corporate sectors and has resulted in a large number of uninsured citizens.
Hospitals and health facilities face catastrophic financial challenges due to
the sheer volume of unclaimed medical bills. These coverage losses put families
at serious financial risk and increase the number of uncompensated care in
hospitals.
In
a large number of cases, patients simply do not have the means to pay. High
deductible payment plans also played a role in default. But in some cases it
has been found that the patients simply could not understand the account statements
and have no idea what they have to pay. Sometimes patients are given limited
payment options or are not properly informed about the outstanding balance.
This is where the medical officefront desk receptionist can be a huge help. They had to be very well
trained to check whether a patient has coverage and whether the patient has a
deductible or copay. With more information and simple but clear communication
with the patients, this billing threat can be up to a certain extent mitigated. Today,
the front desk staff is trained to collect patient payments at the time of
service. That also helps to continue the revenue stream for the medical
facilities.
Other Important activities of a medical
front desk receptionist
a) Seemingly the most important activity
is to greet the patients with a beaming happy face and a friendly tone.
b) They are entrusted with the
vital responsibility of scheduling all appointments of the patients with the
doctor
c) While operating through the phone,
the receptionist listens to clients and communicates in a positive, confident and
friendly manner. Positive interaction increases the self-belief of ailing
patients.
d) Handling billing related
queries is one of the important tasks that the front desk efficiently handles.
They clear doubts from patients’ mind and ensure that there are no
communication gaps between provider and the patient.
e) Beside other activities, one
important task is to collect payments from clients that ensure the medical
facility continues to earn profit.
f) They prepare patients’
medical records ready for the doctors so that the waiting time can be reduced.
As this is a clinical activity, the front desk needs to understand the nuances
of the task and act accordingly.
As one of the leading providers of
remote medical personnel and billing services in the US, DrCatalyst ensures to first train the medical front desk personnel on patient coverage and copay
or deductible before offering their service to associated healthcare
facilities. Our virtual receptionist provided their service to healthcare
facilities of all shapes and sizes and contributed significantly to enhancing
their professional image, improving customer care, managing workload and
converting callers into loyal customers. Now the choice is all yours!
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