Medical Receptionist

RECEPTIONIST

Hometown Clinic, LLC

2725 NE Loop 286

Paris, TX 75462

Mon-Thurs - 8am to 5pm

Friday - 8am to Noon

Responsibilities:

The receptionist will be responsible for answering all phones, scheduling appointments, distributing mail, and receiving patients.

Procedure:

1.0 SCHEDULING APPOINTMENTS

1.1 The length of time scheduled for an office visit will vary depending on the nature of the visit. Visits that require more of the doctors time, such as physicals, must be allotted an hour of time in order to keep appointments from overlapping. Generally, physicals should not be scheduled back to back due to the amount of time required. A physical, unless scheduled as the first appointment of the day, should be preceded by a less complex office visit, allotted a half hour of time, and also followed by such a visit, unless it is the last appointment of the day. This will help move the volume of patients seen at a faster rate and help give the doctor a break between the more extensive visits.

1.2 All appointments should be kept in the EMR to facilitate the scheduling process. There should be a block of time set aside every day when no appointments may be scheduled for one hour in order to allow the office time to have lunch and give the doctor time to read over new mail and return patient calls.

1.3 Once all of the appointments have been filled for a day, no additional appointments should be scheduled without the permission of the doctor.

1.4 There will be two occasions that will call for the scheduling of appointments. These are listed as follows:

· When a patient is leaving after an examination and needs to schedule a recheck appointment.

· When a patient calls and requests an appointment as soon as possible because they feel ill.

1.5 Scheduling appointments upon a patient’s departure is generally easy because they are requesting an appointment in later weeks, where the availability of appointments is greater. Generally, rechecks should be allotted a half hour time slot, unless the doctor directs otherwise.

1.6 When a patient calls and requests to see the doctor as soon as possible there is important information that must be ascertained from the caller.

· The first question to ask the caller is whether they have been to the office before. If they are an established patient, all of their information should be on the computer system and the patient should be familiar with all of the policies of the office.

· The appointment book must then be checked for availability. If there is a free block of time available that day, the patient may be seen. Note the patient’s full name and daytime phone number in the available slot in the appointment book. If there is not an appointment available that day, but is within the next few days, and the patient agrees to this time, they will be scheduled. But if the patient feels that they need to see the doctor immediately, they must be told that the doctor is currently seeing patients, but will be consulted and then their call will be returned with a response. Any patients requesting to be seen on a day that is already full with appointments must be approved of by the doctor.

· If the patient has never been to the office before, they must be asked what kind of insurance they participate with. If they have an insurance plan that the office participates with then the patient can proceed and schedule an appointment according to the nature of their call.

· If the patient does not have insurance or has an insurance policy that the office does not participate with, explain to them that full payment for services are expected at the time of the visit. If the patient finds this policy to be acceptable, they may then proceed and schedule an appointment appropriate to the nature of their call.

2.0 PATIENT ARRIVAL

2.1 Once the patient arrives and announces their arrival to the receptionist, they will be instructed to sign in and wait in the designated waiting room until it is time for them to be placed in an examining room. It is during this time that any new patients shall fill out all the necessary paperwork.

2.2 The patient waiting area should be kept clean and comfortable for it is the first visual impression that the patient will receive about the office. It should be equipped with either a water fountain or water cooler and should contain items to keep the patient entertained while they are waiting, such as magazines and newspapers, as well as brochures and pamphlets containing patient information.

2.3 Scheduling policies should be followed as closely as possible in order to keep waiting times down to a minimum. If there should, however, be a delay of any significant amount of time, it should be explained to the patients waiting that the office is running behind schedule and that the office apologizes and regrets any inconveniences that the delay may have caused.

2.4 A sign should be posted well in view to all patients in the waiting area stating the billing policies of the office.

2.5 Restrooms should also be made readily available to the patients.

3.0 INCOMING CALLS

3.1 Throughout the day the office will receive numerous calls from patients, doctors, pharmacies, etc. In order to keep the office running efficiently, there is important protocol to follow.

3.2 Most calls received will pertain to current patients. It is necessary to ascertain the name of the patient so that the patient’s chart may be pulled. Any decisions regarding the patient must be documented on the chart. Having the chart available for the doctor to consult will save time.

3.3 Once the patient’s name has been obtained, the full reason for the call must then be determined. Once all of this information has been received, the receptionist will then inform the caller that the doctor is currently occupied seeing other patients, but will return their call at a pre-set designated time.

3.4 It is important to be sure to obtain as much pertinent information as possible. The doctor will only have a certain amount of time to return calls during the day. After questioning the patient on the reason for the call, it may be determined that the doctor need not call back the patient themselves, but can instead give instructions for the receptionist to return the call. Because of the busy nature of the office, it would be impossible for the doctor to speak with every caller. Finding out all of the information is an important and integral step to saving time.

3.5 An exception to this rule occurs when the doctor receives a phone call from another doctor. Often doctors will extend professional courtesy to each other and agree to be disturbed during patient examination to take the call. If this should occur, it is important to remember to knock on the examination room door before opening the door. The doctor may be in the middle of an examination and it would be inappropriate to open the door at such a time.

4.0 INCOMING MAIL

4.1 The office will deal with a high volume of mail every day. There are several steps to follow to keep the office operating efficiently.

4.2 The receptionist will open the mail. When any reports are received, such as lab work and x-ray the report will then be placed on the doctor’s desk to be reviewed at a designated time during the day.

4.3 As the doctor reviews the reports, it will be decided whether or not the results warrant a call from the doctor. The doctor will also initial the report, indicating that it has been reviewed and any patient contact will be documented as well. Once the report has been addressed by either the doctor or the nurse, it will be given to the receptionist and scanned into the correct EHR.

5.0 OFFICE HOURS

5.1 The office will open Monday through Friday at 8:00 a.m. and close at 5:00 p.m. Lunch time is designated to be between 12:00 and 1:00. When the office is closed, the answering service will be turned on.

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $11.00 per hour

Expected hours: 36 per week

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Healthcare setting:

• Clinic

Medical specialties:

• Primary Care

Schedule:

• Day shift
• Monday to Friday

Experience:

• Customer service: 1 year (Preferred)
• Medical terminology: 1 year (Preferred)
• Computer skills: 1 year (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

• Paris, TX 75462 (Required)

Work Location: In person

Salary : $11