Lead Your Practice Forward: Hire a Growth Oriented Medical Receptionist!
“Growth Mindset,” you’ve probably heard of the term from training sessions or motivational speakers. It’s more than just a mindset, it involves a lifestyle shift that can elevate any industry – especially the healthcare industry!
Progress does not stop with an innovative medical receptionist. As healthcare professionals, we must strive not only for job growth but also growth in various areas of our lives as well. Let’s uncover what these areas are and explore how we can grow in each one.
Hard but Not Difficult
Hard skills are the key skills that you learn while getting your degree in the medical field or during job training. These are also known as technical skills and despite the name, learning materials for these skills can easily be accessed online.
Considering their readily available nature, you may consider these as transferable skills that you can pass on to staff undergoing on-the-job training.
Constantly Evolving Medical Terminology
“Slay”, “Drip”, and “Fam” are examples of modern terms used by this generation and a perfect example of language evolving. Of course, the medical field is not exempted from changes like these.
Along with advancements in the medical practice, medical terminology also grows with it. However, unlike the terms used by the youth nowadays, the terms used in the healthcare field have an official source. SNOMED CT is one of your best sources when it comes to staying up-to-date with medical terminology.
Being updated with medical terminology will be beneficial in your career as a medical receptionist since this allows effective communication between medical staff and patients of the medical office. This also allows them to answer patient questions in a way that they can understand without being overwhelmed.
Modern Takes on Electronic Medical Records
Handling patient records and making sure that their electronic health records are updated are some of the job duties of a medical receptionist. One thing you can be assured of when it comes to software is that major updates are inevitable.
While anyone can do record-keeping about patient information, familiarization with software updates takes more effort and you might not have time to absorb them all amidst your administrative tasks.
Lucky for you, thanks to technology, in-depth and brief video tutorials are accessible nowadays aside from documentation. Familiarizing yourself with the features of the software used to manage electronic health records will lighten your workload as a medical receptionist.
Medical Billing, Coding, and Everything in Between
Being in charge of medical charts requires you to know medical coding and medical billing. Before applying for the job, you may or may not have had training regarding the topics but like everything else, it can change. Staying up to date with resources such as the ICD-10CM, practicing coding exercises, and seeking feedback from experienced billers help you ensure accuracy in processing claims.
Ever Changing Appointments
Patient scheduling has become a breeze thanks to software available but there’s more to it than just being able to schedule appointments accurately. Depending on office procedures, you can improve on the efficiency of the scheduling process by utilizing the features of the software your medical office uses.
Implementing strategies such as block scheduling or time-slot clustering will show that you are a medical receptionist who has good organizational skills and can efficiently handle changes in patient scheduling such as cancellations, rescheduling, and urgent visits.
Hip with HIPAA
Ensuring a successful career as a medical receptionist means being HIPAA-certified. Job seekers who have this certification in medical receptionist resumes, or in their cover letter will be seen as an asset in the eyes of hiring managers in healthcare facilities.
Of course, if you already have a job as a medical receptionist then one of your responsibilities would be to ensure that your knowledge and certification is updated. To ensure that the medical information of your patients complies the standards indicated in the HIPAA.
Strengthening Foundations
Knowledge about basic medical procedures in patient care is something that every medical receptionist requires to be effective in their work environment. This includes taking vitals, or preparing examination rooms for patients in the physician’s office.
While this may not be explicitly stated in the job description for a medical receptionist, potential employers will appreciate these extra skills that you have.
Picking up these skills can be done by reaching out to medical professionals in your medical office and volunteering to assist them or observe how they conduct these procedures as a way to gain experience.
Never Forget Etiquette
Handling a wave of phone calls from patients in your medical office can be draining and “service with a smile” is something that you cannot always do in a healthcare facility.
Without a doubt, your interpersonal skills and communication abilities will be challenged in this job. The best way to overcome this is by honing your communication skills with other medical receptionists.
By role-playing common patient scenarios with other medical receptionists, you can improve your interpersonal skills and how you handle incoming calls.
If other medical receptionists are not available, you can record your phone calls for self-assessment and identify areas of improvement when it comes to your communication skills and rapport with patients.
Insurance Claims Without Shame
Handling insurance verification is something that medical offices constantly deal with and is one of the medical receptionist skills that can only be enhanced by practicing it.
An approach you can take is shadowing an experienced medical receptionist whenever they handle insurance claims. Do not be afraid to ask questions especially when it comes to the different insurance plans and coverage criteria. This can be done as early as the on-the-job training phase of your career as a medical staff.
Supplies Supplies
Medical assistants assigned to outpatient clinics must be detail-oriented enough to monitor their inventory. The patient flow fluctuates more frequently and you would not want your medical office to be inadequately prepared when there is a high demand from your patients.
