The veterinary receptionist provides exceptional customer service to all clients of Madison Veterinary Specialist. A person in this position can expect to perform record keeping duties, clerical duties related to animal patient care and treatment, and to provide miscellaneous support to the veterinary practice owners and staff. This position requires a practical knowledge of hospital organization and services, the basic rules and regulations governing visitors and animal patient treatment, data entry, word processing, mail service, and a practical knowledge of the standard procedures, veterinary records and terminology used in the hospital.

Requirements:

Experience Requirements: Previous veterinary reception experience is preferred. At a minimum previous pet experience is required.

Educational: Completion of 4 years of high school or equivalent is required.

Physical: Must have the strength and stamina to work on feet all day and/or remain stationary at the front desk.

Ergonomic: An employee in this position must be capable of safely working in environment with potential exposure to hazardous materials, infectious and zoonotic diseases.

Other: An employee in this position must have a sense of caring for animals; be willing and available to stay late or through breaks, when needed, to assist with emergency or critical-care patients is needed. Maintain strict confidentiality regarding clients and patients for whom the practice provides veterinary services. Ability to multi-task, prioritize and delegate while maintaining composure in stressful situations is expected.

Essential Job Functions:

General:

• Always be in position and prepared to work at the start of each scheduled shift.
• Competently speak and write the English language.
• Continuously strive to gain more information, and additional skills as pertains to the job.
• Follow OSHA standards, and other safety protocols and procedures put in place by MVS.
• Know and use standard medical and business abbreviations and terminology when speaking and writing.
• Know the range of services the practice provides and the species it treats.
• Maintain a professional appearance while at work, including clean and pressed uniforms or clothes.
• Participate in all staff meetings.
• Perform other duties as assigned
• Stay current on policies, procedures and schedule by checking your personal e-mail, reading the weekly meeting minutes and WhentoWork daily.
• Understand and be able to recognize animal behaviors (ex. Fear, aggression), know how to change approach to animal based on behavior.

Attitude and Behavior:

• Demonstrate commitment, dedication, cooperation and positive behavior
• Handle stress and pressure with poise and tact.
• Promote a positive attitude among staff. Smile and maintain a friendly demeanor while on the job.
• Show respect and compassion for clients, team members, and animals (alive or deceased) at all times.

Client Service:

• Act as a client and patient advocate to ensure the needs of our clients are met.
• Assist grieving clients and comfort them. Be familiar with the grieving process. Always be sensitive to the background chatter and conversations that could exacerbate the anxiety and grief clients are experiencing.
• Handle challenging clients with a calm and reassuring demeanor; know when to bring in member of management team.
• Maintain communication with clients waiting in lobby, continuously updating and reassuring them of status.
• Prepare and send client correspondence such as invoices, sympathy cards. Prepare miscellaneous correspondence as needed.
• Promptly (within two rings) answer the telephone according to hospital protocol and with a smile. Screen those calls that are handled by other staff members and take care of routine calls. Routine calls include those seeking information about veterinary services. Provide knowledge concerning the care and treatment of animals including questions regarding hospital services, fees, animal care and treatment in accordance with hospital policies. Appropriately direct other questions and communication to a veterinarian, technician, vet assistant, manager, or other staff members.
• Provide counseling and compassion for clients; answer their questions unless it is clear attending doctor or technician should do so.
• Welcome clients and patients to the practice and provide for their comfort while they are in the practice. This includes greeting clients, answering questions, offering beverages, offering TV remote or to change channel, etc.

Job Knowledge and Skills:

• Communicate with veterinary technicians when patients arrive. Collect weight of patient, and record it on the exam form, and in Impromed. Relay all necessary information to the doctors and technicians. If clients are waiting for more than 5 minutes to see a specialist in the lobby, check with the technician to make sure they are aware the client is waiting. Keep clients updated on any delays. If a client is more than 15 minutes late for an appointment time, call the client to find out if they are on their way or need to reschedule. Communicate any client delays to technicians and record it in Impromed.
• Learn and properly execute all morning and evenings tasks with great attention to detail. This includes the cash drawer report/deposit.
• Learn and understand how to properly utilize demand force.
• Learn and understand how to properly utilize the phone system at MVS (call transfer, paging, messages, etc).
• Schedule appointments for the clinic after obtaining all necessary data concerning the animal, owner, and RDVM. Call RDVM and request records for NEW patients, patients that are NEW to the specialist whom they are scheduled with, or patients that have not been in to for a long period of time (more than 1 year). Once records are received, attach them to the medial record in Impromed.
• Understands and can explain Care Credit financing option. Correctly and accurately enters client information.

Physical Plant Maintenance:

• Aware of potentially zoonotic diseases and how to avoid exposure.
• Clean and straighten the public areas of the practice including the front desk, reception area, bathroom, beverage station, and waiting area. Make sure no debris, dust or hair is visible in the reception/lobby area. Ensure that all trash is picked up and magazines are straight and current. Keep beverage station stocked and organized. Maintain a clean smelling lobby and properly clean any accidents an animal may have in the hospital.
• Launder soiled linens using established protocols.
• Maintain constant vigilance regarding open doorways that could allow pets to escape from their cage or facility.

Record Keeping:

• Insure all appropriate charges have been entered into patient invoice prior to checking client out.
• Enter data into the computer system as required. Retrieve and modify stored records. Assist in the updating of client/patient files as needed including name, address, telephone numbers and RDVM.
• Review the services that were rendered and inform client of the total amount due. Assure that owners meet all financial obligations at time of service. Accept payments from the client. Accurately process cash, checks, charge card payments and care credit account payments.

Reports to: Front Office Manager, Hospital Administrator, Partnering Veterinarians.

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