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• Do they know what to do if a surveyor comes in? Who is your designee in
your absence? A little role-playing will help with the process. I once
had an unannounced surveyor arrive before me, and the front desk
person didn't think to get the clinical director as my designee until
they called me. My director smoothed it out nicely, but it was an addi-
tional unnecessary stress.
• In case of an emergency ... What about disgruntled people, or worse?
Train the front office on how to get help when needed. Place building
security numbers on all the phones, as well as a process for alerting
others to trouble.
• Keep forms in order. The front desk handles a lot of forms. Just a few:
the operative consent, advance directive and privacy notice attesta-
tion, rights and responsibilities/grievance process attestation, care-
giver check, financial agreement, ownership disclosure attestation
and copies of insurance cards. You may want to combine your forms
into 1 or 2 documents, as long as each part is signed off or initialed.
• Re-visit the walls. Are all your licenses and notices still hanging,
reviewed, and up to date? Make sure they look presentable. They, like
your front desk staff, help make the first impression you want.
Speaking of impressions, you should have a professional dress code
policy for the front office, as well as a no-gum, no-food, hide-the-drink
rule. Establish the rules early to save uncomfortable conversations
later.
Hopefully, you have a rock star at your facility in the post. Have them
help you review your front desk processes, and thank them for doing a
great job. OSM
Ms. Mattson (leslie@ascrubslife.com), the director of clinical operations at Nexus Surgical
Partners in Macon, Ga., has worked in ambulatory surgery management for 18 years. Check out
her blog, "A Scrubs Life," at ascrubslife.com.
