The medical receptionist is often the face of the department. When patients enter the facility, the receptionist is the first person they are going to deal with so it is important that the medical receptionist be kind, friendly and helpful. You must make the patient feel at ease and help them get to the right place while still acquiring all the necessary information. Often the medical receptionist is also responsible for taking payments as well, so it is a balance of being friendly and firm in order to ensure prompt payment.
Medical Receptionist Duties
There are a variety of medical receptionists from those at the front desk of clinic to those at the front desk of various hospital departments. With the exception of the Emergency Department, the medical receptionist is responsible for the scheduling of the office. This means handling any walk-ins as well as taking and keeping track of all appointments. If it is necessary, the medical receptionist will interface with the insurance company for pre-approval on certain procedures to ensure proper payment and fulfillment of office duties.
The medical receptionist must obtain all pertinent information from the patient as well as secure copies of the person’s identification and insurance cards. The medical receptionist is responsible for acquiring all the necessary consent forms and posting when the patient is ready for the doctor or the nurse. Often the medical receptionist will have to work with various departments to make sure the patient is properly scheduled for procedures and follow-up visits. They might even need to call down billing for a consultation to work out payment arrangements when necessary.
Education
As a secretarial position, medical receptionists are typically only required to have a high school diploma or the equivalent. In order to progress in the job, you might need to go back and obtain other licensures or higher education. Some hospitals prefer people who have an associates degree as well as some first aid training or a class in medical terminology. This tends to make things run more smoothly for the entire department.
Salary
The wage of a medical receptionist is typically hourly and slightly above minimum wage. There are incentives for working odd hours which might get the receptionist an extra financial incentive. Most hospitals need to staff through holidays allowing the medical receptionist to earn time and a half for the holidays as well as bank more paid vacation time since holiday hours and paid vacation hours are all lumped together.
Skills
You need to have excellent people skills and patience to be a medical receptionist. You should be able to solve problems quickly and help patients feel secure in the medical environment. You must be able to work with computers to enter all the patient information and cross-reference any notes that are necessary. Typical filing and phone duties are also required. You must follow all state and federal guidelines when it comes to patient privacy and work hard to keep the provided information in designated areas that cannot be seen by other patients.
