Your day may not look anything like what I’m describing below, but the point of the post is to suggest that most administrators put out fires throughout the day and juggle meetings, email, and problems. of employees and doctors and have very little time to plan. and Thinking Depending on how long you’ve been with your current group, how well-trained your staff are, and how many supervisors you have working with you, you may have a much easier day than described below—or one much easier! hard!

7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.

An employee calls you at home before 7 am to tell you that you won’t be there. Check the schedule to see how staff can be reorganized to meet all needs.

8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.

When you arrive, two employees have been waiting for you and have things to discuss with you: one wants to reschedule your vacation for the third time, and the other wants information about FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act). look at the schedule and go back to it and give the second an information packet about FMLA to review.

She checks her schedule and notices that Nurse’s Day is coming up soon and she needs to make plans to celebrate her day.

He checks his email and sees that his state listserv has some interesting information that he sends to his billing manager, asking him to look into the problem and tell him if it applies to his practice.

9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

You handle a complaint from a patient. He rounds everyone up in practice, checking that everyone has what they need and checking their weekends. On his way back to her office, a nurse mentions that the exam rooms are not cleaned as thoroughly as they should be; You make a mental note to talk to the cleaning company.

Your 9:30 am meeting is with a broker who has some quotes to share with you in anticipation of your profit year-end on June 30. His main doctor has asked that the group consider reducing benefits this year if health insurance rates go up again.

He listens to several voicemail messages that came in while he was meeting with the benefits broker. The first is your EMR project manager calling to say that you may need to change your release date; please call him. Another is a payer asking to schedule a graphics audit sometime in the next three weeks.

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

A doctor informs him that he is using the last of the Rx pads. Could she ask for more ASAP?

It’s payroll week and he spends most of the hour finishing up the payroll and checking with the four employees whose payroll record doesn’t have a bump. You submit the payroll file and move money into the payroll account, check the bank balance, and note the electronic funds transfer that has come in since you checked it on Friday.

12:00 – 13:00

You meet with a doctor who has concerns about the compensation program. Request a report showing your charges, receipts, and RVU of work by month for the last two years.

You get your mail, put the bills on your payroll file, and notice that an employee you fired is appealing your unemployment denial and there will be a hearing next week.

You call your printer and place a rush order for Rx pads.

13:00 – 14:00

You look at your calendar and remember that the accountant is coming today for her quarterly visit and you don’t have everything ready.

You realize lunch is out for today, grab a soda from the break room, grab a pack of cookies from your drawer, and check your email. You’ve been advertising on craigslist for a medical records clerk and you take a quick look at the responses you’ve received and see that there are two that seem to have a shot. You call both candidates and leave messages that you would like to talk to them about the position.

You gather the rest of the information for the accountant and clear a space on the desk where he works when he arrives.

2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

The accountant arrives and starts working, and you know you’ll need to stay close by to answer any questions they have.

You start working on the reports that the doctor has ordered.

You call your EMR project manager but get your voicemail and leave a message. You call the payer and request a list of boxes needed for the box review with a request letter detailing the type of audit.

Start reviewing the benefit broker’s report to see where you could change other benefits to allow yourself to continue with the same health insurance plan.

15:00 – 16:00

One of the medical records candidates calls back and you talk to her at length, then invite her for an interview with you in two days.

You review the staff vacation schedule to see if you can change the schedule for the employee who has changed their mind about their dates.

Go back around everyone in practice, checking that everyone has had lunch and that things are running smoothly.

When you come back from the bathroom, you have five voicemails(!), one of them is the EMR project manager calling you back.

4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Your billing manager comes to your standing weekly meeting and reviews the numbers on the board from the previous week for charges, receipts, charge-offs, and accounts sent to collection. She tells him that one of the check cartels has noticed that a payer is not honoring the payment contract. The manager wants to know what to do about it. He asks you to track the payments and identify exactly when they started to go off schedule. She calls the pay representative and requests a meeting later this week.

He gets a call from the second medical records candidate, and after talking to her on the phone, he decides not to invite her to the interview.

The employee asking about FMLA stops by and makes an appointment to speak with you tomorrow morning. She tells him that her mother is sick and that she will have to take time off work to care for her intermittently.

The cleaning crew arrives and you walk them through various exam rooms, discussing the level of cleaning that is required. She makes a mental note to contact the nurse who is monitoring the rooms and see if there is any improvement in a few days.

You check your email, smooth the surface of your desk, notice that the to-do list you started the day with has nothing crossed off. You add two more things to the list, turn off the lights and leave the office. There is always a tomorrow.