The most effective Practice Managers should be able to view their practices from a professional point of view as well as through the eyes of a patient.  How would we feel about a receptionist who didn’t make eye contact with us when we signed in?  Would we feel welcome if it appeared that we interrupted social time amongst the employees with our arrival?  We would be wise to utilize our experiences as patients to make us better practice managers.

I worked at a Chiropractic Clinic where we offered a full range of service options including “attended and unattended” therapies.  The doctor would see the patient first and do the spinal adjustment and then the patients would be sent to the therapy department to receive the therapies ordered by the doctor.  Therapies included interferential current (electromuscular stimulation) using a high powered piece of equipment and is designed to tire out the muscle by causing it to contract multiple times in rapid succession.  This would help reduce the patients muscle spasms.  Usually followed by that therapy many patients would receive myofascial release which is a deep, trigger point massage therapy.  Our practice specialized in treating patients who had been involved in motor vehicle accidents.  Due to the high volume of patients getting hands on treatment we encountered the following issue: