Improve your physical therapy office’s front desk operations with tips from the experts.
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Many facets contribute to a successful, efficient, and profitable PT office, with the front desk staff and operations being one of the most significant.
If your physical therapy front desk could use some fine-tuning, this post highlights ways to streamline those operations and help your staff become more effective employees by removing some of the minutiae they deal with each week.
Your practice's efficiency and patient satisfaction can drastically improve, which is a great sign for any business!
For some offices, a few tweaks to the front desk operations is all it takes to create a well-oiled machine. Explore the tips in this section to pinpoint your organization's pain points and what you can do to help.
Technology plays a significant role in nearly every healthcare organization today, and your physical therapy front desk can benefit from it in many ways. Online patient portals that integrate with your website make communication a breeze and alleviate the need for your staff to be on the phone with clients constantly. Here's an example of the various functionalities that PT office technology can offer your practice's front desk:
MWTherapy is a leading solution for PT practices, offering robust, secure, and efficient system features that will allow your practice to help more clients without adding too much to your staff's plate.
The beauty of technology and the internet lies in its convenience for many industries, businesses, and their clientele. For physical therapy front desk operations (and healthcare in general), technology has offered self-service functionality to empower patients to complete specific tasks independently.
In order to save your front desk staff a lot of time and energy, provide patients with self-service options on your physical therapy website that they can utilize whenever it is convenient for them. Self-service support options can include:
Offering self-service physical options for every patient will reduce the number of tasks your front desk staff has to manage on their own. When patients can schedule appointments, pay their bills, and check in online, your staff can focus on other tasks, like working with insurance and other profitable tasks.
Boost staff productivity and keep your front desk team feeling engaged and appreciated by creating solid front desk workflows that they can easily follow.
From the various ways to contact and interact with insurance, using the phone in specific scenarios, and properly communicating with patients to improve retention, the front desk receptionists will feel they are appropriately utilized if they are fully informed on their job duties, expectations, and tasks.
Running a physical therapy front desk is no easy feat, and the learning curve can be steep! That's why it's essential to hire staff already well-experienced in the PT field or properly train incoming team members so they know what's expected of them.
Team training can be fun, engaging, and great for camaraderie in the office while helping every front desk member feel well-equipped to run this side of the business. In any position, training can occur outside the office and during work; just make sure your front desk staff feels supported.
Read our article on: Implementing a Team Approach to Patient Care
Asking for feedback can be a powerful way to improve your physical therapy front desk in a few ways.
For one, it reassures your clients that you care about their experience in the clinic and how you can provide better service to every patient. Secondly, it allows every piece of the operation to be examined from a different perspective, which can often make all the difference.
Whether the PTs themselves can close the gap or the front desk coordinator needs to make adjustments as needed, patient feedback can be a simple way to improve the smooth flow of your physical therapy office.
Feedback is critical on both sides of any physical therapy front desk. While the patient experience matters, so does the staff experience. Try sending surveys or polls every quarter that allow your staff to state their opinion and share feedback on the technology, systems, and operations that work well and those that don't.
Encourage an open conversation with your staff about the challenges they face when working with clients, partners, and insurance companies, and create a dialogue on how things could improve. Often, employees want to speak openly about their experiences, so be sure to make them feel heard and understood.
Coordinate with your staff to develop an office manual outlining every piece of your organization and the policies, guidelines, and rules every staff member must abide by.
A procedure book or office manual makes it easy for any staff member to clarify a question or confirm a policy by quickly accessing the manual rather than guessing. This will eliminate potential errors your front desk team could make and ensures your organization is compliant.
There's no better time to streamline and improve your front desk operations.
With a resource like MWTherapy in your corner, there's truly nothing your organization can't handle. Our physical therapy practice management software helps you improve all aspects of your practice's operations. From online scheduling and virtual check-in to bill pay and appointment reminders, you can focus on patient care and, rest assured, knowing your front desk is in good hands. Book a demo today.
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