10 Ways To Support Your Front Desk Coordinators

Here are my personal top 10 ways each employer, operator and team member can make a positive impact on FD.  Remember, if your FD can work more efficiently, productively and feel happier in their roles; then that is better for everyone including your patients!

Before we begin... Today's blog could have easily been called 50 ways to support your FDCs because the front desk is often overloaded and under-resourced.  I've been pretty straight here with my opinion because I feel the dental industry is lacking in leadership, recognition and opportunities for their support team members. Let's make dentistry something to aspire to for nurses, font desk and managers. Let's create working environments where employees are satisfied and valued so that they may play pivotal roles in helping their employers realise their practice purpose and dreams. 

Are you up for the challenge?

Yes, then read on...

1. Dentists  - arrive on time and start on time. The schedule is tight, you seem to focus on gaps in the book but you arrive late and the whole day gets off on the wrong foot. Not only are you disrespecting the patient, you have added another stress to FD and your team. Let's also add not communicating when you're running late.  We all know patients get irate when they have to wait and more often they take it out on FD. Let's be fair and respectful - manage your time better, be proactive and communicate with your FD.

Ask your FD how much time and energy they spend or lose on rearranging the schedule, appeasing patients and not getting their breaks. How is your time management and if timeliness is not your priority, do you understand how your actions effect others?

2. Have an effective morning huddle. Spend 10 minutes preparing for the day ahead, ironing out problems and concerns, highlighting important information and working as a team to improve workflow and productivity. This is a prime opportunity to communicate and get everyone on the same page. Another chance to be proactive instead of reacting to each little fire that inevitably flares up. 

Ask your FD about information they would like to know and would like to tell you that would improve workflow and patient outcomes.

3. Write detailed clinical notes and have a full chart. FD needs your notes to help them communicate treatment requirements, benefits and potential concerns with patients. Reactivating lapsed recalls and incomplete treatment 100% relies on detailed notes, charting including the reasons why treatment is required, not just what. Making post-op calls and reassuring patients is easier when they have the information and anticipated issues or warnings. Don't leave without finishing your notes, train your DA to help write notes and create templates for notes to expedite the process.

Ask your FD to rate your notes. How many times do you forget to write any notes? Do you have the reason why treatment is required?

4. Create a detailed treatment plan and fee estimate. Organise treatment into stages (health, function, aethetics, options etc) and visits with appropriate timings. Ensure that each patient who requires treatment has the estimate in writing. This avoids a lot of confusion and is necessary for financial consent. 

Do you issue a fee estimate for every patient that requires treatment? Ask your FD if they have had issues with patient quotes, confusion or 'bill shock".

5. Get treatment acceptance in the consulting room/surgery. It's not FD's job to convince patients to accept treatment or sell your treatment plan. Their job is to facilitate scheduling, organise financial arrangements, support your treatment plan and offer solutions to additional concerns. Your aim must be to have the patient agreeing to treatment before they leave your room and come to the desk. If you don't have agreement, you need to find out the patient's concerns and barriers and answer questions to their satisfaction. This is how most cancellations and broken appointments happen. If the patient does not want or value the treatment or does not like or trust you, there's not much FD can say or do can help that.

Ask your FD to collect feedback from your patients who do not appoint, cancel or break appointments and do not return. Listen and learn from this feedback to make improvements in your practice overall, in particular the communication skills of the operators.

6. Give your FD autonomy to get their jobs done. First, ensure you give your FD the training, resources and time to complete tasks and perform duties well. Create a framework and guidelines and then allow them to get on with it. If you're a micromanager, have a weekly check in or ask for a report. Implement accountability measures such as a check list and written protocols and always follow up. 

Ask your FD to create a daily and weekly checklists for tasks. If you have a team of FD, allow them to develop a solid system to delegate tasks fairly.

7. Don't call them 'the girls'. Terms like 'the girls' or 'receptionist' diminish the role and the person's professional image. FD requires an air of authority, professionalism and competency as they manage the schedule, financials and service patients. Create a title such as Patient Coordinator, Front Desk Coordinator or simply call them by their name.  

Consider how you address your FDCs and other female employees. Are you lifting their profile in the eyes of your patients? Do you command respect and not reciprocate? 

8. Perform a quality handover to FD. At the end of the appointment, escort the patient to the FD and communicate next visit details. Handover care to your FDC, thank the patient for attending and leave. If there are any concerns or barriers to treatment the FDC can help to overcome, mention them. In some practices, we see patients making their own way back to the desk, the FD unaware of next visit requirements and wasting time finding out. The professional and competent image of the practice wanes. 

Do you leave the patient to find their own way to the front desk? Does the front desk have to find you to ask about next visit? Would a personal handover lift your service image and create better communication?

9. Acknowledge it's a challenging role. Being at the coal-face of the public is a tough job. This is a situation the clinical team does not encounter. They have to interact with all sorts of people - the good the bad and the ugly. The expectations of the role are high, often the blame for when things go wrong (especially #5) and micromanaged by others who do not work in the role. Appreciation and thanks at the end of the day is one small way to let them know you understand the pressures and acknowledge their efforts. 

What measures are in place to keep employees, especially females safe in and around your practice? Are you acknowledging the positive work done and thanking for efforts? How are you incentivising the role beyond the paypacket? Do you offer further education and courses, upskilling, autonomy and responsibility, opportunities as well as financial incentives? Ask your FD what they need and want.

10. Be a better leader. This is the big one. Work on this and everything else begins to fall into place. Be an excellent example to all, a good communicator, ask for feedback and act on it, handle conflict maturely, be a promoter of positivity and a morale booster, provide effective coaching and training, be trustworthy and honest, set clear goals and expectations and last of all, learn how to be a better leader.

Do you have written vision, values and culture statements for your practice that act as a framework for your team? Have you had any training in becoming a better leader? Ask your FD how you can be a better leader.

Thank you for reading to the end!

May 10-15 2021 is Front Desk Appreciation Week.

It's the perfect opportunity to sit down with your front deskers and ask the questions posed in the blog. Open up the conversation and listen to the feedback. Imagine the good that can come from it!

Would you like to discuss the concerns raised in this blog? You can schedule a consult call with Renata - send an email and we'll be in touch. Click this link