Front office staff members deal with daily stress related to administrative tasks and dealing one on one with patients. Patients these days are have become careful about the healthcare services they service and want utmost satisfaction at each point of care. Some patients might even abuse your front office staff personnel by yelling and placing the blame on them. In such circumstances, your practice needs to be supportive and have proactive solutions to protect your staff from difficult patients.

Turnover Rates

Conferring to data collected by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) turnover rates for medical front office staff members are the highest as compared to other jobs in the healthcare sector. Practices should empower team members and support them which can bring about excellent patient care services, avoiding an unpleasant situation altogether at your clinic.

Strategies to Protect your Front Staff

Fortunately, there are a few approaches that management can take to protect their employees while ensuring that the patients are satisfied. Let’s look at these strategies and then leverage them to provide convenience to your team members.

Use the Power of EQ

EQ stands for Emotional Quotient and is also referred to as emotional intelligence which is the ability to deal with people using positive emotions, which can reduce stress and also improve the communication channel. In situations when an annoyed patient is at the front desk, using EQ can actually help to deescalate the stress in the situation and can help resolve issues calmly. Emotional intelligence works well when you empathize with the patient and acknowledge the fact that there was a conflict and then find a solution. EQ skills need to be practiced and for that front desk, members need to be patient and always empathize with the dissatisfied patient. This will eventually reduce the amount of stress and make way for positive outcomes. Always use an empathetic response so the patients know they are being heard and their satisfaction level is the practice’s utmost priority.

Use Powerful Technological Solutions

For maximum staff support and to streamline the daily administrative processes medical practices should implement a Practice Management (PM) Software system. Once the administrative burden is reduced front office staff members will be able to focus on the patient to keep them satisfied. The software solution should have powerful and helpful functionalities of appointment reminders and electronic signatures. A practice management software automates tedious tasks helping staff members to allocate their time to patient care.

Provide Moral Support

Your staff members and patients should know that the admin is always there to support them and help them through any situation. Below are a few ways to offer moral support at your practice setup.

  • Provide EQ training.
  • Improve and encourage communication.
  • Always support your staff members when they deal with a difficult patient.
  • Office policies need to be implemented regarding ending interactions when they go verbally abusive or out of hand.

Moving Ahead

To keep your staff members protected means that they will deliver better services for their patients. Talk to them, train them, and use an intuitive software system to streamline operational tasks that can help them pay more attention to the patient and keep patient satisfaction scores high.