Taking inventory management courses online or at community colleges could teach you the necessary skills for your job as a medical receptionist. You may also opt to consult other medical receptionists should they have tips for responsible inventory management.
Familiarizing yourself with inventory management software is also another way to keep track of supplies and reorder as needed to ensure that there will not be any wait times when it comes to providing patient care.
Write Right
One of the key skills that a medical receptionist must have is the ability to transcribe medical dictations. Every physician in the medical office can have different accents, which may affect the speed and accuracy of your transcription.
Hone your medical receptionist skills in transcribing by taking workshops to learn techniques and (valid) shortcuts to help you in your career.
Laws without Loss
Coding and billing procedures are not the only things that can be updated. Staying informed regarding healthcare laws and regulations ensures compliance with all tasks as a medical receptionist.
Safety is Always a Priority
Staying safe is not limited to the operating rooms. Safety should always be observed in a medical office. Standard safety protocols should be followed and updated to ensure the well-being of patients and staff.
Soft Like the Human Touch
You may have noticed that hard skills can be enhanced through workshops, courses, and self-study. Soft skills on the other hand are not as easy to apply.
Not all medical receptionist skills can be learned from a book/workshop. Sure, there are courses and self-help books but when it comes to your career as a medical receptionist, you may find it difficult to apply your knowledge to all patients.
Honing your soft skills involves diving headfirst into the battlefield which is healthcare administration and learning from each encounter with your patients.
Face to Face Interactions
While not exactly mentioned in your job description, showing empathy to your patients is part of the other qualifications you must have if you want to survive in your career as a medical receptionist.
Listening skills and empathy go hand-in-hand. You must not only hear your patients but it is also part of your responsibilities to ease their anxieties, answer their questions, and ensure that they return to your medical office and complete their treatment.
Problems? Solved
Remember all those mathematics problems you tackled when you were studying? Even if you only have a high school diploma, you have tackled the said problems as well. Sure, you might not be able to apply everything taught but what those problems did hone is your critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
By facing challenges in your medical office with an open mind and willingness to explore various solutions, you will be an irreplaceable asset in your career. Do not be afraid to ask for input and guidance from your fellow medical receptionist when facing a complex situation. Only by asking and learning can hone this skill.
Teamwork That Works
“Teamwork makes the dream work”, this holds true for any aspect of your career. Of course, practicing teamwork is not limited to other medical receptionists in your medical office, you can also practice teamwork with your patients by helping each other stay positive and work through difficult situations together.
De-stress to Give Your Best
“Land a stable job that will not give me stress.” Everyone probably has this listed as one of their career goals. While you might not be able to control what happens in the medical office, you are in control of how you react to them and handle them.
Learning stress relief techniques, finding time to take a break, and making sure you are relaxed are healthy for you and your career. There are as many techniques for each person as there are job opportunities for your journey as a medical receptionist.
The Most Valuable Resource
Time is gold especially when you are handling medical charts, administering healthcare, and other office administration tasks. If you don’t have time to create a To-Do list every day, you can practice scheduling your tasks and setting realistic deadlines to ensure that you can accomplish them on time.
Office administration tasks can usually be saved for last since they can be delegated to people or done when other critical tasks have been finished.
Cultural Respect Begets Respect
Given the possible remote nature of a medical receptionist, you may be assigned to a medical office in a different country. By educating yourself regarding different cultures and customs, you can avoid misunderstandings due to differences in communication styles and mannerisms.
Optimism Over Pessimism
Yes, it’s extremely difficult to stay positive in a career where burnout is rampant and the workload can fluctuate any time. By focusing on strengths and successes, and reflecting on what you learned when you fail, you can prevent pessimism from taking control over your mind thus affecting your career.
What Is the Best Skill for Medical Receptionists?
After reading through how to improve on certain skills, you can’t expect to be able to list them all on your medical receptionist resume or cover letter. So what would be the ideal skill to have in your career? It’s cultivating the growth mindset in you.
With a growth mindset, whether you have a high school diploma or are a certified medical administrative assistant, you will be able to acquire the knowledge you need to enhance your patient’s healthcare experience and your efficiency in office administration tasks.
Reading Beyond A Medical Receptionist Resume
Reviewing cover letters takes time, especially with a high demand for medical receptionists. The time spent going through each resume or cover letter could have been time spent learning a new skill or method to enhance your medical office’s services.
Allow us to assist you in finding the ideal candidate for your clinic. Whether you’re just starting out or still considering launching a clinic of your own, we have a pool of medical receptionists who have been screened, trained, and are qualified to fit your needs. Book a call with us and let us introduce to you your next medical receptionist!