{"id":7446,"date":"2026-01-08T06:12:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T12:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/?p=7446"},"modified":"2026-02-09T10:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T16:20:08","slug":"front-desk-and-insurance-departments-hook-up-for-start-of-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/front-desk-and-insurance-departments-hook-up-for-start-of-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask Lisa: Front Desk and Insurance Departments Hook Up for Start of New Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"balance<\/p>\n

Balance Between Aesthetics and Your Bottom Line<\/em><\/p>\n

Greetings!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m condominium and cat sitting from December into January and am looking out of a window of natural beauty.\u00a0If you are familiar with the Kettle Moraine areas of Wisconsin, affectionately referred to as \u201cThe Kettles\u201d, you\u2019ll deeply appreciate the beauty balanced with serene livability.\u00a0The Condo complexes are built on a solid but interesting foundation of intertwining drumlins and kames of deposit sediment from glacial melts, making it challenging to keep your footing if you hike these.<\/p>\n

Which brings me to you, and the balance between the sometimes hilly, lose-your-footing areas of your office and the beauty of it when you help a patient return to their own footing. And such is the time for your Front Desk and Insurance Department roles to intertwine at the start of the New Year!<\/p>\n

Here is a simple New Year Checklist for your front office and your insurance departments to maintain balance of beauty and your bottom line:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0Obtain all patient\u2019s insurance cards and make a copy for scanning into your practice management software.\u00a0This is also the time to verify patient’s current address, cell phone number, and email address. Both areas of your office \u2013 front desk and insurance, need this information, and need it to be current.\u00a0Maintain a pleasant, aesthetic reception area that is welcoming for patients and creates an amicable environment for patients, who will now be more likely to be kinder in providing you their personal insurance information.\u00a0I know the difficulty this request can pose.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0Team up to discuss and decide who will be holding patient financial consultations post-insurance verifications on new patients or change of insurances.\u00a0Remember these need to be done at the very minimum, in a semi-private, to fully-private area.\u00a0Will it be the front desk?\u00a0Will it be an insurance staff?\u00a0CT?\u00a0Will it be you, the doctor, conducting these in the treatment area?\u00a0We\u2019ve seen it done all four ways and sometimes combined.\u00a0Whatever works best, with the framework of respecting and staying compliant with the patient\u2019s privacy and finances.\u00a0\u00a0What have you done regarding communicating benefits to patients up until now?\u00a0Has it worked?\u00a0If so, keep doing it.\u00a0If not, how can you tweak this process to make it better for you and the patient?\u00a0See last month\u2019s article* on process improvement while not necessarily focusing on efficiency improvement.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0Working and following up on Patient Receivables.\u00a0As with financial consultations, it needs to be done.\u00a0Your prep work is to decide who will do the patient receivables follow-up: front desk, insurance, a combination?\u00a0Consider updating your office policies to almost always collect at time of service to prevent the need for future follow-up on aged receivables.\u00a0\u00a0Insurance follow-ups are best done by your insurance department.\u00a0Consider sourcing out your insurance billing to someone who will do the insurance follow ups for you if you do not have internal insurance staff.\u00a0\u00a0And\u2026<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0Make it a great, serene start to 2026!<\/p>\n

And I have more great news for you!\u00a0Our newly updated Welcome to Wellness* program is ready for purchase. As a special bonus this version includes:<\/p>\n