If your Check-in/Check-Out CA team is the champion of your Patient Process then your Back Office Chiropractic Assistant is the Guardian of Office Procedure.
Now, you may be thinking ‘what is the difference between your office process vs procedure’? Process refers to the chiropractic patient’s experience, meaning it is what the patient sees, hears and feel whereas your procedures are invisible to the patient.
Therefore, procedures are the under-pinning of your process. They are the background support for your process. Due to this, they are critical in making your practice processes go smoothly both on the front and back end.
Your Back Office Chiropractic Assistant Duties
The Back Office Chiropractic Assistant [BO-CA in Your Remarkable Team] Position is typically comprised of several distinct roles, which may be divided into multiple specialists. More commonly, they fall under the responsibility of one person. One very busy person that is!
The Back Office Chiropractic Assistant roles and responsibilities are typically divided into the following categories:
Office Manager Duties
- Oversees Team
- Runs Schedule, Meetings, Trainings
- General Administrative
Business Office Manager Duties
- Accounts (Agreements, Payment Plans, etc)
- Insurance (Participating or Non-participating)
- Book Keeping (Some light, most should be outsourced)
Marketing Director Duties
- Internal
- Runs Internal Marketing Calendar
- Coordinates External Initiatives
- External (Contracted)
- Collaborates with a Marketing Assistant
Again, these are all big jobs and depending on the size of your practice and your vision, these roles may be filled by several distinct specialists OR by one dynamic super power!
Frankly speaking, the listed duties above each require separate and distinct talents. Your practice will have to grow up and hire a unique individual for each spot over time.
Your goal is to recognize all of the duties your practice requires for success and then delegate appropriately.
So, let’s repeat our mantra here. When it comes to designing your team, think positions, skills, strengths and then hire your team members. I suggest that you try to be very clear and detailed around the roles and responsibilities of each team member.
Be aware of the specific skill-sets that each duty will require. At the same time be conscious of the personality types that innately excel at the required skills. Design your team to work well together and complement each other’s natural strengths and interests.
As Jim Collins’ says in his must-read-book for us ‘Chiropreneurs’: ”Good to Great”…
“We want to have the right people on our bus. And have everyone in the right seats on the bus.”
Easier Said, Then Done Isn’t It?
Let’s get a bit more specific to help you dissect this role in your practice. The Back Office Chiropractic Assistant (BO-CA) will often be extremely details oriented. They seek stability, predictability and consistency.
Now let’s get real for a second, if you are the DC that I think you are, you drive them crazy with your new ideas, exciting new initiatives and willingness to change, adapt and improvise at a moment’s notice. Sound about right?
Chiropractic Assistants Like to Control Things
They love systems and hate winging it. Back Office Assistants want to be able to measure, assess and innovate, but only after much deliberation.
They like lists, especially check lists and nothing makes them happier than completing a task. Great Back Office Assistants like to multi-task, yet open-cycles keep them up at night.
A typical BO-CA loves to dot I’s and cross T’s. In order to keep things organized, they want everything written down, filed and recorded and we basically drive them crazy!
Now that you can pinpoint the right personality fit for the fourth position in the Chiropractic Assistant roles; the Back Office Chiropractic Assistant (BO-CA), make certain you do personality tests for your new hires. They can truly help seal the deal when it comes to uncovering the truth about a potential team member.
Some candidates will talk to the talk for a great fit, but these tests are key to avoiding turnover.
Don’t miss our first three posts in this CA series:
Why The Check In Chiropractic Assistant Is The Boss of TODAY
Why Your Future Depends On Your Check-Out Chiropractic Assistant
Grow Your Practice With The Right Technical Chiropractic Assistant
