In many smaller practices and clinics in the medical and dental fields, the office staff has a number of roles and responsibilities. They can be the reception staff, with an emphasis on getting patient information and entering new patients into the system. They may also answer the phones, set appointments, manage patient records and even handle payments at the time of service or billing later on.
New technology in a practice or clinic is always a potentially problematic issue. However, with training in place even new methods such as medical office credit card processing can be quickly mastered.
The key is to have an organized training and to ensure that all staff that may have to take payments with credit or debit cards knows how correctly use the medical office credit card processing system. Too often one staff member that is newly trained with the devices and the system is expected to teach other staff, and this is often the cause of many problems and ongoing issues that occur.
Ask About Training
Not all companies offering medical office credit card processing services provide trainers as part of their customer service package. Other top companies can offer training in their system as well as training to help your staff to be able to work directly with patients to get full or partial payment on the day the medical service is provided.
This training is highly beneficial and can help the office staff to work directly with the patients in a supportive, friendly and accommodating way. By knowing how to talk to patients about payment options, there will be a definite increase in immediate payments for services.
Schedule a Training
Once you have selected the system you are going to use for credit and debit card processing, consider scheduling a training. Talk to the credit card processing company providing the trainers and arrange a convenient time for your staff.
If you have a larger staff, it may be possible to split the training into different training times, allowing you to maintain a full working front office while ensuring everyone obtains quality instruction from a trained facilitator.
Taking the time to have staff trained in correct procedures for credit card processing, how to maximize the use of the system, and also how to increase immediate payments from customers is a benefit to any practice. It is also a terrific experience for the staff as they get their questions answered and feel confident in going back to do their job with the new payment processing system.
