While we recognize and appreciate the vital role our front desk staff plays in the operation of our clinic throughout the year, we observe Veterinary Receptionist Week during the last full week of April to focus special attention on their work and to express our gratitude formally.
We invite you to join us this week and all year long in celebrating their many invaluable contributions to client and patient care at Brownsburg Animal Clinic.
More Than Receptionists
During Brownsburg Animal Clinic’s first 50 years of operation, the team members who worked at the front desk were called, simply, “receptionists.” While they did indeed receive clients and patients visiting the clinic, they have always done so very much more!
In 2022, to recognize and reflect the role played by our front desk staff more accurately, we created a more fitting job title: Client/Patient Service Representative—CPSR for short.
A Focus on Patients as Well as Clients
While many veterinary clinics now use the Customer Service Representative or CSR title for their front desk staffs, the more complete title we use at our clinic includes patients as well as clients.
“Our title suggests a much more accurate and complete description of the role our front desk team members play in our relationships with clients and patients,” Brownsburg Animal Clinic owner Timea Brady, DVM, said.
“Most often, they are the first team members our clients interact with when they call or visit the clinic and the last ones they see when they check out. But there’s a lot more to the job than that.
“When we made the title change, we wanted to convey that our front desk staff members are not just customer or client service reps but client and patient service reps—CPSRs—because they don’t just advocate and act as liaisons with the rest of the team for the client. They actively advocate for the best possible care for the pets—our patients—as well as for our clients.
“They have always been much more than receptionists. They are also listeners, educators, advocates, scheduling gurus, decision-makers and liaisons between clients and the rest of the team.”
The Job Description
Receiving human, canine and feline visitors to the clinic is only one of the many duties of a CPSR. Here’s a more complete list:
- Greet clients and patients on arrival at the clinic and let technicians know they have arrived
- Check out clients after appointments, prescription and food pick-ups
- Answer phones, check voicemail messages and return phone calls
- Monitor and respond to email messages to the main clinic account, mail@brownsburganimalclinic.com
- Answer and assess the urgency of clients’ questions in person, by phone and by email, conferring with technicians and veterinarians as needed to see that the patient receives timely, appropriate care
- Log clients’ questions and concerns into the medical records and bring the information to the attention of the veterinarians as needed
- Receive and log prescription refill requests and forward them for approval by the prescribing veterinarian
- Schedule appointments, dental procedures and surgeries
- Manage the clinic’s prescription diet orders to make sure the foods our patients need are always in stock
- Monitor the fax machine and send faxes as needed
- File charts and loose paperwork from the previous day
- Print appointment check-in sheets for the next day and retrieve the patients’ charts
- Keep the front lobby and reception area clean and organized
- Unlock the building in the morning and lock up at the end of the day
“All these duties are essential to client communications and clinic operations,” said Dr. Brady. “Personally, and on behalf of all our doctors, technicians and other support staff, I express deep appreciation and gratitude to our Client/Patient Service Representatives. Their role in client and patient care is critically important, and we can’t thank them enough for all they do.”
We’re All Here to Help You and Your Pet
To contact any member of the Client/Patient Service Representative team, call (317) 852-3323 or send email to mail@brownsburganimalclinic.com.