To many, juggling looks like magic, but an adept administrator can do just that – manage appointment bookings, patient information, billing, and much more. If you’re a master of juggling tasks, you can probably work in a physician’s front office.
What Do Medical Office Staff Do?
While many think of a doctor’s white coat when they think of a medical practice, an office only runs smoothly if its administrators are on the ball. Medical office staff play many essential roles on the office medical team. As an office staff person, you book appointments and manage physicians’ workflow by working to fill canceled appointment slots.
Medical office staff also manage the cash flow of an office, ensuring that patient procedures are noted and that patients get the correct bill at the correct time. Administrators also code interactions that patients have with physicians, ensuring that they use the correct diagnostic codes and keeping up to date with coding changes. If there are billing errors, office staff are responsible for tracking them down and solving those problems so that the medical practice stays financially solvent. Ideally, they also work to pinpoint the source of the error so that it does not happen again.
A good administrator works to ensure that patients’ records are up to date, since this helps with billing and with an understanding of the patients’ health conditions. When patients and others enter the office, the office staff’s job is to greet that person and check to make sure that all of the information is in order. Office administrators also handle phone calls regarding appointment bookings, changes in information, and billing.
Up to date patient information helps medical professionals as they conduct their appointments.
An office administrator’s role is a challenging one, since there is a constant inflow and outflow of people and their associated information. In a busy office environment, it’s important that staff have excellent tools to manage this daily surge of information.
One way to manage information is to have superior computer programs that help prompt office staff to ask the necessary questions, collect information, and manage complex billing codes. Practice management software can help office staff manage their workflow, and this results in better patient care. This software prompts office staff to update patient information and shows a daily schedule so it’s easy to keep track of canceled or missed appointments. When office staff are billing patients, patient information will be at their fingertips which helps ensure accuracy with coding and insurance claims.
If you’re working to streamline the workflow in your front office, consider investing in practice management software. PracticeSuite’s practice management and medical billing software products provide backup for an office administrator’s juggling routine, helping staff keep all of those balls in the air successfully. If one ball drops, it’s also easier to track the source of the error to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. If you’re considering practice management software, try out PracticeSuite’s trial version today.
