How to Hire a Medical Receptionist

Why hire a medical receptionist?

An efficient medical receptionist establishes a flawless patient experience where high efficiency and physician availability can help the medical clinic. A medical receptionist is essential in:

• Scheduling appointments for patients based on physicians’ availability
• Greeting and welcoming patients on arrival and updating their insurance records in the clinic database as needed
• Managing completed patient forms, including legally necessary documents

What are the levels of medical receptionists?

Medical receptionists work in a variety of health care settings. While their specific duties can vary, a medical receptionist is responsible for ensuring office operations run smoothly. Many receptionists start off as office clerks and work toward becoming executive medical receptionists. Here are the common levels of medical receptionist positions. 

• Medical front desk clerk: A medical front desk clerk assists executive and managing medical receptionists with daily tasks, such as making copies, filing, answering phones and keeping the reception area clean and welcoming. They work in hospitals and physician and dentist offices.
  
• Medical receptionist: A general medical receptionist is responsible for greeting patients as they arrive, scheduling appointments and answering calls and taking messages for physicians and other professionals. Additional duties may include contacting patient insurance providers and maintaining office supply inventory. 
  
• Executive medical receptionist: Executive medical receptionists generally work directly with providers. They oversee office clerks and general medical receptionists, and they assist patients with scheduling both in-office and off-site appointments, such as hospital admissions and tests. Executive medical receptionists also collect payments and handle billing matters. 

Where to find medical receptionists

To find the right medical receptionist for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Post flyers in your local area. Posting flyers in areas with heavy foot traffic is a good way to recruit potential candidates who may be passing through the area. You may also consider posting flyers at local community or career colleges to recruit students who are already pursuing a medical education. 
  
• Recruit from within. If your medical office currently employs a clerk or admin assistant, consider moving them up into a medical receptionist position. One advantage of this strategy is that hiring from within ensures the candidates are already familiar with the duties and skills required for the position. 
  
• Post your job online. Try posting your job on Indeed to find and attract quality medical receptionist candidates. 

What are the levels of medical receptionists?

Medical receptionists work in a variety of health care settings. While their specific duties can vary, a medical receptionist is responsible for ensuring office operations run smoothly. Many receptionists start off as office clerks and work toward becoming executive medical receptionists. Here are the common levels of medical receptionist positions. 

• Medical front desk clerk: A medical front desk clerk assists executive and managing medical receptionists with daily tasks, such as making copies, filing, answering phones and keeping the reception area clean and welcoming. They work in hospitals and physician and dentist offices.
  
• Medical receptionist: A general medical receptionist is responsible for greeting patients as they arrive, scheduling appointments and answering calls and taking messages for physicians and other professionals. Additional duties may include contacting patient insurance providers and maintaining office supply inventory. 
  
• Executive medical receptionist: Executive medical receptionists generally work directly with providers. They oversee office clerks and general medical receptionists, and they assist patients with scheduling both in-office and off-site appointments, such as hospital admissions and tests. Executive medical receptionists also collect payments and handle billing matters. 

Writing a medical receptionist job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding quality medical receptionist candidates. A medical receptionist job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your medical receptionist job description, consider using some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on medical receptionist jobs, according to Indeed data. 

• Receptionist
• Medical receptionist
• Administrative assistant
• Medical office
• Clerical
• Front desk receptionist
• Medical
• Front desk
• Medical assistant
• Healthcare 

Interviewing medical receptionist candidates

To hire a suitable medical receptionist, take the time to vet candidates and ask detailed interview questions to understand their knowledge and skills. Medical receptionists should be asked about:

• Proficiency in managing patient appointments and physician schedules
• Past experience handling a medical clinic or hospital front desk
• How they’ve contributed to business efficiency by actively performing medical administration activities

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of medical receptionist interview questions for examples (with sample answers).