Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Difficult Airways - April 2015 - Subscribe to Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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1 4 0 O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | A P R I L 2 0 1 5 Manning the Fort Effectively Your front desk staff are the faces of your facility. E ver stop and wonder how important your front desk staff are to your facility? They are the gatekeepers and the traffic cops who greet not only patients but also the unannounced surveyors and the reps without appointments. They answer phone calls, collect co-pays and check your patients in with a smile. They are the face of your facility. Here's how you can help them continue to do a great job. • Cross-train. If the staff member responsible for the phones is with a patient, have another person handle the phones. Make sure the back- up person has a specific cue so no phone calls get missed and patients aren't interrupted. • Empower them to police vendors. When a vendor rep arrives at the front desk, your staff member should first verify that the sales rep is on the schedule and that you're available to meet with him. The rep should sign in and out, and complete required facility paperwork. Remind your staff not to be complacent with the "regulars," as the rules apply to all. • When placing name-bands on patients' wrists … have your front desk staff ask patients to review the information before bands are placed on their wrists. No sense using it for your "2 identifiers" checkpoint if the information isn't correct. S T A F F I N G Leslie Mattson, RN, BSHM z AMBASSADORS Your front desk staff do a lot more than greet patients.

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