From Donuts to Healthcare: Tiffany Goodale Knows How to Serve Up a Great Patient Experience
Date Posted: Friday,
February 21, 2025
When patients and their families arrive for an appointment at a medical office, there's a good chance they are feeling vulnerable, uncertain, and fearful. And so it's not surprising when frustration rises as the clock ticks on, well beyond a scheduled appointment time with no word from anyone about when their turn to be seen by a provider will come. It sets the wrong tone for the practice and the patient experience.
The front office team is the first face-to-face impression of a facility for patients and their families. Often, these employees have basic administrative training and lack a basic understanding of the role they contribute to a positive patient experience.
Tiffany Goodale is keenly aware that the patient's experience begins when they walk through the front doors of Hometown Health Center, and every interaction during their visit matters. She is one of two Patient Services Representatives (PSR) working in the front office of the Federally Qualified multi-specialty health center serving residents living in the town of Newport and surrounding communities in Penobscot County, Maine. The town's population was 3,133 at the 2020 census and borders the shoreline of Sebasticook Lake. The health center has 12 providers, three family nurse practitioners, a podiatrist, a dentist, and dental hygienists, available to serve area families.
“Tiffany was a happy face at our local Dunkin Donuts and for a couple years,” recalls practice CEO Robin Winslow, “ I said she would be a great Patient Specialist. The team finally interviewed her and hired her.”
To boost her healthcare business acumen, Hometown Health's project manager Darlene enrolled Tiffany in a Patient Services Representative training course offered by the Washington County Community College (WCCC) and the Maine Community College System.
The course was developed by Practice Management Institute to take a motivated person with basic knowledge and set them up for success. Modules include Finance, Medical Terminology, Basic Coding, Compliance, Third-Party Reimbursement, and Revenue Cycle Management.
The fully vetted PSR curriculum is now open to anyone interested in developing their customer service abilities within a medical setting on the Practice Management Institute website.
Excited to enroll, Tiffany completed the course and assessment in two months.
“At first, she was struggling,” Robin said. “After this course, it has been noticeable by her team as well as providers of her detail to the work she is doing. The course boosted her confidence, and she is gathering the information that the providers need, as well as more accuracy in the work being produced."
The practice recently moved into a brand-new building, with new seating situated along the wall in front of the check-in window, healthcare pamphlets lined up along one wall, and activity books and crayons available for children, whose drawings are tacked onto the wall.
Tiffany is now going into her sixth month working at Hometown Health Center, and she loves it. She initially excelled in customer service but lacked experience in a medical office. The providers and office team are impressed with her enhanced attention to detail and confidence boost.
“I learned a lot of different things from this course, but most importantly I learned how important the Patient Specialist position is and the amount of drive and work that needs to be put into it," Tiffany shared. She said the course and assessment were easy to navigate.
Her favorite part of the course was learning all the different Latin terms, and seeing how their roots and suffixes paired together with their combined meanings.
Tiffany admitted, "The medical coding area was a kicker! I'd need a refresher course on that. Take plenty of notes! Pay close attention to what the different acronyms mean and try to implement them where you can. Like the instructor Jan Hailey says, 'Make flash cards,'" she said.
For more information on the Patient Services Representative course, visit https://pmimd.org/patient-services-representative/
Source: Practice Management Institute (PMI)
pmi.org
