Skills That a Medical Receptionist Needs to Get a Job [entry-level, medium, senior]

A medical receptionist has an important function in the work of the entire medical facility. This profession requires a specific set of skills. Professional medical receptionist skills will ensure the person in the position can manage all the responsibilities and make the hospital run orderly. The accomplishments of a good medical receptionist reflect quality service to all the patients that need medical attention. If you know this profession is yours, craft a winning resume by purchasing a resume package through a professional resume-writing service like Skillhub. Check out the article on the necessary skills for this profession.

Medical Receptionist Duties 

A medical front office job has many duties, as all the patients in the medical facility go through this person first. This job demands time and effort to maintain the quality of the services in this field throughout the day. The main medical office receptionist duties are 

• Greeting patients and checking them in;
• Answering all the phone calls that the hospital receives;
• Assisting the medical staff in the hospital;
• Following the HIPAA regulations in their work;
• Maintaining the necessary level of supplies for optimal work of the hospital. 

Medical Receptionist Technical Skills 

The work of a front desk representative in a medical facility is a combination of human-related and technical skills. For the person managing all the tasks, skills needed for medical receptionist must include hard skills to do with computers and management software. The most important technical skills are

• Familiarity with management software;
• Working with clients' databases;
• Working with client management programs; 
• Skills in professional emailing and correspondence;
• Ability to analyze and work with information;
• Questionnaires for patients;
• Working with different payment systems.

Medical Receptionist Non-Technical Skills 

The point of every hospital revolves around helping people. That is why the front desk must represent that in its work. Hundreds of patients can go through the reception with their problems, and the receptionist is supposed to approach them with care. Non-technical skills are paramount to this task. Hence, here are the main skills for medical receptionist:  

• Interpersonal communication skills; 
• Coordination of patients and colleagues; 
• Understanding and empathy towards patients that need care;
• Management and prioritization abilities.

Skills to Stay on Top of the Professional Game 

The front desk medical receptionist must combine interpersonal skills with the knowledge of profession-related programs. People gain such knowledge in professional training and certification. However, only practice solidifies a professional. To impress the recruiters in the hospital, show the following skills:

• Communication. It is needed to approach every patient effectively. 
• Prioritizing. It is necessary to make the right choices and plan well. 
• Interpersonal skills. It is needed to interact with medical staff, colleagues, and patients. 
• Organization. The organization of the processes depends on the very front desk. 
• Computer skills. A receptionist must run the digital organization of patient management. 

Communication 

The job of the receptionist is the linking point between the patients and health services workers. It is important in medical office reception jobs to be good at receiving information without distortions and passing it to the relevant doctors. Patients usually communicate with the entire medical facility via its receptionist. It is vital for the face of the hospital to be a proficient communicator who greatly cares about the patients as well as respects the work of all the doctors on the team. 

Prioritizing

Sometimes, well-set priorities can save someone’s life. In other cases, it helps organize the work of the hospital and manage the workload on every doctor. There are a lot of decisions like that, which the receptionist has to make on a daily basis. They include defining the needed doctor, directions in the patient’s dislocation, and assigning the right professionals. The importance of the front desk work and tasks on it is the reason there are so many medical receptionist requirements. 

Interpersonal Skill 

Working in a hospital is always about people. Throughout the day, a receptionist interacts with many doctors and patients. They must approach those with understanding and relate to their problem. Only this way, the patients can receive outstanding service as hospital clients. Naturally, the receptionist is not obliged to make friends with all the patients, but caring is a must. The ability to talk to people and understand their problems as a part of their daily work is among the top medical receptionist skills. 

Organizational Skill 

The orderliness of the patients’ treatment starts at the very front desk. The medical front desk receptionist schedules and cancels appointments for doctors and manages their workload. Also, the receptionist is responsible for ensuring it is convenient for both the patient and the doctor. Finally, if the hospital is overcrowded with patients, it is also the receptionist’s job to prevent chaos and maintain a queue. The organization of the receptionist vastly impacts the organization of processes in the hospital.     

Computer Skill 

Another major duty of the receptionist is registering every patient that checks in and keeping track of events in the hospital on papers. For that reason, medical receptionist qualifications must include computer skills. These must be sufficient to work with such software as Excel and Word. The first one is necessary to maintain the patient database and contact information. The second one is pivotal for providing patients with all the papers and information they need for their treatment. 

How to Improve a Medical Receptionist Skills 

The surest way to hone professional skills is practice. If you wonder how to improve medical receptionist skills, go for a job in this field. Looking for solutions to patients’ problems and helping the doctors makes one a professional day after day. Go for a resume that will pass the ATS  system and start your job. If you need help, Skillhub professional resume writers can easily write ATS friendly resumes. Thus, the sooner you get the interview, the closer you are to professionalism. The first step is to write a professional resume.

Follow Influencers in the Field

If you are a junior professional or still studying for it, you can follow what is going on in the profession and learn more by reading people who have worked there for many years. To make your education more profound, find an interesting medical receptionist blog. Here are some to keep an eye on and enhance your ability to work. 

• Mount Sanai: a blog about the hospital with topics on innovative health research. 
• The Brigham and Women's Hospital: "HealthHub": a blog about life and updates in the said hospital.
• Boston Children's Hospital: "Thriving": insights on approaching a specific group of patients.
• Brittney Wilson, BSN - @TheNerdyNurse on Twitter: award-winning author in the medical field.
• C. Michael Gibson MD - @CMichaelGibson on Twitter: a personal blog of an MD. 
• CDC - @CDCgov on Twitter: latest updates on public health.

How to Showcase Your Skills

When you wonder how to showcase the medical receptionist skills to get the job, remember that hiring processes in many medical facilities are automated with the help of the applicant tracking systems and ATS bots. It means that one has to combine accommodation to a specific opening with definitive keywords that the resume-scanning software will find acceptable. Give a solid definition of your skills and competencies while listing your accomplishments in the resume. When your resume is passing the scanning stage, your chances of an interview grow. 

Medical Receptionist Skills in a Resume Skills Section 

When writing a resume for a medical office administrator position, keep in mind the requirements that the job has. For example, use the skills and responsibilities described in this article above. Then, to complete your medical receptionist resume, list the relevant skills necessary to follow the protocols of the profession. If the skills match the expectation, you will impress the employer. For example,

Relevant skills

• Stress resistance;
• Interpersonal skills;
• Responsibility;
• Work with managerial software;
• Impeccable planning and prioritization skills;
• Professional correspondence;  
• Compliance with HIPAA regulations. 

Medical Receptionist Skills to Put in a Resume Work Experience Section

Along with the list of skills, applicants are expected to say a few words about how they developed them and how they use them practically. This is what the work experience is for. If you do not know how to arrange that, here are some medical receptionist resume examples with work experience. 

Holy Grail Hospital, North Carolina,

2019–Nowadays

• Registering and coordinating the patients in the establishment;
• Maintaining the responsibility over the patients waiting for attention;
• Phone and mail communication with patients. 

If you need help with your resume, reach out to a resume helper on Skillhub. You can get advice and assistance with any section of your resume and get started on creating a document that will help you land the job you want.

The Bottom Line 

In this job, the medical receptionist skills must have a wide range of technical and soft skills. For you to get more interviews, you must engage the recruiter and lay all your story as a professional clear. Include your achievements, certifications, and experiences in your medical front desk resume. Yet, do not forget to make the application ATS-friendly and optimize your resume. The best way to get a job you want is to write an ATS resume; our medical resume writing service experts will get your resume done. Don’t hesitate to improve your chances right now and get professional resume assistance.