PHP Office Manager

Description

Function of the Office Manager: 

This person is the BOSS when it comes to the offices’ administrative support. The Office Manager directly supervises our Office Administrators and is ultimately responsible for maintaining office efficiency and adherence to policy and procedure. We look to this person to solve unique problems on the spot by thinking flexibly, prioritizing needs, and working with teammates when necessary. We expect this person to know when a decision can be made independently versus when it is appropriate to redirect or to include other positions if the problem is clinically or medically related. 

Job-Specific Duties and Responsibilities:

· Be a leader who praises good work, invites creative solutions and ideas, models accountability and flexibility, follows through, and keeps a pulse on direct reports’ workload and job satisfaction. 

· Lead by example. Spend some time in direct reports’ shoes, and give direct reports clear, frequent, direct feedback on performance. Recognize and praise great work and identify areas for improvement. Provide ongoing feedback along with annual performance reviews.

· It’s your job to set a tone of professionalism, inclusion, and teamwork at all times.

· Personality conflicts happen at work and we expect you to be the level-headed one to smooth them over by finding common ground and bringing focus to the team.

· Ensure HIPAA standards are being met at all sites, at all times. Ensure everyone is maintaining strict confidentiality for verbal and written communication. Provide appropriate accountability and training when HIPAA standards are not being met. 

· Determine when more training is required versus when it may be time to issue progressive disciplinary action. CYA and keep track in writing of disciplinary action taken, performance progress and achievements, as well as areas for growth for direct reports.

· Work with your supervisor to ensure that the handoff from your team to the next is working properly. 

· Work with Billing, Accounting, Quality Assurance and IT to ensure your team is meeting its key performance indicators (i.e. up-front collections, answered phone calls, scheduled appointments, referrals, etc.) and to develop solutions to problems that affect these goals.

· Calendars rule our offices, and someone must be ultimately responsible for catching scheduling conflicts and managing the office’s daily flow and calendar of events. That’s you. An accurate schedule that’s free of conflicts and supports our practices is the best indicator of what kind of job you are doing. Consistent coordination with the clinical and medical teams that we support is crucial for this to work smoothly. Master this and you will have a lot of happy campers. If this is not mastered, you will likely hear about it from everyone effected and that thorn will stay in your side until it’s resolved. 

· As a supervisor, we value your input during the hiring process. You will likely have a role in conducting first round interviews and working with the Operations Manager for ultimate selection when hires are needed.

· Overseeing the various Office Administrators includes divvying up the work amongst them in an organized fashion, holding them accountable to it, checking in regularly with them, supporting them, understanding and problem solving their barriers, and ensuring that they stay supported as they are supporting the rest of the company.

· Delegate routine tasks and verify them regularly.

· Notice where office flow can be improved, efficiencies can be implemented, or where the holes are and fix it! Remember you have teammates to do this with, but I’m sure they’d love your thought-out solutions rather than just hearing the problem. 

· You’re ultimately responsible for making the office feel welcoming, clean, and comfortable, this includes both the facilities and the staff being welcoming, clean and professional.

· While you don’t directly supervise the clinical or medical staff in your office, they work in the office you supervise. It is your responsibility to manage all situations that are not clinically related, while knowing which supervisors or directors to involve.

· We can have a full schedule, but if no one shows, it means nothing. Ensure confirmations are going out regularly to help our patients remember their appointments.

· We like to allow for vacations, but it is your job to use discretion as to what can be approved in a way that does not negatively impact the office. We expect you to use creative solutions to try approve when possible. This could mean volunteering to provide coverage, splitting up responsibilities, or possibly even contacting other offices to learn their ability to assist with coverage. 

· Our EMR is meant to simplify things for us. If you notice problems or have ideas for improvement, work with the liaison and support to improve the system.

· Ensure that referrals are being tracked. You have your team to help with this but it is your responsibility to make sure leads are tracked through the referral process and admitted or inactivated timely and assist with provider assignments if and when needed by being aware of provider availability and provider specialties or limitations.

· In order to have an efficient and effective team, you need the right number of staff. Don’t wear out the team by waiting too long to bring in support. It is your role to be in tune with what that looks like, stay on top of it, and do future planning. That will entail anticipating growth and advocating for new support before it’s needed. If we need the position now, you’re too late. If there’s still room to create efficiencies, it may be too early. 

· We pay others to do most dirty work like shredding, cleaning, pest control, etc. You’re ultimately in charge of them.

· You must work closely with the clinical leadership team and the assistant medical director when developing solutions to problems that have clinical, medical, and/or administrative implications.

· As much as they’ll try, your team won’t be able to keep all patients happy at all times. Some calls will need to be escalated to you. Hopefully you can turn things around for the patient and use that as a training opportunity for the team.

· A crucial component to our office running smoothly, is office supplies. It is your job to check our inventory and place orders early enough to allow for shipping before we run out.

· People like to work at a place where they are challenged and constantly learning new skill sets. Be in tune with how your staff would like to grow. Find options to make that happen and advocate for them. Ideally everyone has a growth plan to grow into future roles.

· Make yourself very familiar with the Crisis Intervention Policy as we work with a sensitive population and you don’t always know what to expect.

· Jump at the opportunity to take on additional tasks that will come up.

· And of course the catchall, other tasks as assigned.

· Lastly, communicate your workload and any struggles you may be having to your direct supervisor. We’d like to keep you working at a fair and reasonable workload. If it’s getting too high or stressful, say something. 

Requirements

Qualifications:

· 2 years of supervisory experience preferred

· Health care background preferred

· Associates degree required, Bachelor’s degree preferred

· Ability to train and develop future leaders

· Ability to proactively plan into the future with the knowledge you have today

· Ability to apply and model flexibility at all times

· Leads by example, team player attitude, and shares our values – integrity, flexibility, empathy, excellence

· Ability to model the highest level of customer service, both internally and externally

· Knowledge about HIPAA and ability to uphold and train to HIPAA standards

· Strong desire for team and processes to be effective, efficient, and standardized

· Familiarity with copy, scan, and fax machines and internet-based programs

· Effective, efficient googling skills

· Knowledge of the DSM and basic mental health terms will make the job more interesting and make you more successful

· Awareness, sensitivity to, and respect for cultural variation and the power of personal values and biases

· Ability to remain calm and courteous in the face of rudeness and disrespect 

· Ability to discuss personal and financial matters with providers, clients, and/or their representative 

· Wizard with Word, Excel, internet-based programs, and customized databases 

· Ability to predict the future. Not really but you have to be able to identify warning signs for when something is likely to go wrong and then generate and implement solutions.

· Ability to consider multiple perspectives and alternate explanations when problems arise

· Ability to pair problems with solutions along with alternative solutions when you don’t get your way 

· You have to be able to prioritize and get things done