Jun 26, 2024
Apr 15, 2025
Written By Elizabeth Cifers
We’ve previously written about creating efficiencies in patient flow and the revenue cycle at a retina practice, but we’ve yet to focus on the front desk. Given its significance for overall practice efficiency, it deserves a separate article.
The front desk is a significant site for potential inefficiencies at any practice. It’s the starting point for every patient interaction, setting the encounter's pace (and tone). If your front desk is slow or has a habit of running behind schedule, your practice flow will also suffer. Front desk inefficiencies can result in stressed staff, frustrated patients, and fewer appointments—meaning less revenue at the end of the day.
Below are a few ways to optimize your retina practice front desk efficiency.
Front desk staff have the unique opportunity to help maximize overall practice efficiency by being as prepared as possible for the day ahead. If you use fee slips (runner tags or whatever your retina practice calls the piece of paper following the patient), the front desk can prepare them as far in advance as the week before and update them the day before. On the day of, staff should arrive on time, allowing them time to open the office, turn on lights, make coffee for the patients, if offered, etc. Rushing in at the last minute is usually not how to start the day. Assigning an “early person” and a “late person” can also help.
When patients arrive, check-in is more streamlined if they have completed any registration paperwork and submitted their ID and insurance card(s) in advance. Although this isn’t always possible, think about the time and resources it takes for staff to collect information from the patient at the appointment. Manage the efficiency and productivity at your retina practice—seconds add up to minutes, and minutes add up to hours—as much as possible. Where feasible, keep registration online and give patients “homework” to do.
Although we are human, errors are an unfortunate strike against practice efficiency. Depending on the type of error, there can be a snowball effect, causing considerable inefficiencies. Garbage in, garbage out. Fortunately, mistakes can be remedied with proper training, re-training, and best practices. If errors are commonplace at your retina practice, investigate whether additional training or coaching staff members to double-check their work is necessary.
One of the best key performance indicators (KPIs) for front desk efficiency is Patients Checked-In Per Hour. This is calculated by taking the number of patients seen in a given period and dividing it by the number of front desk hours worked:
Patients Checked-In Per Hour = Patients Seen / Front Desk Hours Worked
You can use the KPI for the front desk as a department or by individual front desk employees. Track the data month-over-month and year-over-year. Reviewing at the employee level can provide information about who is checking in more or fewer patients, which may correlate to the number of errors. Consider reviewing the KPI daily. Always investigate for any inefficiencies contributing to poor productivity or mistakes.
Few things are more detrimental to practice efficiency than lagging software and hardware. Even if your front desk team is on their A-game, old or broken systems can throw your day off track. All electronic systems should make you more, not less, efficient. Don’t fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy—continuing to use a laggy system due to a past financial or time investment. You’ll save more money if you ditch a faulty system in the long run.
Multiple factors affect efficiency at any practice, but the front desk is a strong contender if you’re looking for an excellent place to begin improving your retina operations. You can help make everyone’s day better by ensuring your practice runs smoothly, starting with the first patient interactions. The result will not only be happier staff, but healthier profit.
Retina practice efficiency guru Elizabeth Cifers thrives on helping streamline clinical operations and the revenue cycle. If you could use a hand to become more efficient and maximize revenue, she’s here for you. With decades in the medical industry and 13 years at a retina clinic, Elizabeth has the specific and extensive experience you need to transform your practice. Book a free consultation here.
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