Hire Right, Stress Less: How to Find (and Keep) the Perfect Receptionist

While all aspects of an office have to run together to create a stress-free environment for you, your patients and employees, consider how important the position of receptionist is. Let's consider an office setting with a receptionist and at least one chiropractic assistant helping the doctor in the back office. The first person anyone sees when they walk into your office is the receptionist; the first person a prospective patient talks to when they call to get information about your practice is the receptionist.

Simple Do's and Don'ts

The new patient always should be greeted with a warm smile and made to feel welcome. I've seen many mistakes made in the front office that compromise the doctor's management of the patient's care – and the overall office flow – right from the beginning. Imagine walking into this office in the morning: all the lights are still out, and the receptionist is not dressed professionally or ready to greet patients. Worse yet, imagine she is putting on makeup in front of the mirror near the front door.

(Note: A poor receptionist can cause problems whether male or female, of course.)

Recruiting the Right Person for the Position

Advertising the position: First, let's consider recruiting for this important position. I think step #1 of the recruiting process is probably the easiest step of all. It's really a no-brainer to post your available position on Craigslist, Monster, Indeed or any number of other recruitment-type websites and companies.

The interview: what are you looking for? The real skill starts in that initial interview, because really, that is going to "make it or break it" in terms of how well the new person integrates into your office. All doctors are different, of course, as are all people. But you are looking for someone who can work in your office, the way you want things done, without friction.

I remember interviewing a receptionist for my first office who had just been fired from another chiropractic office. After I interviewed her, I really couldn't see any good reason why she'd been fired. She turned out to be the best receptionist I ever had.

So, consider what you need in your office. For most chiropractors, it may be a multitasking front-desk person who is well-trained, knows how to schedule appointments, pull records, make telephone calls, answer telephone calls and handle any other duties you delegate without flinching.

I believe the front-desk person needs to have an outgoing personality and at least some ability when it comes to multitasking. I always look at their past employment history, and if possible, talk to previous employers. How long did they work at their previous job? Why did they leave? These are important questions that have to be answered. Someone who works in an office for a few months and leaves without cause may do the same thing in your office. Your goal is to hire a front-desk person who is going to be there for, well, as long as the office is open.

Training considerations: Do you expect them to be fully trained or do you want to train them the way "you want things done"? I believe you need to strike a balance. You want to hire someone who has some experience, but there may be many aspects of the position for which you can train the employee to be more efficient. You also might want to consider what the person's goals are in life, which again, may help you decide how long they end up working in your office.

Wages and Benefits

Your wages and benefits have to be competitive, especially in today's economy. If the prospective employee can get a job paying $10 an hour flipping hamburgers with virtually no responsibilities, and you are paying $10 an hour in your professional office, you're not competitive. You have to make a decision based on your market.

You should be able to find out what a reasonable wage scale is based on what other doctors are paying. Talk to your colleague friends and/or colleagues at seminars and other professional events.

As far as benefits go, if you have a smaller or newer practice, you may not be able to provide a good benefits package. If so, you must emphasize making your practice a really nice place to work.

The Training Process: Take Charge or Delegate

Now that you've hired that perfect outgoing, happy, big-smile, multitasking receptionist, what do you expect from them? Let's say you hired the person because they impressed you during the interview process and appear to be a good fit for your office. But then you only spend a week or so (or much less) training them in the way you want things done.

In many professional offices, I have noted that the doctor is too busy seeing patients to get involved with employee training. Remember, it is your office; your responsibility. If you don't want to be responsible for training employees or otherwise running the practice, I suggest you hire a business manager you trust enough to invest them with the authority and responsibility of taking care of all staffing responsibilities.

Red-Flag Alert

So, you've hired the perfect person for the front desk based on your interview, and they go to work. You explain to them what you need done, and you explain it to them again and again ... and again. Now you're wondering if you made the right decision. You must decide if you have a breakdown in management and training, or a problem with your new employee.

I actually learned a long time ago that you hire the person, train them to the best of your ability, get acknowledgment from them that they understand their responsibilities and then see how well they perform. But if, within the first two weeks, they're not performing as you expected, it is time to sit down with them, review their job responsibilities in writing and get acknowledgment that they understand those responsibilities. Try to ascertain why the employee is failing to "get the job done."

At that point, it's perfectly acceptable to retrain them if necessary, help them learn the position better and then wait. If they're still not performing up to the standards you expected, the next step is to meet with them one more time, go over their responsibilities again and have them acknowledge in writing that they understand. I would give them one more week.

If It Isn't Working Out

If you talk to the person twice and get their agreement in writing that they understand what they're supposed to do, and it's still not being done, now is the time to part company. The longer you retain an employee who's not doing their job, the more misery you'll endure; and eventually you will have to fire them because they're hurting your practice.

Many doctors have trouble letting employees go, but the bottom line is that it is a business. It's your business. Your receptionist is the first-contact greeter of all new patients; the first person talked with on the telephone. If that person is not doing their job, they are hurting your practice. You need to replace them with someone who fits better.

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Dr. Davis FIedler practices in Phoenix, Ariz. A 1979 graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic, he has more than 25 publishing credit and has been active in the community, including prior service as president of the Scottsdale Elks and chaplain of the Arizona Elks State Association.