Administrative Assistants and Quality of Care

[IrisSong]

Hi All,

I wasn't sure which forum this particular thread would be best suited for, so I am trying my luck here .

I've both witnessed and experienced, unfortunately, rude behavior on the part of receptionists and other administrative medical staff in various health care settings. Some receptionists insinuate every patient has a sense of entitlement or are "just out to file medical law suits". Many are uncaring and unhelpful towards patients. Personally, I've worked in offices, where this was seemingly ok behavior; My stance on the issue is that it is a problem that needs to be more clearly addressed.

I'm curious to hear about bad experiences you (or others you have known) have had when contacting a a clinic, in regards to appointments or getting questions answered, getting prescriptions order, getting referrals or anything else in general. I've heard some bad stories and I think more awareness is necessary. Please share your story, what you think causes the problem and how the problem could be addressed.

For instance, I perceive that receptionists tend to have very low opinions of patients and are less enticed to be hospitable. A remedy for this may include awareness of the impact of their behavior and better training in how to intake patients.

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[SDNMPH]

I would not say administrative staff have low opinion of patients, because we understand that patients may be going through very difficult situations. I believe there are many reasons why administrative staff develop a rude behavior.

I have worked as an administrative assistant for a few years now and I can say that many administrative medical staff do have a tainted view on patients due to somewhat rude, and yes, entitled patients. I try my best to give the best care and respect to patients, but it does get very disheartening when patients have little respect for administrative staff and may forget that we have many other tasks, duties, and many other patients to assist. This does cause a downward spiral and many administrative staff become very resentful and treat the next patient poorly. I like to believe that I try my best to treat patients with the utmost respect and professionalism, but it does get hard when patients treat you poorly time and time again.

Another issue may be that there is very little training on hospitality as you mentioned as well as monitoring on how hospital staff treat patients. I believe more hospitality training and awareness that mimics that of the service industry (restaurant, hotels, etc.) would be a good model to build and base patient care training.

Finally, the sad but honest truth: overworked and underpaid. Unfortunately, people do not want to go above and beyond when they feel they are getting underpaid. Add that to demanding patients and repetitive tasks and you'll get a very unhappy person you're dealing with.

Just my thoughts i thought i'd share

 

[IrisSong]

Thank you sharing! I think your thoughts/suggestions are worthwhile. I like that you mention/describe it as a "downward spiral". I will have to ponder that issue further. Perhaps, more support for admin staff is necessary!

Personally, I've worked off and on in as an administrative assistant in a medical office, although, the time periods were short term (summers). Its hard because I actually wanted to help every single person, but it is difficult when you have 3-4 phones ringing, patients coming, paperwork to handle etc. I noticed that some patients seemed to act poorly right off the bat because they expect/have experienced poor treatment prior and/or have not had their needs met when they have contacted the office before hand. Unfortunately, it is not my opinion that the health care system is set up to meet the needs of patients. I also feel hospitality training similar to that in service industries could introduce a new way of thinking in health care. The entire system is very much reimbursement driven......and there is never not a supply of people.......so many aspects of health care go by the way side.