Overview of Chiropractic Office Assistant Position:
Attributes of the ideal person for this position
1. Outgoing Personality
2. Good Communicator
3. Proficient in English
4. Professional Conduct
5. Good with numbers/math skills
6. Computer Skills/Knowledge
7. Quick Learner, quick to pick up new skills
8. Extremely dependable
9. Project a healthy image
10. Strong personal interest in natural health, healthy habits
11. Compassionate with desire to help people live a better life
12. Leave personal life at home
13. Organizational Skills
14. Good at remembering Patients Names
15. Looking for a career, not a job
16. Positive Attitude
Level 1 – General Office Duties
The general office duties are the basics of the job. These are the basic daily routines, tasks that can be learned fairly easily in a short period of time. The skills which involve patient interaction are typically skills that are learned over a longer period of time as you become more familiar with every patient and develop a “finesse” with how to persuade and motivate patients. The better one becomes at developing excellent persuasive skills, the easier the entire job tends to become. In terms of importance and emphasis, 20% of the general office duties are the basic daily routines, and 80% of the skills to be emphasized are the patient communication skills. The basic skill level is indicative of a basic level of pay.
The COA is usually the first person to arrive at the start of the day to prepare the office for the arrival of patients. This will involve:
1. Opening/Closing Office Procedures:
a. Taking out sandwich board
b. Turning on music
c. Unforwarding phone lines
d. Returning calls
e. Making sure rooms are clean and office is clean
f. Reminder Calls and confirmation calls for appointments
g. General accounting – balancing cash register
2. General Office Procedures
a. Greeting each patient
b. Filing of charts
c. Retrieval of patient information
d. Transcription of notes
e. General Cleaning of office
f. Inventory and maintenance of office supplies
g. Completing tasks from Dr. Gertz
h. Becoming a Master of the Office Software
i. Spot check office cleanliness – rooms, bathrooms, staff room, weekly cleaning
j. Maintain patient files and filing system
k. Typing reports
l. Developing X-Rays
m. Monitor and Return Emails
n. Water Plants
o. Photocopying
3. Billing and Collections
a. MSP, ICBC, Workers Comp billings – management of billing, ensuring we are getting paid, and correct billing procedures are being followed via electronic billing methods/software
b. Private Insurance billing procedures and accounting
c. Cash (and Credit) billing practices
d. Patient Financial Plans
e. Accounts Receivables – collections
f. Liaison with Lawyers office regarding Personal Injury files and accounting
g. Computer back up
4. Patient Interactions
To ensure the office is running as smoothly and efficiently as possible as to maximize the doctor’s time and ensure the efficient flow of the office so that we can see as many patients as possible.
a. Collection of money from patients
b. Booking all future appointments – rescheduling patients, printing receipts and statements
c. Ensuring all patients are scheduled for their next visit before they leave
d. Taking care of kids while parent is in treatment room
e. Answering questions about fees, chiro and massage care
f. Creating a pleasant positive and welcoming environment for patients
g. Returning all calls promptly
5. General Marketing and Practice Procedures
a. Maintenance of weekly practice statistics
b. Keeping track of Referral sources
c. Regular existing marketing procedures are being followed such as mail outs, birthday cards
Level 2 Patient Management
This skill set requires a detailed understanding of health, and how chiropractic care fits into their overall health plan in order to facilitate the conversion of pain-based patients to regular maintenance patients, dealing with objections that patients may have to scheduling, converting patients to a fee arrangement based on wellness. The more confident a person is, without a doubt, the more effective they will be. Achievement of this level of skill is indicative of a higher level of pay.
1. Recalls – calling patients that haven’t been in awhile, leads, scheduling regular appointments through use of the patient management software (Safety Net)
2. Referrals – encouraging our regular patients to refer
3. Internal marketing systems – to tap into our existing patient base and their contacts to encourage referrals, liaison with web designer to make changes, online marketing, Facebook
4. External marketing – to develop regular, recurring effective marketing ideas to generate new patients
5. Help to design, implement new marketing projects,
6. Assist at Marketing events
7. Assist in Wellness counselling – nutrition and supplements, lifestyle modification
8. Assist in ReelChiropractic.com and YaletownOrthotics.com promotion
9. Attending weekend or weekday seminars regarding growth of skills, improving patient skills, marketing ideas, chiropractic knowledge