Progress Notes Issue 80: Are front office inefficiencies hurting your productivity?

Inefficiencies in any practice will waste time, energy and money. It leads to frustrations for patients, staff, and providers. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of inefficiencies.

In this series we'll look at several ways practice productivity can be adversely effected. To start, let's take a look at the front desk and a few potential problem areas.

In any practice, the front desk is where everything begins. It is the entry point and the exit point for your practice. The front desk is responsible for people checking in, and checking out. They answer the phones, send and receive faxes, take messages and handle money. In other words, it's the hub...everything flows through your front desk.

It's no secret that the front desk is one of the hardest positions in any practice. When something breaks down here, it affects everyone. Of course, with all that activity, there are several potential problems. Today though...let's focus on just one....the telephone.

The phone system is often the entryway into your practice. In most cases, patients will call before they actually show up physically. This is where most communication begins with patients and others calling your office. Pretty important stuff. But, I'll bet your front desk person is multitasking: working with the patient in front of them, answering three different lines, checking out a patient, getting a chart for the provider, having the pharmaceutical rep take a seat and a myriad of other activities. It's a wonder there are not more problems!

With all that activity, patients may be left on hold, or be sent to a voicemail and never heard from again. Perhaps your receptionist will mix up phone messages, or even wait until the end of the day to bring them to you...all at once of course.

While solutions can vary depending on the exact problem, size of the office and resources, here are some questions you can ask to help identify any problems and begin to take corrective action. • How many phone lines do you have? How often are they ringing and going unanswered? Who in your office is responsible for answering the phone? What is the average holding time? Can you automate some of these functions? Do you need a new phone system? You'll want to think outside the box and perhaps consider an internet phone system which will give you more options and lower your overhead.

Communication is a crucial function of what we do. It impacts the quality of care, our marketing ability, and our patient satisfaction. Poor communication will adversely affect you productivity and ultimately your bottom line. You'll want to take every opportunity to fine tune this function at your front desk and throughout the office.