How Medical Secretaries Can Double Your Clinic’s Efficiency in the UK

A medical secretary carries out all the tasks to ensure the smooth running of the clinic or healthcare centre. Medical Secretarial Services are required for senior physicians, and/or for the team of medical staff. The job role is defined by the healthcare centre or the physician who employs the medical secretary based on their requirement. Regardless, the overall duties include managing appointments, maintaining medical records of patients, handling patients and insurance claims.

Responsibilities of a medical secretary

The role of a medical secretary is defined by the healthcare provider based on the senior physician or the medical team that requires the service, the size of the clinic and its goals. We have detailed all the responsibilities of a medical secretary. It is applicable for both private medical secretarial services and common secretarial services in the clinic.

• Scheduling appointments for consultation, check-ups, and procedures

• Answering calls and handling correspondence

• Maintaining medical records of the patients

• Completing patient intake forms, personal and medical history

• Recording patient medical information in the software

• Maintaining paperwork and files

Apart from these, there is one responsibility of a medical secretary that allows for Seamless Secretarial Support: the ability to handle patients with care. When the patients arrive at a healthcare facility alone or along with their support system, they are dealing with a variety of emotions. It could be pain, anxiety, fear, financial and personal struggle. To effectively address patient queries, direct them to the appropriate medical personnel, and coordinate and carry out procedures is a crucial task.

The secretary or receptionist of a clinic is the face that represents the healthcare centre. All correspondence begins and ends at this desk. All paperwork, payments and communication are taken care of by the team at this desk. Input of correct and complete information is crucial for the patient and the healthcare provider. Any issue can lead to financial damages and be injurious to health, depending on the severity of the fault.

Though the primary tasks of the team might seem mundane, it is essential for the medical secretary to be alert and light-headed to be able to record medical issues and handle any kind of situation with ease.

Qualities essential for a medical secretary:

• Be able to communicate clearly and effectively in local and global languages.

• Be medically sound to record correct information and ask the right questions.

• Be proficient in the software used by healthcare providers

• Medical ethics and confidentiality

• Medical office practices

Benefits of medical secretaries to clinics in the UK

1. Enhanced appointment scheduling

Scheduling patient appointments based on the availability of the consulting physician and medical team for check-ups, tests and procedures. Sending out reminders, confirming and rescheduling appointments is one of the most important tasks.

2. Efficient record keeping

Having the patient complete the intake form, provide medical history, and share information for which consultation/medical intervention is required. Recording all the information in the software systems and maintaining hard copies of the same.

3. Effective correspondence and communication

Clear, correct and timely information has to be communicated to the patient and the healthcare team. Correspondence and communication are crucial to facilitate all the activities. All communication has to be recorded for future reference and record-keeping purposes.

Maintaining files and records is an important aspect of the job role. Any professional from the team who accesses the records must be able to continue the course of treatment and appointments without any difficulty. This also helps in medical billing and insurance claims.

4. Improved patient experience

As all the administrative tasks are taken care of by the Medical Secretarial Services, the physicians and the treating medical team have more time to provide focused healthcare to the patients. When a patient is treated considering the overall factors – physical, mental and emotional, along with the medical issue, a wholesome treatment is provided. Treating the symptoms, disease, and the root cause of the issue may subside the health issue temporarily. Unless other aspects of a patient’s life are taken care of, it will not improve the quality of life and increase the chances of recurring medical issues, and less effective treatment. After all, the will to live and get better are equally important as medical treatment.

5. Tailored administrative support

Private medical secretaries provide tailored administrative support to the senior physician. Instead of working for the clinic, the secretary is dedicated to a physician. Professionals with medical knowledge, work experience and specialisation are hired as secretaries for senior physicians. This makes it easy for the physician and the patients. Also, a dedicated secretary means one channel of communication.

Final word

Medical secretaries are the face of the healthcare system. Be it a private secretary for a senior physician, or a common team of secretaries for a medical clinic – they are the face of the healthcare centre. They are a crucial part of the medical team that deals with the patients throughout their medical journey. Being a strong support system at every stage within the healthcare centre, through consultation, procedure, check-ups, payments, medical record-keeping, and insurance claims, secretaries deal with the patients in more ways than one.

The calm assurance, warm smile and moral support are what take the patients to improved levels during and after medical treatment. The receptionists and medical secretaries can increase the efficiency of the clinic, which maintains the reputation of the clinic and increases its profits. Hire a medical professional who aligns with your values and belief systems and can deliver quality patient care by staying long-term.