Office Managers - Are their jobs really that difficult?

[957737]

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I've been working for a small private practice for about a year now as a pediatric medical assistant. Our practice is opened from 8:30AM-5PM from M-F. All providers and staff arrive between 8AM-8:30AM to start the day. However, the office manager does not show up until either 9:45AM or 10:30AM each day, then leaves for lunch promptly at 12PM. She'll waltz back in at 1:45PM or 2:00PM and might stay a little past 5PM to wrap up with dropping claims. She states that her job is tough and she has "a lot to do." We have never seen her leave the back office for other than grabbing lunch and getting front desk slips.

Just to get an idea, since we are a small office with only 2-3 medical assistants, our MAs responsible for rooming, triage, paperwork, prior authorizations, ordering/billing, labs, and phone calls. It gets pretty hectic and there are moments that the doctors and assistants don't even have time to pee.

My question is, are office manager jobs really that tough or is she just being dramatic?

 

[BorderlineQueen]

You don't see what she does how can you know if it's difficult or not? Most of them have to deal with people who aren't paying and they have to supervise all the staff and make sure they are working and not misbehaving. They also have to fire people.

 

[957737]

I'm just wondering if her job is really that arduous. 3/5 staff have been with the office for 10+ years and providers have served 40+ years here. She doesn't need to babysit anyone.

Other than hiring/firing staff, dealing with delinquent accounts, and verifying claims, I'm not sure what other responsibilities office managers have? 70% of the time, front desk will contact insurance if a patient has trouble with their policy.

 

[Dr panda]

What does it have to do with pre med forum?

 

[BorderlineQueen]

I'm just wondering if her job is really that arduous. 3/5 staff have been with the office for 10+ years and providers have served 40+ years here. She doesn't need to babysit anyone.

Other than hiring/firing staff, dealing with delinquent accounts, and verifying claims, I'm not sure what other responsibilities office managers have? 70% of the time, front desk will contact insurance if a patient has trouble with their policy.

They deal with the finances of the office making sure it's making money and not in the red. Also handling delinquent accounts is much more work than policy questions.

 

[ndafife]

Just because it's not as stressful, strenuous, or time consuming as being a doctor. Doesn't mean she doesn't find it stressful, strenuous, and time consuming. Just because you may be busy or other people may be busy, doesn't mean she isn't also busy.

Life's a lot happier when you move beyond trying to convince people who genuinely feel stressed that they don't have a right to feel stressed because you have more on your plate.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

What an office manager does can vary a lot from practice to practice. Doing it right can be a very demanding and stressful job. Source, my mother has been an office manager for 40 years