How Do I Improve My Front Desk?

8/6/20232 min read

Five Tips for Success

You see it in reviews all the time: “I love my doctor, but their staff is awful.” “The front desk did not tell me they don’t take my insurance and I got a huge bill.” “I think they forgot to check me in.”

Then you’ll start to see drops in revenue. Claims will be denied as having been filed past the timely filing limits or missing necessary authorizations. Patient balances will rack up. You may be wondering where these issues start.

At Triumph Medical Practice Solutions, we see the full scope of how a disorganized front desk can result in back-end hangups, frustrated staff, and ultimately, loss of revenue for the practice. If your front desk administrators do not have structures in place to set expectations for patients and build a foundation for billing, your entire practice will suffer. So how do you get started on the right foot with your front desk? Here are five tips:

  1. Streamline Your Check-In Process: Minimize wait times by sending patients paperwork in advance or through the patient portal. Get as much information as possible about your patients before they are seen. Dedicate a staff member to run eligibility and benefits each day for the next day’s scheduled patients, and get new copies of insurance cards annually.

  2. Training on Insurance and Billing: While it is not necessary that a front desk administrator knows all the complex ins and outs of higher-end billing processes, it is important that they understand basic billing procedures and be able to assist patients in understanding their insurance coverage. Such cross-training between departments is useful to ensure smooth workflows.

  3. Conflict Resolution: Train your staff in formal conflict resolution techniques. Dissatisfied patients will always be a front desk challenge, but putting policies and procedures in place to deescalate and engage with these patients will help ensure swift resolutions and help your staff feel supported even in the most challenging parts of their role.

  4. Performance Evaluations: Conduct routine, regular performance evaluations for front desk staff to identify areas of improvement and recognize exemplary performance. Keep your metrics objective and measurable.

  5. Feedback Collection: Encourage patients to provide feedback on their experience with the front desk. Use surveys or suggestion boxes to gather valuable insights for continuous improvement, and assign managers to contact unhappy patients directly to deescalate. If patients feel heard within the practice, they are less likely to make their complaints public.

At Triumph Medical Practice Solutions, we train office personnel starting at the management level to streamline and improve the flow of the revenue cycle, starting with scheduling and patient coordination. We help tailor policies and procedures to structure these workflows and provide your enthusiastic staff members with the tools they need to ensure patient, provider, and revenue success in your practice.

Call us today to set up a consultation! 214-305-8805