A practice runs on its admin team. Your job as manager is to hire the right people, make the work clear, and help them get better every week.
Hiring admin and front-desk staff
- Write the role first: the five things this person does every day, and how you’ll know they’re doing them well.
- Test the real work: a short role-play of a patient call and a scheduling exercise tell you more than a CV.
- Check for care and calm, not only speed. Patients in a therapy practice need both.
- Plan access before day one: which systems, which permissions, and the confidentiality agreement signed (see “HIPAA & patient privacy”).
SOPs: write the work down
A standard operating procedure is a short, step-by-step guide to one task. Good SOPs:
- Cover one task each (“New patient intake”, “Posting a copay”, “Rescheduling a cancelled session”)
- Use numbered steps and screenshots from the practice’s own systems
- Name who to ask when something doesn’t fit
- Have an owner and a “last reviewed” date
When the same mistake happens twice, fix the SOP before you blame the person.
Weekly check-ins
Fifteen minutes, one-on-one, every week, same agenda:
- What went well?
- What got stuck? What do you need from me?
- Scorecard numbers for the week
- One thing to improve next week
Scorecards
Three to five measures per role, each with a target the person controls. For example, for a front desk coordinator:
| Measure | Target |
|---|---|
| New inquiries returned same business day | 95% |
| Intake paperwork complete before first session | 100% |
| Next-day eligibility checked | 100% |
| Cancelled slots offered to the waitlist within 1 hour | 90% |
Handling performance issues fairly
- Talk early and privately, with specific examples, not labels (“three intakes this week had no insurance card”, not “you’re careless”).
- Agree on the fix and a date to review it. Write it down.
- Support: training, a clearer SOP, or a change in workload.
- Follow up on the date. Recognize improvement out loud.
- If it doesn’t improve, involve the owner and follow the practice’s HR process. Be consistent: the same standard for everyone.