Six printable pages: opening, policies, patient flow, phone scripts, closing, and the readiness review.
1 of 6 · Opening
Start the day ready.
Complete before the first patient arrives. Follow your office’s opening and security procedures.
Opening checklist
- ☐ Confirm today’s office, provider schedule, and desk, phone and break coverage.
- ☐ Know who your clinical lead is, how to reach billing, and where the urgent and after-hours procedures are kept.
- ☐ Check computers, phones and ringers, iPads, printer and payment terminal.
- ☐ Log in to EMA, Phreesia and your other systems, and set the location filters for your office.
- ☐ Review the schedule for flags or missing information, and alert the right person.
- ☐ Review assigned messages, yesterday’s no-shows and referral follow-ups.
- ☐ Make sure the reception area is clean, organized and stocked.
Today’s coverage
2 of 6 · Policies
Front desk policies
Questions and escalations
Your supervisor handles training, readiness sign-off and day-to-day operational questions. Clinical questions go to the clinical team.
Every patient is seen and leaves with a follow-up
Help every patient get scheduled, and book a follow-up before each patient leaves. Say “Let’s schedule your appointment” rather than asking whether they want one. The 2023 scheduling guide is no longer in effect.
Card on file is required
A card on file is required for every patient. Only your supervisor can approve an exception. Record the approval on the patient’s account.
No-show policy
Call 15 minutes after the appointment time and add the $100 no-show fee. Review the previous day’s no-shows daily. The fee is waived only after the patient attends the rescheduled appointment, at any AOD office.
Unverified insurance
When active insurance can’t be verified, the visit proceeds at the current self-pay rate. Once the patient provides active insurance, billing verifies it for that visit. Reimbursement is processed after AOD receives payment from the insurer.
Intake tools
AOD uses both Phreesia and EMA Kiosk. Confirm the patient’s chart and check-in status after either one.
3 of 6 · Every patient
Arrival to checkout
Checklist
- ☐ Correct patient, appointment, office and provider confirmed.
- ☐ Demographics and required fields reviewed.
- ☐ Insurance verified, or current self-pay rate applied. Card on file confirmed, or approved exception noted.
- ☐ Forms reconciled and check-in status confirmed.
- ☐ Payment history checked. Amount due collected once and confirmed.
- ☐ Clinical team told the patient has arrived, or what is still incomplete.
- ☐ AfterCare return instructions reviewed, or clarified with the nurse.
- ☐ Follow-up booked before the patient leaves (“Let’s schedule your appointment”) and details read back. Any refusal or obstacle reported to your supervisor and noted.
- ☐ Checkout saved. Any open request has an owner.
EMA check-in: Appt Flow → confirm location → Start Check In → Demographics, Insurance, Financials.
Completed Phreesia: green check under Pre → correct EMA chart → clipboard → Reconcile from CCD → select CCD → Reconcile Forms. Confirm the status updated in EMA.
EMA checkout: Appt Flow → Check Out → Financials → AfterCare → Appointment Finder → confirm type, dates, location and provider → Search → Accept → Confirm and View Appointment → Save.
When something doesn’t match: Fix a wrong chart before going further. If insurance can’t be verified, use the self-pay rate. Ask the nurse about missing return instructions, and check a payment before collecting again.
4 of 6 · Phones and messages
What to say
Phone greeting
Placing a caller on hold
Voicemail
Patient says they already paid
Every message includes
Verified patient, best callback number, office and provider, the request in the patient’s words, date and time, your initials, routing priority, the requested action, what the patient was told, and who owns it.
Clinical questions, results, medications and preparation instructions go to the clinical team. Reception does not give clinical advice.
5 of 6 · Closing
Close out and hand off.
No-shows
Call 15 minutes after the appointment time and add the $100 no-show fee. Review yesterday’s no-shows each day. The fee is waived only after the patient attends the rescheduled appointment, at any AOD office.
Every open item needs an outcome, an owner and a next step.
Closing checklist
- ☐ Review incomplete check-ins, checkouts and follow-up bookings. Report anything unresolved to your supervisor.
- ☐ Confirm every clinical concern reached the clinical team.
- ☐ Make sure each message, referral and no-show has an owner and a next step.
- ☐ Report payment or ledger mismatches to billing, and complete any assigned reconciliation.
- ☐ Update the next shift’s lead on schedule, equipment and coverage issues.
- ☐ Secure paper records and reset devices for the next day.
- ☐ Restock or request supplies using your state’s inventory sheet.
- ☐ Log out of and lock all workstations.
6 of 6 · Supervisor review
Week-three readiness review
Rate each skill from observed work: two correct examples plus one exception case. Skills marked * must be demonstrated before independent work.
| Skill | Not observed | Needs coaching | Demonstrated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity and privacy * | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Phones and coverage | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Clinical boundaries * | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Message quality | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Scheduling accuracy * | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| EMA check-in | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Forms and Phreesia | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Insurance verification * | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Payment accuracy * | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Checkout and follow-up | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Outreach follow-through | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
| Mohs and cosmetic support | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
* Critical skill. Completing the lessons does not by itself approve independent work.
☐ Ready for independent work ☐ Ready with limits ☐ More practice needed