What Does A Practice Manager Do?

A practice manager is one of the most critical and highly valued members of the team in any practice. Whether that’s a general practitioner’s office, a medical clinic, a department of a hospital or another healthcare institution, they are the glue that keeps the whole operation together.

This article is here to serve as your guide to learning what it is exactly a practice manager does on a daily basis, what skills are needed to excel, industry insights and how you can get qualified.

What is a Practice Manager?

A practice manager oversees all aspects of the medical or health office and is an extremely important component of its successful running. They are responsible for organising and controlling the functions and resources of professional practices, such as administrative systems and practice personnel.

What are the Duties of a Practice Manager?

Practice managers take on a number of responsibilities each day to ensure the running of a clinic, hospital, dental practice, or community health establishment. As a general overview, some of the key responsibilities and tasks that a practice manager completes on a daily basis include:

• Implementing standard policies and procedures

• Staffing, scheduling, and onboarding new employees

• Preparing, reviewing, and evaluating handbooks, manuals, protocols, and standards

• Managing revenue cycle, overseeing different budgets, and handling medical billing

• Organising patient records

Skills of a Successful Practice Manager

Practice managers need a wide variety of skills to excel in the role, many of which can be acquired while studying your qualification with Foundation Education. Below are some of the essential skills you need to be successful as a practice manager. 

Understanding of Administration and Management

Understanding basic administrative processes and having the ability to manage people in an office place goes a long way in excelling in the role of a practice manager. This also assists with an important part of the role in financial management and general bookkeeping to record cash flow, monitor profit and loss and understand how to produce practice balance sheets.

Organisation

From health billing to patient files, accounting and budgeting to medico-legal compliance forms, a good practice manager can have these in order quickly, accurately and with flair. On top of that, managing patient records and filing systems, transcribing orders, and data processing are large parts of daily life for Practice Managers. Keeping all of this organised helps them to get through each day without the additional difficulties that usually come with disorganisation.

Effective Communicator

All day, every day, a practice manager talks with patients and other staff members. The ability to compose emails, internal communications and manage correspondence with patients and third parties are all common tasks for a practice manager. They must also be able to speak the language of their practice, for example, a dental practice manager can turn the medical jargon of a particular procedure into something the patient can understand.

Exceptional Customer Service

In most practices, the practice manager may be the face of the organisation. From greeting patients to handling compliments and complaints, ensuring the comfort of patients and making sure the frontline staff are happy, they provide a high level of service and are always striving to improve patient satisfaction levels. They are also responsible for keeping patients safe by managing work health and safety protocols to ensure infection control is guaranteed and future risks are prevented.

Relationship Management

A practice manager needs to understand and implement initiatives to encourage a healthy, happy and stimulating work environment, which includes:

• Boosting and maintaining staff morale and motivation

• Fostering an effective team and group working environment

• Implementing reward systems, including bonus incentives and job perks

• Maintain effective and efficient employer leadership

• Being aware of current staff benefit arrangements, including sickness and maternity leave, pay scales and holiday pay

• Organising individual and group training

Industry Insights for Practice Managers

According to the Australian Governments Labour Market Insights, there are over 33,300 people employed as practice manager in Australia. The future is also looking strong with a projected growth of 9.6% (or 2,200 jobs) by the year 2026, as per the same report.

How to Get Qualified?

Studying a HLT57715 Diploma of Practice Management with Foundation Education is the ideal qualification to position yourself for a career as a Practice Manager. It will prepare you for the daily challenges you’ll face when you’re employed and equip you with the industry-relevant skills that will allow you to excel.

Get in touch with our friendly support team or contact us on 1300 616 197 to learn more!