Medical Office Manager

By Lynne Curry Question: One of my coworkers shares deeply personal details about her life in meetings. Divorce updates, medical procedures, and how she’s navigating all of it. She’s always so excited to tell us and expects the rest of us to be interested and happy for her. At first, I tried to be supportive. So did everyone else. Now…

A completely booked provider schedule can look like a successful schedule. Until the phone rings at 9:15 a.m. with a patient who needs to be seen today. Now the scheduler has to find somewhere to put that patient. Someone gets double-booked. A lunch break disappears. The patient is sent to another provider. Or staffers begin negotiating with patients already on…

Getting a prior authorization approval can feel like the end of a long administrative process. The payer has reviewed the request, issued an authorization number and given the office permission to proceed. Except sometimes it hasn't. An authorization can be perfectly valid and still fail to cover the service the practice actually provides. The wrong procedure code, rendering provider, facility,…

The first hour can set the pace for the entire day in a medical office. Phones start ringing, patients arrive early or late, and someone has an insurance problem. A staffer calls in sick, a provider needs something before the first appointment, and messages accumulated overnight need attention. Meanwhile, the waiting room is filling up and the schedule is already…

Someone needs to organize the staff lunch, collect money for a gift, decorate the reception area and make sure holiday greetings go out. None of those jobs sounds particularly demanding—until they all land on the same person. In a medical practice, that person may already be managing schedules, covering absences, handling patient concerns and helping the office finish the year.…